Kitchen Tap dripping

batman2000

Hello I hope someone can help.

I have a kitchen tap that drips slowly, but constantly. It has a hot and cold water tap (not a mixer type). I have replaced the 2 spindles before only about 3 months ago and the dripping did stop, but now now matter how tight I turn of the tap, it won't stop....Any ideas how to stop the drip drip drip.....

dingding

Probably need to do the same again.

If someone who uses the tap overtightnes it, the rubber tap washer will be damaged.

If this is the case and it is an option, you should consider replacing the tap with a quarter turn ceramic tap.

If they completely over tighten it, as a visitor to my house did, they stripped one of the screws holding in the tap washer in place. :eek:

batman2000

I'm afraid I'm bringing this old thread again. So I have reaplaced the spindle again on the cold tap. It always seems to be the cold tap. As limescale builds up with hot/heated water I have ruled that out. I have been carefull (and told herself) not to overtightne the tap. After removig the old spindle , I checked and saw no build up of dirt around the thread of the tap. I noticed, when I have another new spindle on, the tap head is not turning uniformly as I turn the tap and it seems to be rubbing off the tap. Could the tap be machined wrong? Will I be better off buying a new tap rather that replacing the spindle every 3 months.

youtheman

The cold water pressure is normally higher than the hot water (taken from the mains and the header tank respectvely). So the cold one is far more prone to leak.

If your water is 'hard' then this will make it worse.

The water is turned off by screwing two flat surfaces together. One is normally a washer that can be replaced (at a fraction of the cost of a new tap). The washer is often ceramic, not rubber, so there is little risk of damage by overtightening.

But if mine was a few years old then I would suggest replacing the tap completely.

Avns1s

Replace the tap completely at this stage. They're not that expensive. It's likely that there is some pitting or other damage to the seat that the rubber and spindle closes onto. A new rubber often solves this for a short period but before too long the new rubber becomes damaged and the problem is back. the only solution is to replace the tap.

batman2000

So the tap (and house) is only 2 years old, and yes the water is hard water.

...youtheman I have already replaced the spindle 3 or four times now, so I reckon it may be a new tap.
...Avns1s thanks for the advise