stuck ceramic tap

[braychurchmouse]

Hi, apologies in advance if I am breaching etiquette...I hope I'm not hijacking this thread but I have a virtually identical problem of a leaking ceramic bath tap with VERY restricted accessibility underneath so I would prefer to avoid replacing the tap. I remember the plumber that fitted it had to fit the taps to the bath before sliding the bath in place.

Ceramic disc quarter turn, deck mounted bath shower mixer. Aprox 17 year's old!!! I think it was Tantaflex or similar name, but I gather they've been taken over by Ideal standard.

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• braychurchmouse
• 6 Jun 2008
• 2

As you can see its in a bad way with limescale and the plan is to replace the whole bathroom as soon as we can afford it! I have managed to take off one of the levers, but the ceramic disc cartridge is not budging with my current choice of spanners...any tips?...seems like I need a 20mm ring spanner I think...or would it be an imperial guage? It seems just a bit bigger than 19mm anyway.

I had a brief chat this afternoon with the spares dept at Ideal Standard (I'll be sending them the pic on Monday) and they suggest the cartridge below will possibly fit, which will be about £42 the pair incl VAT and postage.

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• braychurchmouse
• 6 Jun 2008
• 2

Part No S960023NU 3/4 SE Ceramic Disc cartridges from www.fastpart-spares.co.uk

So my questions are...
1. Any tips on unscrewing the existing cartridges?
2. Assuming I can get it off, is it worth going round a few plumbers merchants to see if they have a suitable replacement. Or are all these parts really different and specialised? I had a quick look at Lunns but couldn't see an obvious match.
3. Assuming I get the part number S960023NU confirmed by Ideal Standard am I likely to get it cheaper elsewhere?

Hope you can help. Thanks in advance.

ps the wife says whats the best stuff to get the limescale off with?

 

[JohnD]

For limescale, start with domestic products like Viakal.

If you can't shift it, Fernox DS3 Limescale Remover is available at plumbers counters. A small tub is about £5 and a big tub about £15. It is strong and effective. Use plastic container to mix it in, rubber gloves, protect eyes etc. It is acid crystals. I had some left over from descaling a boiler and dropped some old taps in it, they fizzed up very clean and bright.

It may damage chrome, lacquered or enamelled surfaces.

Some dripped on my jacket and ate holes in it.

 

[braychurchmouse]

Msg to moderator...
Re Hijacking...

Ooops, sorry ...I thought it might be the wrong thing to do. Shall we leave as is, or could you move it off to another thread?

Cheers