In the relatively long life of every decent (non-Chinese) faucet, there are times when the faucet in the bathroom flows. Water begins to drip from the tip of the faucet, or it oozes from the connecting hoses.
Usually, in such situations, careless residents call a plumber to the house, who, with an important look of a specialist, turns your poor mixer for you for half an hour and fights you at exorbitant prices for a minor gasket replacement procedure. But there is nothing complicated about how to fix a leak in a bathroom faucet!
Mixer leak and its diagnostics
First, you should find out the exact place that needs to be “treated”. It is also desirable to take into account the properties of the structure. As a rule, there are quite a few reasons why the faucet in the bathroom is leaking, and the most common of them is the wear of the gasket, the task of which is actually to ensure that water does not flow from extra holes.
It is important not to damage the wraps if they are plastic, this can also cause subsequent leaks. There are gaskets at the junctions of these elements, which, most likely, also need to be changed to new ones. Also, all these parts are easily replaceable.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to say that there is nothing super complicated about how to fix a leak in a bathroom faucet. If the bath itself is leaking, it will help. If you have logical thinking and the ability to imagine all the details of the mechanism in action, there is no urgent need for instructions - everything is clear intuitively, this is simple mechanics. But it can also leak in the bathroom. Do not be afraid to try, disassemble, study. Perhaps it is you who will tell you later how to fix the sensor mixer using a screwdriver and a soldering iron.
Due to the hardness of the water, the wear of the gaskets, constant operation, the taps fail. To know how to fix a faucet in the kitchen and be able to fix it, you need to know its type and device.
We will deal with the question of how to disassemble the faucet in the kitchen and how to replace parts. Let the sounds of dripping water, the grumbling of relatives and your own irritation be forgotten!
Common Types of Kitchen Faucets
- Lever;
- Two-valve.
Lever
Lever valves are very common and are known for their ease of operation and reliability. With the help of a lever, it is quite easy to adjust the desired water temperature. But they also break.
When a kitchen faucet drips or water oozes from under a lever, action must be taken. Then to business!
The main element of the lever tap is the cartridge.
There are two types of cartridges:
- ball;
- disk (ceramic).
ball cartridge
The mixer with a ball cartridge is arranged as follows. It contains a hollow ball, with two lower inlets and one upper outlet.
The ball is placed on two saddles made of high-strength rubber and is pressed against them tightly due to water pressure. One saddle passes hot water through its hole, the other cold. The lever regulates the flow of water into the ball by aligning its holes during rotation with the holes in the saddles.
The main malfunction in case of leakage of the connection between the ball and the seat are specks, debris, scale from the water supply. In this case, you need to disassemble the mixer and remove the blockage. If the cartridge is worn out, and there are no signs of clogging, then it needs to be replaced.
But how to disassemble the kitchen faucet, and in what order:
- close the valves for supplying hot and cold water to the mixer and drain the remaining water;
- the plug under the handle of the crane opens and the screw for fastening the handle - lever is unscrewed with a screwdriver;
- slightly loosening on the sides, remove the lever;
- remove the decorative ring, unscrew the clamping nut;
- take out a faulty cartridge;
- inspect all seals (change if necessary);
- collected in reverse order.
Important! The projections on the cartridge must line up with the holes in the faucet! Otherwise, the cartridge will leak.
Do not skew the cartridge! Carefully set the neutral position of the lever when replacing!
Disc cartridge
It has two cermet discs inside - these are tightly ground plates of cermet. The plates are polished, which ensures tightness. The pressure and temperature of the water at the outlet is regulated by the position of the ceramic-metal discs.
The impact on the lever shifts the upper disk, and it occupies a certain position relative to the lower one. The outlet water temperature is determined by the level of cold water shutoff by the upper disk and the hot water shutoff level.
If a kitchen faucet with a disc cartridge leaks, then repairing a kitchen faucet of this type is no different from repairing a ball-type faucet. Photo - video and repair instructions are equally suitable for both systems.
Important! Do not replace a disc cartridge with a ball cartridge and vice versa! Even though they may look similar on the outside, they are fundamentally different on the inside.
Two-valve valves
The valve system is cheaper to repair than the lever system. However, it crashes more often.
If a faucet in the kitchen with a valve system is leaking, then repairs are not only cheaper, but also easier. You can even make a rubber gasket with your own hands, if there is no purchased one.
Two-valve faucets often have a swivel spout, which is very convenient.
If water began to flow out from under the swivel spout, then repairing the faucet in the kitchen in this case is absolutely simple.
- It is necessary to unscrew the outer nut, gently rotating and lifting the spout, pull it out of the tap.
- Carefully check the condition of the rubber insulating gasket and expansion ring.
- If necessary, they must be replaced.
Note! The price of a repair kit in the store is mere pennies.
In everyday use, valve mixers make it easier to regulate the temperature of the outgoing water.
And how is a two-valve faucet arranged?
The process of repairing a two-valve faucet with a rubber seal can be divided into the following parts:
- turn off the water supply to the mixer and drain the remaining water from it;
- carefully pry off the decorative trim with a screwdriver - the insert above the flywheel mounting screw;
- if the screw does not unwind, drip with a product like WD-40 or brake fluid, solvent;
- unscrew the screw and remove the flywheel from the stem;
- without damaging the surface of the mixer, carefully loosen the stem packing nut, unscrew it;
- unscrew the stem - a valve with a rubber gasket;
- inspect the valve seat in the faucet body, whether there are shells, scale, deposits or a defect (if necessary, clean, grind);
- replace the rubber gasket;
- install in reverse order in the tap;
- supply water;
- retighten gland seals if necessary.
In the case of repair of a crane box with a ceramic seal, it is necessary to replace the internal ceramic parts and the sealing ring from the repair kit. Otherwise, proceed as in the case of a rubber seal.
Know! Crane boxes with rubber and ceramic seals are interchangeable! Pay attention to their diameter, it must match!
Important! Do not apply excessive force when screwing in or tightening the crane box, valves, glands. You can break the thread.
But disassembling the faucet in the kitchen most often occurs due to wear of the rubber seal. This can be signaled by a loud hum or water leakage. Therefore, it is better to always have an inexpensive repair kit on hand, which you can even buy immediately when buying a faucet.
The faucet is running! This is probably the most common expression in the topic of plumbing repairs. In this article, we will analyze how you can fix a single-lever or, as it is also called, a flag mixer.
They are widely used due to their ease of use, and most likely, they are used by you in the bathroom and in the kitchen.
The main control element of such a mixer is a cartridge, and if water flows from under the lever of your tap, then it's time to change this element. This is not difficult, it is enough to know the order of work.
Let's get started!
Faucet repair in photo examples
First of all, you need to remove the decorative cap - a plug, which, using colored marks, indicates the position of the lever for supplying cold and hot water
The opened hole gives access to the fixing screw that fixes the cartridge and the lever
Using a screwdriver (usually negative, but not always), unscrew the screw and remove the lever
Then we unscrew and remove the decorative cover, which is attached to the external thread of the circular nut
Using a wrench, unscrew and remove the circular nut
We take out the damaged cartridge and change it to a new one of the same size (the common diameter is 35 mm and 40 mm)
There are two conical protrusions on the cartridge, which play the role of guides, they must coincide with the place of their landing in the mixer body.
We repeat the assembly of the mixer in the reverse order. If the case is not damaged by corrosion (it happens) and has no mechanical damage, then the cause of the leak has been eliminated!
Lever and have a similar structure, so the leak from under the lever is repaired in the same way, by replacing the cartridge.
Video explanation | Single Lever Faucet Repair
There is nothing more annoying than the sound of a constantly dripping faucet. In addition to the fact that it gets on your nerves, the current tap also ruins the owners - after all, you will have to pay for the wasted water by the counters. Therefore, if the faucet is leaking, it's time to fix it. How to do it right - read on.
Actually, there are only two ways to solve the problem:
- Call a plumber;
- Repair the faucet yourself.
Consider the latter option, but first you need to figure out why the tap is flowing. After all, there may be several reasons for this.
Causes of the problem
Why is tap water dripping?
There are several reasons for this:
- bad faucet: if you save money and buy a completely low-quality cheap Chinese fake for brands, then very quickly all the flaws come out and the water tap starts to flow. This is due to the fact that its constituent parts are poorly fitted to each other, and extremely cheap materials are used as gaskets, which quickly wear out under the influence of water.
- Wrong installation: often the reason that water drips in the kitchen is improper installation. In this case, a quite expensive faucet can also start to flow. That is why it is very important to properly install the faucet. And if this is beyond your power and there is no experience in such work, then it is better to trust a professional.
- Operating errors: The axle box faucet may leak due to improper use. While everyone seems to know how to use a faucet, the current faucet clearly shows that this is not the case. If you press the faucet too hard during operation, if you turn the valve at the wrong angle, if you press on the faucet spout, then soon the faucet will leak in the kitchen. By the way, improper operation most often leads to leaks, much more often than marriage.
- Natural wear of mechanisms: nothing lasts forever under the moon and over time, the mechanisms wear out, and the gaskets are erased.
Of course, leaks in the kitchen can be prevented by doing regular preventive inspections of the faucet and systematically changing gaskets and replace mechanisms. But as a rule, no one remembers the faucet until it leaks and the time comes to fix it.
How to repair a mixer (video)
First step: identifying the cause of the leak
Before you repair a faucet in the kitchen, you need to understand why it actually dripped. The symptoms can tell the cause of the problem.
Water dripping from different places:
- From under the valve;
- From the spout, even if the valve is tightly closed;
- Seep through the joint of the faucet and spout;
- Seep at the junction between the faucet and the sink;
- Directly from the mixer through damage.
After determining the place of the leak, it is necessary to turn off the water supply and repair the faucet in the kitchen.
How to fix a faucet leak in the kitchen (video)
Crane repair
If water drips from the valve
Most likely the rubber gaskets on the faucet in the kitchen have worn out. Or the crane box does not fit snugly. It is necessary to carefully inspect the faucet, check the tightness of the faucet to the mixer. If the bushing valve is ceramic, then most likely the silicone gland is not tight. It needs to be compacted.
If everything is in order with the fit, then you just need to change the rubber gaskets. New ones can be purchased at the store. Dismantle the faucet, remove the old destroyed gaskets, install new ones and reassemble the faucet.
If water drips from the spout
This suggests that the axle box faucet in the kitchen has worn out and its edges no longer tightly block the water supply from the water supply. Most often, such a breakdown occurs with cheap cranes. Repairing the faucet in the kitchen in this case is also very simple: you need to purchase a new bushing faucet and put it in place of the old one. Replacing the valve will also help. If the leak does not stop, then the entire mixer will have to be replaced.
Important: do not screw the valves too tightly, otherwise the gaskets will quickly wear out and the faucet will start to flow again. Too much screwing can cause thread stripping and leakage.
What to do if water drips between the faucet and spout
Perhaps the gaskets are worn out or the spout is untwisted. Tighten the valve and check the condition of the gaskets. If they are destroyed, then it is worth replacing them. Perhaps this defect is caused by the fact that the valve was installed incorrectly and the valve was tightened too much. Because of this, the gaskets were damaged. Repairing the faucet in this case is simple - replace the gaskets. Sometimes the gaskets are fine, which means bad hoses are being used. They need to be replaced.
Leak between faucet and sink
The mixer is poorly screwed or loosened during service. It is enough just to twist it so that water does not drip into the kitchen. Another cause of leaks is wear on the gasket between the sink and faucet. It is necessary to eliminate the cause of the leak - replace the gaskets and, for reliability, grease the place between the sink and the faucet with silicone sealant.
If the mixer is damaged: do not repair it, as this is pointless. It is better to purchase a new faucet and install it according to all the rules.
What to do if the faucet is leaking in the kitchen (video)
You can fix the faucet in the kitchen without resorting to the services of a plumber. It is enough to find out the cause of the leak and eliminate it according to the instructions given.
Almost everyone faces a leaking plumbing equipment sooner or later: some have a leaking faucet in the bathroom, while others have this problem in the kitchen. In any case, you must remember: it's not just water, it's your money pointlessly going into the sewer system. What to do when the faucet is leaking? Specific actions in this case will depend on the cause of the leak and the type of plumbing faucet.
To begin with, a seemingly insignificant problem can lead to serious troubles - for example, a breakthrough of water at the most “opportune” moment or a complete failure of the mixer. That is why you need to act immediately. There is nothing super complicated here - you must determine the cause of the leak, prepare everything you need and proceed directly to work.
Varieties of mixers
You may be interested in information on how to choose.
From a constructive point of view, sanitary faucets are divided into two large groups.
- Double lever (valve) models. They are characterized by the fact that to change the pressure it is necessary to rotate the knobs, which are located on the sides of the device. Crane boxes are used here as locking elements - they are worm-driven or with rotary ceramic plates.
- Single lever devices. To control the temperature / fluid flow, only one handle-lever is used, which rotates in two planes. In this case, cartridges (disk or ball) act as rotary mechanisms, the service life of which is twice as long as that for crane boxes.
Note! The procedure for repairing it will depend on how exactly the leaking plumbing faucet is arranged. But more on that later.
The main causes of a leaky faucet
Often the cause of the problem can be determined directly at the site of the leak. The most common reasons are listed below.
Table. Common causes of a leaking faucet.
| Cause | Short description |
|---|---|
| If the crane is turned on / off many times, then its moving elements (including rubber gaskets) wear out - cracks form, the material deforms and changes in size. And if the tap leaks in the closed position, then the reason, most likely, lies precisely in the gasket (the latter will have to be replaced). |
| Each plumbing faucet has its own specific service life, and therefore it is not surprising that over time the owner may experience wear on the locking mechanism or thread. If so, then tightening the nuts or replacing individual elements will not help - a complete replacement of the entire mixer will be required. |
| The stuffing box (or stuffing box) is characterized by one unpleasant property - it wears out quite quickly. It is not difficult to determine this: if a closed mixer does not have any problems, but when it is opened, water begins to flow from under the valves, then the problem lies precisely in the wear of the stuffing box. |
| The design of the ball mixer can hardly be considered ideal - inside there are tightly fitting elements that react extremely “painfully” to various mechanical impurities in the water. To eliminate the leak, such a valve must be disassembled and thoroughly cleaned. |
| If mistakes were made during assembly / installation, this will sooner or later cause a leak. For example, if you tighten the nut very tightly, you can damage the sealing gasket, which will cause the latter to wear out faster. And if the inlet hose is loosely connected, then water will flow under the tap. |
How to fix a leaking faucet with your own hands?
The procedure is not difficult, but beginners may encounter certain difficulties. But if you carry out preliminary preparation and act strictly according to the instructions, you can eliminate the leak and extend the service life of the mixer.
Preparatory activities
Before proceeding directly to repairing the current faucet, take care of the main thing - turn off the water on the riser, otherwise the flooding of the apartment - both your own and the neighbors below - will be added to all your problems. Then, by shutting off the water, you can start repairing.
For repairs, you will need the following materials and equipment:
- a vessel for collecting water;
- wrench;
- silicone seals;
- screwdrivers (flat and cross-shaped);
- fluoroplastic sealing tape;
- pliers;
- new gaskets;
- wrench;
- cleaning agent, sponge;
- rag.
All this is quite enough to fix the leakage of the mixer on your own.
Note! If you recently purchased a faucet and you still have a box left from it, it may contain a repair kit and detailed instructions with diagrams. If so, then the repair will noticeably accelerate.
Option one. We change the gasket
If it is necessary to replace the gasket in the valve assembly, proceed as follows.
Step 1. First, disassemble the valve - remove the plug, unscrew the screw under it, then, using an adjustable wrench, unscrew the core (necessarily counterclockwise!) To remove the valve box.
Step 2. Replace the gasket, fix it in the box.
Step 3. Now it remains only to install all the removed elements back.
Note also that if there is a leak in the shower faucet, then you must unscrew the shower hose (using the same wrench), replace the gasket, and then connect it (the hose) back. Similarly, you can replace the seal under the gooseneck nut.
Faucet gasket prices
faucet gaskets
Option two. Change the seal
In the event of a faucet leaking caused by a worn gland, you can solve the problem in one of two possible ways:
- make an insert with your own hands using fluoroplastic tape;
- unscrew the stuffing box nut, and then replace the stuffing box itself.
If the work was done correctly, the flow should stop, and the valve should scroll smoothly.
Video - Faucet Repair
Option three. We repair a ball valve
In the case of a ball valve for repair, you need to disassemble and clean the device, and if necessary, completely replace the locking mechanism. The algorithm of actions should be as follows.
Step 1. Unscrew the screw, remove the lever.
Step 2. Then unscrew the threaded screw.
Step 3. Remove the faucet dome (including its plastic part).
Step 4. Remove the ball, carefully inspect it. If you find damage or defects, then the ball will have to be replaced.
Step 5. Dismantle the seals, check if they are worn out and if there is any plaque on them.
Step 6. Remove deposits and dirt on the seals, then apply a special lubricant to the elements.
Step 7. Reinstall all parts, check if the connections are tight.
If you assemble the mixer correctly, then there should be no leaks, and the temperature will be adjusted with a slight turn of the lever.
Option four. We change the cartridge
As noted earlier, it is much more convenient to use cartridges than crane boxes, but if the first ones fail, then the entire mechanism will need to be replaced at once. The sequence of actions is given below.
Step 1. First, unscrew the plug on the lever, and then unscrew the fixing screw itself.
Step 2. Remove the decorative elements, then unscrew the nut holding the cartridge.
Step 3. Remove the mechanism, look at the condition of the gaskets on its end. You can try replacing them.
Step 4. If the seals cannot be replaced, install a new disc element in the valve.
Step 5. Assemble all elements of the mixer back.
What to do when a newly purchased faucet is leaking?
In some cases, even a recently purchased and installed faucet can also leak. Often the reason for such a nuisance is extremely simple - a manufacturing defect, which outwardly is almost impossible to detect.
Note! It is unlikely that you will be able to eliminate chips and cracks inside the faucet with your own hands - even a professional plumber cannot cope with this. For this reason, all you have to do is return to the store and ask for a replacement for the defective model.
As a result, we note that a faucet leak in the bathroom or in the kitchen can occur at any time. To solve this problem, you can use one of two possible methods - to carry out repair work yourself or to invite a qualified specialist to your place. But if you know exactly why a leak can occur and how to fix it correctly, then there should not be any particular difficulties.
On a note! To prevent the occurrence of a leak at the least appropriate moment, it is recommended to periodically carry out maintenance work - check the condition of the locking mechanisms, regularly change the gaskets. Due to this, the operational life of the crane will increase significantly.
Video - How to repair a mixer with your own hands
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