UK Kitchen Taps Troubleshooting Guide
With 30 years experience of selling UK Kitchen Taps and providing aftercare service (to both UK Kitchen Taps we have supplied, and sometimes taps we have not!), here is a simple kitchen taps troubleshooting guide for the most common problems that can / might occur with a kitchen tap. If in doubt always contact your plumber or contact US at sales@tapsandsinksonline.co.uk and We will do our best to provide you with the necessary spare parts and expertise.
[table colwidth=”160|200″]EFFECTS|CAUSES|CURE
Dripping Kitchen tap (1): Water dripping from the end of the kitchen tap spout when the kitchen tap is turned off.|New kitchen taps can sometimes take a few days for the rubber washer to “bed down”. If after a few days the dripping continues, the seating and/or the rubber washer have been damaged by debris in the plumbing system.|Please order a new valve, and flush the system.
Dripping Kitchen tap (2): Water dripping from the end of the spout when the tap is turned off.|High pressure in your plumbing system.|Check the pressure in your system: if it is too high, more than 5 bar, it could be necessary to use a pressure reducer, contact our after sales service.
Kitchen Tap leaks at the joint of the body & spout|The spout “O” rings have been damaged during installation.|It needs new rubber “O” rings.
Kitchen Tap leaks under the work- top|The kitchen tap tails have not been screwed in tight enough.The plumbing installation may be suspect.|Tighten the kitchen tap tails without damaging or deforming the plumbing.
Kitchen Tap leaks by the handles.|The valve may need tightening or replacing.|Tighten the valve or order a new valve See our spare parts section If a valve bush is present, order a new set of valve and valve-bush. It is always a good idea to check first with us as so many valves and sizes out there.
Water outlet is clogged with stain deposit or impurities|Debris introduced during local water authority construction and refurbishment or in the water has clogged the antisplasher.|Unscrew the antisplasher and clean it.
[/table]Installation of new kitchen tap valve:
- Turn off the hot & cold water supply under the sink unit.
- Remove the little indice (i.e. blue/red or C/H).
- Unscrew the handle screw and remove the handle.
- Unscrew and remove the damaged valve.
- Clean the surface of contact of the valve gasket.
- Screw in and tighten the new valve and re-assemble in reverse order.
Installation of new kitchen tap spout “O” rings:
- Turn off the hot & cold water supply under the sink unit.
- Unscrew the spout collar by hand.
- Pull the spout out of the body of the tap.
- Remove the two black “O” rings.
- Fit new greased “O” rings.
- Gently push the spout into the body. Care must be taken when reinserting the spout into the body to ensure that the grub screw is located in the split of the white PTFE ring.
- Screw the spout collar, hand tight.
- Turn on the hot & cold water.
Posted in: Helpful Tips, Plumbing Guides
Leave a Comment (12) ↓
I have a Britsan PL03005 which is leaking from the base of the spout. Can you tell me the size and quantity of the O rings for replacements please?
Many thanks
Alison
HI Alison, is that a Kitchen Tap or a Bathroom Tap/Shower ? as I am not familiar with that code and only Showers come up when i search. Unfortunately, we don’t stock or do Bathroom Taps or Bathroom Tap Spare Parts, so we have no expertise in this area. I would recommend that you try and search online by the name of the brand, if you know it, or search under ‘Bathroom Spare Parts’ to find a website that supplies parts and they might be able to assist you.
Should you ever require a Kitchen Tap Spare Part then please do contact us as we have an extensive range of Genuine Spare Tap Parts, covering all the main UK brands and also select small / discontinued Brands as well. We are also doing a small range of compatible Kitchen Taps Parts, driven purely by customer needs where they cannot source parts from the original manufacturer.
Hi I have changed New o rings on my fliq monobloc tap, the tap still leak thanks.
Hi John, if your Tap is leaking where the Spout meets the base, that is where you would change your O Rings. Can you make sure that you have placed the o rings in the correct position and that you do not have a hole in the spout itself.
My mono bloc tap just shot into the air! We turned off the water, but when we replace the tap, it rises away from the plate when water is turned on. Once the hot valve is re-opened, it comes off again. Can anyone help?
HI Kosta, have you checked the water pressure on the hot side ? is it too high? Have you also checked that all the grub screws securing your tap are properly screwed in ?
I have an Abode Ludlow monoblock tap, which is dripping form the top – is there any way of identifying if it is hot or cold valve that needs replacing? – or do I just have to replace both?!
Hi Simon, Our Blog : How to tell which valve needs replacing – Hot or Cold? should help you. Here is the link to the parts that we stock for the Abode Ludlow TapAT1028
I have an Olympus Franke tap … I can not remove the tap handles / levers despite removal of the grub screws to get to the valves ! Any ideas /tips..?
Hi Dan, the handles could be wedged off using a screwdriver but you need to be extremely careful not to scratch the handle of the body of the tap. You could also spray some WD 40 onto the handle and then try and wedge off with the screwdriver, then afterwards wash the handle and body with some Milton.
But we would always advise consulting a plumber if you are experiencing difficulties. If you do need to bring a plumber on board what you could do is have the spare parts ready for him to replace once handles removed.
Our Plumbing Tip Blog ‘My Franke Olympus Tap is dripping’ provides you with a link to all the Franke Olympus Spare Tap parts and further information which might also be of use.
Thanks Alice , tell me does the handle come away on its own or does the cylinder come away as well ? I have a spare valve and am ready to go but unsure where to apply pressure and what should move ? Just the handle or the handle and cylinder its attached to?????
Hi Dan, the handle should come away by itself. I think it might be advisable to consult a plumber if you are having this much difficulty in removing the handle but also take a look at our blog in our plumbing guide as that should help you as that is a 7 step by step guide as to how to change a valve. What you want to avoid is damaging any of the remaining parts or scratching the finish. Alice