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Help with tap repair!

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Nijohc

Hi, just signed up to this forum hoping I can get some help with a bit of DIY. The hot tap on the kitchen sink no longer turns on and I've been looking at these tap reviver kits that look much easier than replacing the entire tap. Anyway my problem is I cannot for the life in me undo the thing, I've sprayed it with WD40 and left it over night and it still won't budge without trying to turn the whole tap. I was using a big adjustable and some mole grips to try and stop the tap from turning.

tap1.jpg

If I can't do the tap revival method I guess I'll have to replace the tap but getting underneath this sink is really tight but I got a pic on my phone of the underside (plz excuse the spider and what looks like some sort of slime (!?)).

tap2.jpg

Now I've fitted taps before in the bathroom using flexi hoses but this is a bit different with it being copper pipe all the way which I don't know how to do (my Grandad fitted these taps in the late 80's/early 90's) but there doesn't seem to be a plastic nut for tightening the tap to the sink?

Can anyone give me some advice on what is the best course of action for someone with limited plumbing knowledge!
 
There is a tool (can`t for the life of me remember what it`s called) made for removing the inners without removing the tap.
 
If I was the OP I wouldn't bother buying special tools to take that tap apart.
For a start, not being rude, but that is a rough looking tap body and a decent largish adjustable perhaps with a bit of cloth will easily hold that spout from turning while another spanner slackens the works.
Use two spanners working against each other by lining the top spanner coming close to the line of the bottom one that holds the spout.
The tap, by the way, is held into the sink underneath by a brass nut. Easy for a plumber.
 
That looks like a BS1010 (rising spindle type) tap. CAN you fit tap revivers to it?

It looks like you have a metal backnut, not a plastic one. Less common nowadays, but does the same job (better).

You might find a good quality ring spanner (probably Whitworth) will fit that tap well and you may be able to lever between the spout and the ring spanner if you don't want to buy the special tool.

You can probably service that tap without needing a reviver anyway. If it's that old, it may well predate the 'chuck it away, too busy to mess about with it' mentality and be built to last.
 
Thanks, that looks the business but it's knocking on £40 and as I'm pretty brassick at the moment I might be better off just getting a set of taps? Would I have trouble fitting them to the copper pipe that is already there? I assume there's an olive on that pipe or is it just a washer that forms the seal? I've only connected taps before by cutting the pipe then fitting a flexi hose with olive etc. which was pretty straight forward and trouble free but this looks a bit different.
 
Ric2013 said:
That looks like a BS1010 (rising spindle type) tap. CAN you fit tap revivers to it?

It looks like you have a metal backnut, not a plastic one. Less common nowadays, but does the same job (better).

You might find a good quality ring spanner (probably Whitworth) will fit that tap well and you may be able to lever between the spout and the ring spanner if you don't want to buy the special tool.

You can probably service that tap without needing a reviver anyway. If it's that old, it may well predate the 'chuck it away, too busy to mess about with it' mentality and be built to last.
Click to expand...

You are definitely right, it is a 1010 old type tap, which most were even before the '80s.
If no serious damage to inside with corrosion then a new washer and it is sorted. Best taps going and mine are similar and over 40 years old and like brand new.
Sometimes the seating can be corroded and needs reseated using an inexpensive reseating tool.
But a modern set of taps could be bought cheaply
 
So I won't be able to revive it with it being a different type? Also I think repair with a washer is out of the question as my mum threw the tap top and bits away thinking they wouldn't be needed anymore :bigcry:
 
Nijohc said:
Thanks, that looks the business but it's knocking on £40 and as I'm pretty brassick at the moment I might be better off just getting a set of taps? Would I have trouble fitting them to the copper pipe that is already there? I assume there's an olive on that pipe or is it just a washer that forms the seal? I've only connected taps before by cutting the pipe then fitting a flexi hose with olive etc. which was pretty straight forward and trouble free but this looks a bit different.
Click to expand...

Can't really see in your photo, but if that is an elbow fitting that connects directly to the tap, then it is called a tap fitting and uses a fibre washer which will have to be replaced. Sometimes easier to just cut back the pipes and start again with new pipes, fitting a couple of decent isolating valves while you are at it
 
Here's a pic showing a bit more of the pipe, it's very awkward to get to though and would likely have to work on it blind

tap3.jpg

Edit: yes, pipe comes down about 2 inches then shoots off horizontal.
 
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Nijohc said:
Here's a pic showing a bit more of the pipe, it's very awkward to get to though and would likely have to work on it blind

View attachment 25581

Edit: yes, pipe comes down about 2 inches then shoots off horizontal.
Click to expand...

Looks like a 90 degree tap fitting.
When you are used to plumbing you can work blind using the feel of the position of the nuts to slacken.
 
You find the older you get the slacker the nuts! Working blind becomes normal.
Sorry having a senior moment.
 
Thanks for all the help everyone, I've decided to just replace the taps looks like the easiest/cheapest and also the only option now. Really glad I didn't waste money on a tap reviver kit or that unlocking tool if they can't even be fitted to these taps so thanks to ric2013 for spotting that!

...and yes if it looked like a big job I would get a plumber in but I'm pretty confident I'll manage, was just unsure what made the seal - will get some fibre washers when I buy the taps and should be sorted. Cheers
 
I have never come across this tool in all my years. I wish I had! All those taps I have changed. Another school day. Thankyou, off to order one.
 
I lost my tap splitter tool... Must have left it in the customers house!! I really like how they never phone up to inform me of this :(
 
The only time a customer got in touch was about a short extension lead I`d left behind but as it was old and she lived an hour away I said "Thanks for letting me know and you can keep it".
 
gone back to a customer's house few years later for different repair to find my pliers still on top of the wardrobe. Anyone wanna run with this, more interesting things retrieved from
harder to get places?
 
Hey, I'm not certain reviver kits aren't made for that type of tap, I just don't think so.

My worry would be that the pipework is probably 1/2" or 3/4" (not 15 or 22mm), so using the existing pipework without modifying it is probably the best best, assuming the tap tails (i.e. thread) is the same length.

I would agree that the new seal will almost certainly be a red fibre tap connector washer, (it may previously have been done with hemp and boss white - no longer permitted for this).

Good luck.
 
dean.diy said:
gone back to a customer's house few years later for different repair to find my pliers still on top of the wardrobe. Anyone wanna run with this, more interesting things retrieved from
harder to get places?
Click to expand...

When I started my apprenticeship, I had taken the job from my predecessor who had unfortunately lost his job due to being involved in a theft. In my 4th year I was working up in a loft converting a HW system to unvented when I found a 15mm Monument pipe slice with the guys name scratched on the side. I've still got it. I also got a free hammer I could see at the bottom of a cavity wall on a different job. I got it out using a magnet on a string. Free tools are great to find.
 
Best said:
If I was the OP I wouldn't bother buying special tools to take that tap apart.
For a start, not being rude, but that is a rough looking tap body and a decent largish adjustable perhaps with a bit of cloth will easily hold that spout from turning while another spanner slackens the works.
Use two spanners working against each other by lining the top spanner coming close to the line of the bottom one that holds the spout.
The tap, by the way, is held into the sink underneath by a brass nut. Easy for a plumber.
Click to expand...

an apprentice last month showed a better way to hold the spout by sliding a basin box spanner over the spout, never to old to learn.
 
itcanbesoeasy said:
an apprentice last month showed a better way to hold the spout by sliding a basin box spanner over the spout, never to old to learn.
Click to expand...

That would work well I bet and make the box spanner a large lever.
But I would think it will mark the tap spout (if it mattered on a decent tap) unless the spout had a bit of heavy rag or piece of leather over it first.
Maybe something like a Fleshlite would work better. :smile:
 
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