Dripping tap. But how do I take it apart?

Miss.Fortune

Hi,

I have a dripping bath tap.

I have watched & read endless tutorials for all different kinds of taps but can't see any for the type I have, which look like this..

(not the exact tap but similar in style)
https://www.reuter-shop.com/jado-geometry-pillar-tap-a21615.php

They are two separate taps for hot & cold.

So my question is, how am I supposed to get inside to replace the washer?

The videos I've seen all have bits to unscrew or pop off. However, I can't see any screws or anything obvious and I've tried to unscrew the whole of the top section but I didn't want to try too hard to force it and completely break the tap.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as it's driving me mad!

Thanks

Ruski

That's a quarter turn tap and has a ceramic cartridge, not a washer per se

Either there will be a small access hole on the back of the 'turny' thing to access a grub screw, or that rod will inscrew exposing a grub screw, or the whole 'turny' thing needs to be levered off in one piece, Bristan are like that and are a nightmare!

HTH

Russ

cranford

Not like the old taps where a washer will fit all the ceramic cartridge is often very specific to a particular manufacturer and the whole value has to be replaced.
So you will need to know the make and model of the tap to have any chance of fixing it.
They are not cheap, my monobloc that cost £100 was leaking and the ceramic values are £32 a pair. I was able to get one for free as still had the guarantee.

Miss.Fortune

Ruski wrote: »

That's a quarter turn tap and has a ceramic cartridge, not a washer per se

Either there will be a small access hole on the back of the 'turny' thing to access a grub screw, or that rod will inscrew exposing a grub screw, or the whole 'turny' thing needs to be levered off in one piece, Bristan are like that and are a nightmare!

HTH

Russ

Fab, thank you. I had not come across the term Quarter Turn in my limited research.

That gives me some idea of how to go at it. Will give them all a go if I can.

cranford wrote: »

Not like the old taps where a washer will fit all the ceramic cartridge is often very specific to a particular manufacturer and the whole value has to be replaced.
So you will need to know the make and model of the tap to have any chance of fixing it.
They are not cheap, my monobloc that cost £100 was leaking and the ceramic values are £32 a pair. I was able to get one for free as still had the guarantee.

Cheers. I have no idea what make they are & not sure it says on them. They were in when we bought the house.

Hope it's not a full replacement job. Extremely difficult to get the bath panel out due to being boxed in by bathroom furniture! Plus they are in the middle of the bath making it even more difficult to access!

cranford

Most certainly you will need to turn off both the hot and cold water feeds to your tap. My isolation valves for my bath taps are behind the bath panel!
I have read elsewhere that if you live in a hard water area it might be worth a try soaking your disc in a lime descaler.

With your tap can you tell whether its the hot or cold that is dripping as you will need to know this if you can source the ceramic discs. It might be worth replacing both if you can get to that point.

Ruski

Post a photo

Sometime the brand or item code is engraved very very faintly on the back of the tap or on the ring around the base, or even the tap head itself.

BTW: I bloody hate taps in the middle of the bath for the exact reason you are experiencing: I will never do that for a customer as I always leave access to any fitting for servicing

HTH
Russ

Ganga

Feel the back of the top part of the tap and you should find a small pop out cover about 1/4 inch dia,underneath this will be a small grub screw that you need an allen key to loosen,when loose the top part will come off and then you need to change the ceramic cartridge underneath,if you are not diy savvy might be a job for a plumber,best of luck

Le_Kirk

you will need to turn off both the hot and cold water feeds to your tap

They are two separate taps for hot & cold

The OP should be OK just turning off the relevant feed.
OP, when following advice in other threads as to how to gain access to the cartridge, please make sure you have turned off the relevant feed!