Is the faucet leaking in the bathroom? It doesn’t matter, we will help you deal with the problem and teach you how to quickly fix a leaking faucet, for whatever reason it occurs.
Faucet leakage is a serious problem., but it is such only in two cases: if you don’t know how to repair the crane, and if you delay with the repair. In the first case, a leak from a faucet hits the nerves and constantly bothers with unpleasant sounds, in the second case, it can lead to even more trouble, for example, failure of the faucet and plaque on the sink or bathroom. To solve our problem in one fell swoop, you just need to repair the crane, which is not so difficult to do.
Why is the faucet leaking?
First of all, we need to find the cause of the leak in order to know which part of the mixer to repair. Most often, these are the usual problems with the gasket, oil seal, standard wear of the mixer due to many years of service, or factory defects. Let's analyze each of them in detail, find out why the tap is flowing, and try to solve the issue on our own.
Faucet leaking due to gasket wear
This is perhaps the most common cause of a leaky faucet. The gasket is a small rubber seal in the faucet system. With long-term contact with water, it tends to deteriorate. It happens that the replacement of gaskets in the crane occurs only after a few years of service, it happens after 5-7 years, but this is in the case of high quality of the crane and low wear of the gasket, which is extremely rare. In most cases, gaskets need to be changed a little more often.
So, the rubber gasket of the tap is constantly in contact with water and metal elements, some pressure is applied to it, at times, the gasket dries up. As a result of a certain time of use, the gasket deteriorates and the tap begins to leak, even if it is tightly closed.
Another indicator of gasket wear is unpleasant noises from the bathroom when the faucet hums. This happens if the gasket changes in size due to wear, flattens and vibrates under strong water pressure, making similar sounds.
In any case, there is only one way out of these situations - to change the gaskets in the tap. To do this is very simple, following some sequence:
- Shut off the water supply to the "wet point";
- Disassemble the mixer with a simple tool and take out the worn rubber gasket;
- Get exactly the same in a hardware or plumbing store (if you don’t have spare gaskets left);
- Install a new rubber gasket in place of the old one;
- Collect the crane back.
That's all, now you just need to check the work, turn on the water and watch the tap for 3-5 minutes. It should not emit sounds that were previously and should not dig when closed.
Faucet leaking due to faucet wear
If the work was in vain, and the crane continues to dig or buzz, you need to check your work. Unscrew the tap and get to the gasket, it is quite possible that it burst, was originally of poor quality or was installed crookedly. If this is not the case, the cause of the leakage is the wear of the mixer. After serving for a certain time, modern plumbing equipment comes into an unusable state (such quality is now), and therefore, you will have to spend more money than on a simple gasket, and pick up a new faucet for the bathroom.
Try to get it as close as possible to the old one in terms of parameters so that the installation goes smoothly, but choose a quality faucet so that you don’t have to bother with it in the future. Installation of the mixer is very simple, and we have already mentioned it on our website.
Faucet leaking due to seal wear
Often a situation arises when everything is in order with the tap in the closed position, but as soon as you unscrew it for water to flow, it starts to flow not only where it is needed, but also ooze from under the valves. The reason for this is the wear of the stuffing box or a special gland packing, which can also be corrected independently.
you need to take a suitable, or just an adjustable wrench, and unscrew the stuffing box nut. Then, replace the stuffing box or use the old-fashioned method - screw tow on the valve stem, well greased or other lubricant, for example, grease. Gradually winding the tow with a thin layer, it is necessary to tighten the nut and tighten it a little with a wrench, but only so that the water stops oozing and the tap turns as easily as in the new state.
The faucet is leaking due to a factory defect
It also happens that the faucet flows for no reason. You inspect it, change the gaskets, tighten the nuts, but the problem does not go away, because the reason is a factory defect: the sealant is dry, its size does not match, there is a low-quality element inside the mixer with a chip, crack, and so on. There is only one solution to the problem - urgently go to the store with a purchase receipt, look for the seller who gave you the product, or the department manager, and quickly change the damaged tap to a new one.
When installing a faucet on a sink or bathtub, be very careful. Chips, scratches, scuffs should not be allowed, as this can affect not only the operation of the crane, but also cause a scandal. If suddenly you got a mixer with factory defects, and external mechanical damage was found on it during replacement, the product is unlikely to be replaced for you.
Whatever the reasons for the leakage of the tap or the mixer itself, the digging of the pipe at the junction, there are questions that our readers ask along the way. And, indeed, it is simply unrealistic to deal with them without certain knowledge, because how do we know why water does not run at all or runs rusty. Now we will answer all the questions to help you deal with the problem.
Question answer
What to do if cold water flows from the tap?
Firstly, it may be a leak, which we have already talked about, which means that it is necessary to check the gaskets. Secondly, check the stuffing box or even calculate how long the faucet has already served, maybe it just became unusable.
Hot water flows from a cold faucet
This is a fairly common problem, especially in older high-rise buildings, due to pressure differences in the risers. At some point, the pressure of the hot water pushes the water into the cold riser and you experience a similar phenomenon. The problem is solved by installing check valves, but since it is necessary to do this for each apartment separately, so far these are only utopian dreams. But, you can solve the issue by installing meters locally, because such valves are already provided in modern equipment.
Poor water flow from the faucet
Perhaps this is for a number of reasons - the filter is clogged, the water pressure has dropped, the aerator on the mixer spout is clogged, or in general, it's time to change the pipes to new ones, metal-plastic or polypropylene.
Rusty water flows from the tap
If we talk about private houses, then we can mention ferrocompounds, which, rising to the surface, actively oxidize and change the color of the water. But in high-rise buildings, the cause of rusty water in the faucet can only be an accident on the line, replacement of pipes and so on. If the problem becomes constant, and dirty water has been flowing from the tap for several days, be sure to contact the housing and communal services with a written complaint.
What to do if the ball valve is leaking?
It happens that a ball valve is leaking, but this is also not a problem, although solving the issue is a little more difficult. The reason, most often, is debris in the water, of which there is plenty in our pipes, that's what you will need to clean out of the cartridge.
What to do if the ceramic faucet is leaking?
The same as with a standard faucet - change the gasket. If the faucet box continues to flow, it will be necessary to change it to a new faucet box entirely, simply by removing it from the mixer body. It is not expensive.
Now that you truly understand what to do if the faucet is leaking, we can leave you alone with the solution of the question so that you can practice a little. Don't worry, faucet maintenance is not too difficult, as you may have seen while studying our material, but, naturally, there are more difficult problems, for example, if you do not know the design of the faucet or cannot determine why the water is flowing from the tap. In this case, we recommend using the help of a qualified plumber.
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