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keithnevols · Joined: 29 Jun 2004 Posts: 1 Location: Sittingbourne, Kent

Hello. About a month ago the hot water bath tap stopped working. You turn it and nothing comes out. A plumber came round and put a new washer on it. Although it was slow and had to be fully turned to get a reasonable flow, it worked until yesterday when it stopped again.

The pipe inside the bath leading to the tap is hot so can't be blocked, so the fault must be the tap itself, but I can't believe the new washer has broken again so quickly. Please advise me on possible faults so I can have a go at fixing it myself.

ITPC · Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:30 pm Post subject:

A couple of things that have worked for me in the past. Being the hot tap, turn the boiler / hot water heating off, draw off the hot water so you don't scald yourself.

I am assuming that other hot taps work fine.

Is there a service (ballofix style) valve near the tap? If so open the tap and rotate the service valve slot 90 degrees at a time - on then off for at least one revolution. If there is any debris in the hole thru the valve ball, then this might free the debris by "back-flushing".

If there taps are fairly standard, then isolate, remove the tap head to expose the tap valve. Put a thick sock around the tap body so that you can support the tap with large pliers or Shetac key and then see if you can remove the tap valve body. Get someone to hold a plastic container over the tap with the body removed. Then turn the isolation valve on for a few moments to see if the flow is good.

If you get good flow with the valve body removed, then I would personally go for a tap reviver. Tap revivers are available in at least 4 flavours! Traditional, metal, extended and acrylic. What you get is a pair of new valve bodies and a pair of new tap heads (handles). They cost around £10 to £20.

Effectively you are getting a new tap with a tap reviver - but without the hassle of all the installation.

Hope this helps.