Kitchen Monoblock Taps Please Help!

[mark88]

Hi all,

I've got a problem in that our kitchen taps are giving us grief. For a while its being dripping but now its constant like you've turned it on a little. The worst thing is it's the hot water.

My options.
Do I purchase another Monoblock tap?
Buy so called washers for it? I couldn't find the damn things they weren't on the side so they must be in the inside of the tap, if that's the problem.

I called the house cover emergency (part of the home insurance) but they said they don't cover taps. Damn I should have said I had a leak!

I've checked underneath the sink and the hot water pipe has been soldered on to the tap pipe, where as the cold water has a screw type nut.

Any help appreciated. Mark

 

[Registered Gas Man]

The washers are inside the tap!!

To get to them remove the tap head!!

This maybe covered by a decorative cap which has the hot and cold tags in it!! A flat head screwdrivershould do it! Now you should have to undo a grub srew to remove the head.

Now you should have a brass cone shaped (sort of) part of the tap visible.

At the bottom of this brass section you should see where you can apply a wrench!!

Turn this section out (it is always really, really tight) when its out you should see the remains of your tap washer!! A black rubber which has a central hole.

If you take this section to a local plumber merchant they should sell you a washer for around 20p.

 

[mark88]

Registered Gas Man,

No joy!!! See pictures below.

http://www.pdevices.co.uk/tap1
http://www.pdevices.co.uk/tap2
http://www.pdevices.co.uk/tap3
http://www.pdevices.co.uk/tap4

I cannot get the head off! There are no screws in front or behind.

Regards,
Mark

 

[ollski]

you've got the head off in pic 4 at least, you just need to get a spanner on the brass nut and undo it, the washer is on the bottom of it when it comes out. Make sure the water is off and drained through the tap you are removing.

 

[pipme]

You could build a little dam with plasticine around the removable part and fill with WD40 to give a good soaking, make sure wrench / spanner is a good fit otherwise rounded corners will defeat you !!

P

 

[mark88]

Thanks guys. I'll update tommorow as to how I get on, got to find that big wrench in the shed.

Do I have to switch off the cold / hot water from the mains?

If so where do I turn of the hot water from?

 

[pipme]

You be careful using wrench on tap, gonna put a lot of leverage on, you could damage sink and / or pipework, do you have the mechanical sympathy needed ?
Not being funny here, but if you do not know basically where to turn off hot and / or cold supplies ... you could be better off getting someone in and watching them ... this time !!
Good luck anyway.
P

 

[Registered Gas Man]

Your 1/2 way there. The cone shaped brass object i explained is the bit you can see!!

If you have a combination boiler, then it the hot water should turn off when you turn off the cold mains!!

I would heed pipmes comments though!!

you could be better off getting someone in and watching them

As an aside to those plumbers reading, check out pic2. A soldered joint on to stainless pipe???

 

[mark88]

Guy's I've turned the hot water off NO problem. The problem IS the cold water Mains see pic5.

http://www.pdevices.co.uk/tap5
(this is located at the back of the house near the entrance)

It doesn't matter which way I turn it the cold water still flows.

I've checked the attic and all over the house. Looks like I've been sold a dud house.

Do I have any options?
Mark.

 

[mark88]

Quick update found it, it was in the kitchen.

 

[mark88]

Sorry guy’s I’ve been a bit busy.. enough of the suspense….

Well I have bad news & good news.

The Tap – its problem, heavy leaking from tap head.

After a bit of mayhem finding the water cut off points (the hot & cold water supply) I tried removing the part with a big wrench, no joy so I sprayed a little WD40 oil to loosen it but you guessed it still no joy.

Despite all my efforts I could not get it off, I had to be careful not to damage the sink as a lot of pressure was excreted trying to get it off. So guys this is the bad luck. However read on….

The Pump – Other problem not mentioned, packed up.

http://www.pdevices.co.uk/shower1 +
http://www.pdevices.co.uk/shower2

My existing pump had packed up a while ago and I bought a replacement but never got round to having some one fit it. So I thought to myself okay I’m not going to give up here, while the waters off I’ll have a go.

So I did, I unscrewed everything that was attached to the old pump including the electric cable. It was easy as these were the push on attachments (seems that these push on connectors are becoming popular) and the electric was like undoing a plug (switched off all the electrics while doing this part).

After unscrewing everything from the pump I came across a problem where the pipes were to long for the new push on attachments. So I went to my local plumber shop and bought a pipe cutter, cost £10. I cut the pipes to the right length, it was very easy to use, attach to the pipe and rotate clockwise a few times and it’s cut.

It did take a few hours to do, however the experienced gained was without a doubt very beneficial. I’m now a happy bunny and have a great pressure shower and am now confident that I can do all my basic plumbing needs. Thanks to all you guys who helped me.

I’m going to purchase a new tap and try and fit that myself. I will of course let you know how it goes. I just need to find a suitable not too expensive tap – then again I have already saved X amount on the labour! Not bad for a few hours work.

**I do need some help though, am I correct in saying that I'm going to need to buy a gas burner to undo the soldered joint. I want to buy those screw cup link things that allows you to stop the water with the turn of a screw can someone tell me which type I need and if I need anything else please. I went into a store today and saw these bendy metal pipe things can these be used? See pic to see how it looks
http://www.pdevices.co.uk/tap2

If the existing connections/pipe work was not there, then without a doubt I would not have been able to do it. Basically all I’ve done is swapped the not working part with a few modifications to get the new part working.

Mark

 

[pipme]

Get that outside stopcock fixed ... If of course, it was yours It is another important maintenance object.

if you get a problem before or with the under sink stop tap then you'll be sunk !!! Like when you start brandishing the flame thrower ...

P

 

[ChrisR]

You won't be able to unsolder the pipe while its full of water. Garden tap may be lower allowing it to drain out. Or just cut the pipe and use a pushfit connector say, to rejoin it.

 

[Registered Gas Man]

I would use the shiny new pipe splice you have puchased and cut the copper pipe before the joint, then recconect the new tap using the popular pushfit fittings