Did you know that you can fix a leaking shower faucet and save hundreds of gallons of water a year? Most population just think of a dripping faucet as an annoyance and don't perceive how much costly water is being wasted one drop at a time. The good news is that almost whatever with a few basic hand tools can learn how to fix most dripping faucets.
Let's start with the basics. Faucets have one traditional purpose, to allow the water in your pipes to be used in a controlled manner. This means that they have to open to allow water out of the pipes and close to keep water in the pipes. Not rocket science, right? The end part is what we want to consolidate on here.
Maintenance Hand Kit
There Are Two Basic Faucet Designs
Faucets drip when they fail to wholly trap the water in the pipes. Most faucets use one of two basic methods to stop the water flow. Some, primarily older designs, use rubber or neoprene washers which tighten against a "seat" and block the flow of water. Drips from these faucets are addressed by replacing the washers and/or seats. We'll talk about how to do that in a minute. Most other faucet designs involve some sort of cartridge. Some population call these "washerless" faucets. Repairing newer style water faucets like these regularly involves replacing the cartridge(s).
Washers And Seats
Older faucet designs often use washers to block the water and keep it in the pipes. Tightening the cope compresses the washer against a "seat" and seals the opening, thus stopping the water flow. If you need to do a bathtub faucet heal on a three cope wall faucet you probably have this type. You will also run into this style if you need to fix a leaking shower faucet hat has two handles. Many sink and lavatory faucets also use washers. One way to tell either or not your faucets use washers is to see if the cope gets harder to turn as you turn it off. If turning it authentically tight stops the drip, this probably, but not always, means that you have washers. If you do have a dripping faucet that has washers, the basic heal process is very similar either you need to know how to heal a shower faucet,repair a leaking tub faucet or fix a dripping sink faucet. There is, however, one prominent difference.
Bathtub Faucet Repair
The one valuable thing to remember when fixing a leaky bathtub faucet is that you will have to turn the water off to the whole house before removing any parts other than the outer trim pieces. If you're not sure which pieces are trim, just turn the water off first just in case. Once you have turned off the main water to the house you can begin taking things apart. There are lots of dissimilar brands and designs of faucets out there and they all come apart a small differently, so you will have to sort of feel your way through.
Removing The Trim
The first step is to take off the handles. This is regularly done by removing a cap to expose the cope screw and then removing the screw. Next, take off the handle. This may need a small finesse, as the handles sometimes get stuck in place. One trick is to place the handles of a pair of channel lock tongs behind the valve handle, one on each side, and tap evenly on the cope to nudge it loose. If this doesn't work you can buy a special tool to take off handles but these tools are sometimes hard to find and regularly a small patience is all you need to do the trick.
After he handles are off, there is regularly some sort of sleeve over the stem itself. This typically has to come off too. Once again, there are many dissimilar configurations. One popular design uses threaded plastic tubes to associate the trim sleeve with the valve. Other types have the sleeve threaded directly onto the valve. You will have to shape this step out before you can proceed. If you can decree what brand valve you have there is a good opportunity of finding instructions on-line.
Now For The Root Of The Problem
Ok, so you have removed both the handles and any remaining trim sleeve from the valve. Now you are ready to get to the root of the problem, your valve stem. The washer is almost all the time at the other end of the valve stem from the handle. regularly the stem is threaded into the valve body and you will just need to unscrew it to take off it. Here's a tip. Stick the cope back on for a second and open the valve half way. This relieves pressure on the stem and makes it easier to unscrew. Now you just need to make sure you are loosening the accurate nut.
Lots of valves have a packing nut colse to the stem. It is regularly a small smaller and just in front of the actual association with the valve body. The packing nut's purpose is to squeeze some special packing material colse to the stem to forestall water from leaking colse to the stem when the valve is in use. Loosening the packing nut won't help you, you need to get your wrench on the actual association to the valve body. By the way, a deep socket is often the only tool that will work to take off the valve stem.
Removing The Valve Stem
The easiest way to make sure you have the accurate nut is to see if there is a gap opportunity up in the middle of the nut and the valve body as you loosen the nut. The valve stem itself will also regularly turn when you have the right one. If you have loosened the packing nut by mistake, don't worry, you will adjust it before you are accomplished anyway. Go ahead and take off both stems and keep up with which one is which, it matters on many valves.
After you have the stems out you should be able to find the washer on the "inside" end. If it is nicked, torn or fragile it is likely the cause of your drip. Even if it looks brand new, go ahead and replace it. You've already come this far. You can get change washers at almost any hardware store. Sometimes you may want to replace the whole stem, especially if the cope end is stripped out. It's best to just take the stem with you to the store and see if you can match it up. Most Do It Yourself stores have change stems for many popular brands. If your valve has a town diverter valve to switch the waterfrom the tub spout to the shower head the same process applies. Many times it is easier to replace the diverter stem than to heal it. This authentically depends on the design of the stem.
How Are Your Seats?
One more thing to check is the seats. These are the part of the valve body that the washer tightens up against to stop the water flow. If you can get your finger inside the valve, feel of the seats and see if they feel rough. If so, it would be best to replace them if you can get them out. The inside of the seats, which is where the water flows through when the valve is open, regularly have either a hex or quadrilateral recess. special seat wrenches are used to take off the seats. You can regularly get these wrenches at the same place you get the other parts and they're not expensive. You just stick the wrench through the seat and unscrew it. The change seats screw back in the same way, just put a small pipe dope on the threads before you install it.
Put It All Back Together
Once you've figured out what needs to be supplanted and have done that, you just need to put everything back together. If your valve has packing nuts don't put the trim back on until you have turned the water back on. Once the water is on, go ahead and stick the cope on for a second and open the valve. Make sure no water is leaking colse to the stem. If it is leaking, with the cope opened half way, snug down the packing nut until the leak stops. Easy does it. If you get it too tight the cope will be hard to turn. Now close installing the trim pieces and you are done.
Repairing Newer Style Water Faucets
If you have a newer, "washerless" type valve the heal process is similar, but regularly easier. Many of these type valves use a self contained cartridge. If the valve starts to drip, just replace the cartridge and you're done. You still need to turn the water off and take off the handles and trim. The cartridge is regularly held in place by a retaining nut on the valve body or, in the case of most Moen valves, by a retaining clip. Naturally take off the cartridge and put another one in it's place. If your hot and cold are backwards when you finish, turn the water back off, pull the cartridge back out, turn it over 180 degrees and re-install it.
Delta Style Valves
One other base design that is carefully "washerless" was made noted by Delta and copied by some other makers. It uses small "cup" seals that fit over springs recessed in the back of the valve body. The springs press these "seals" against the cartridge and regulate the flow through small tapered openings in the cartridge. If you have one of these and it's dripping, changing these springs and seals will regularly accurate it. Here's a tip. Once you have the cartridge out of the way, insert a phillips screwdriver into the seal and pop both the seal and spring out. Stick the new ones on the end of the screwdriver to help guide them into place. This is especially helpful if you don't have long slender fingers.
Delta, and a few imitators, also have a faucet design that uses a ball instead of a cartridge. This is not as base in tub or shower valves but there are plenty of them out there. The springs and seals are the same but there are lots more o-rings an parts to deal with. The good news is that these parts are facilely available. While it's a small more complex than studying how to heal a Moen kitchen faucet, which is a piece of cake, it is still easier than working with most washer type faucets.
These Techniques Work In The Kitchen Too
Armed with the knowledge you've gained in this article you now not only know how to heal a shower faucet and to heal a leaking tub faucet, but you can apply these skills to many other faucets as well. After fixing a leaky bathtub faucet, stopping a dripping covering hose faucet will be a breeze. The techniques that you will use to unblemished a "washerless" bathtub faucet heal can be used when repairing newer style water faucets of all kinds. either you have an old dripping tub faucet or a newer kitchen faucet that just won't quite shut off you can now fix it. So put these new skills to use, roll up your sleeves and stop that drip!
Copyright 2008 Bryan Stevens
Bathtub Faucet mend Tips and Techniques
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