Dripping ceramic disc kitchen mixer tap - can they be repaired?

[malkiserow]

I've a kitchen tap that drips but has ceramic discs in it rather than rubber tap washers. Can these be repaired with replacement discs or can the discs be honed back to stop the drip?

 

The tap has no name and is about 6 years old.

[welsh1]

Sorry i am no help at all except i think you should call your tap Barry,it's a long time to go without a name.

[victorismyhero]

you may find its as easy (and cheap) to relace it......

[Paddy Galore!]

we do hundreds of these, the whole valve gets replaced, the whole top of the tap.

[fenboy]

The person who invented ceramic disc tap valves should be flogged with a sprig of holly , they are nothing but a pain in the ****

[r1steele]

Sorry i am no help at all except i think you should call your tap Barry,it's a long time to go without a name.

That's assuming it's a male. I would have thought it was more likely to be a female as it is attached to the kitchen sink

[steve_b_wales]

Sorry i am no help at all except i think you should call your tap Barry,it's a long time to go without a name.

[robbiep]

That's assuming it's a male. I would have thought it was more likely to be a female as it is attached to the kitchen sink

 

Oh, there's a man that's brave. Or stupid single

[Winston72]

if you take out the tap bodies and take them to a plumbers merchants not a DIY store the will identify them for you and should be able to supply a replacement

[r1steele]

 

Oh, there's a man that's brave. Or stupid single

The crossed out one is the correct one

[malkiserow]

does nobody hone the ceramic disc ?

[Tim Kelly]

if you take out the tap bodies and take them to a plumbers merchants not a DIY store the will identify them for you and should be able to supply a replacement

You need to take the tap heads as well as the splines are all different.

[happy.plinker]

I got a new one recently for £10, the hot and cold are different for the turn of tap.

[Vince Green]

If you go on Youtube and do some suitable searches like "ceramic tap repair" you will hopefully be amazed at the number of how to do it videos people with nothing better to do have posted.

Edited May 27, 2015 by Vince Green

[Lord Geordie]

Personally I went back to the old style valves. I won't have the ceramics again. Would be better off with an antique wooden spigot

[bruno22rf]

We bought cheap Aldi ceramic basin taps over 15 years ago-still not dripping and still look like new-on the other hand last year we did the kitchen and fitted a mixer tap from B&Q and all the chrome is falling off, most likely cos its leaks constantly.

[Del T]

The ceramic discs don't often cause the drip, its the pressure washer that's underneath. Some good merchants stock the pressure washers but you'll have to take the insert with you.

Or you can buy a whole new insert but I priced some up for a customer and 2 inserts came to 60quid from bristan!

You can pack the pressure washer with ptfe for a temp fix, it might last a few weeks.

We just put a whole new tap in.

[arjimlad]

I've sometimes taken the valve to bits and cleaned the ceramic plate, it's been affected by limescale or something. Buys a few more months out of the tap or time to get to the plumber's merchant.

[Longchalk]

Had the same problem. Replaced once, soon dripping again. Was cheap and easy in the end to just buy a new tap complete. Screwfix do a range of perfectly good ones for reasonable bees.

[TR1]

It is sometimes the closed position of the tap that is the problem whereby the ceramics disc does not seal on the housing.

Try Tap Magician online , they have a whole range of replacement valves and individual items. You need to take out the old valve to measure quite accurately the valve dimensions as there are many variants if you are lucky a QB53 (seems common) will fit at about £19 a pair delivered in a few days

[Barry the Plumber]

I have had 100% success in stopping 2 pairs of taps from dripping. Remove the ceramic cartridges from the taps and immerse

them in a strong solution of Descaler. I used 2 sachets of "Oust" all purpose. Put in a small container, put the cartridges in and add boiling water to completely immerse for about 2 hours. Open and close the valves periodically to ensure max saturation. Dismantle if you can and add all the bits. Suggest you wear rubber gloves for this as it is very irritant. Rinse in clean water and re-assemble. It worked for me.

Barry

[Blackpowder]

As other plumbers have said they are a pain, only one option that is to replace the complete tap body which holds the ceramic inserts.   Beware the industry did not see fit to standardise the splines on these so when you go to purchase  replacements make sure you take an existing tap head.   It used to be tap washer 10p   now new ceramic body £10 +

 

Blackpowder

 

[243deer]

2 hours ago, Barry the Plumber said:

I have had 100% success in stopping 2 pairs of taps from dripping. Remove the ceramic cartridges from the taps and immerse

them in a strong solution of Descaler. I used 2 sachets of "Oust" all purpose. Put in a small container, put the cartridges in and add boiling water to completely immerse for about 2 hours. Open and close the valves periodically to ensure max saturation. Dismantle if you can and add all the bits. Suggest you wear rubber gloves for this as it is very irritant. Rinse in clean water and re-assemble. It worked for me.

Barry

In some areas it would be cheaper to replace a tap than have a plumber sitting in his van reading the paper for 2 hours - just sayin

[moondoggy]

As this thread was started in 2015, I assume he’s fixed it or got a big water bill!

[TIGHTCHOKE]

23 minutes ago, moondoggy said:

As this thread was started in 2015, I assume he’s fixed it or got a big water bill!

Plumbers, always late!