It is good when such an important component of plumbing equipment as a mixer works for a long time and reliably (if the plumbing fixture is of high quality). But there is nothing eternal on earth. The day comes when it is necessary to repair the mixer or replace it with a new one, both in terms of technical parameters and in appearance. How to do it yourself? There is nothing easier! You will need a small set of tools and minimal skill.
You can buy a new faucet both in specialized plumbing stores and in hardware stores. It is better to choose the one where they will explain to you in an accessible way which mixer is better and why, than to buy, albeit inexpensively, but “a pig in a poke”. Immediately you need to pay attention to how the mixer is connected to the hot and cold water supply network. Remember: the miser pays twice, so choose a faucet that is close to ideal in terms of price and quality. Here you will be helped by the advice of a specialist - a seller or a manager. You need to know that cheap mixers are made of less resistant materials and short-lived (brass with some impurities). Most often, this manifests itself precisely when installing or replacing the mixer in the form of union nuts or other parts of the device that break from small efforts when unscrewing. The best faucet plumbing is made of stainless steel or brass.
From the tool kit you will need: a hammer, keys - gas and adjustable, electrical tape, fum-tape or tow.
If you change the faucet in the kitchen, then it is installed on the sink and comes with a pair of flexible hoses with fittings, on the one hand, which are screwed into the threaded holes of the faucet, and on the other hand, union nuts for connecting to hot and cold water pipes.
The process of replacing a faucet in the kitchen consists of the following steps
- It is necessary to close the water supply and carefully unscrew the nuts connecting the hoses to the pipes, unscrew the fittings from the mixer and unscrew the large nut that secures it to the sink, and remove the old appliance.
- Screw the fitting of one hose with a sealing gasket into the new mixer. Install the sealing ring on the threaded part of the mixer. Pass the flexible hose through the hole. Screw in the fitting of the second flexible hose from below.
- Install a rubber ring on the threaded part of the mixer body from below. Tighten the large nut to secure the faucet to the sink. This is done by hand, but the mixer body must be fixed firmly so that it does not rotate. Use the union nuts to connect the flexible hoses to the water supply pipes. When working with rubber seals, do not overtighten the nut or fitting. It is better to unscrew the fitting or nut and wrap it again by hand, and then hold out with a wrench. Then you need to slightly open the water supply taps and check the mixer for leaks and the correct operation of the elements. There should be no leakage when the valves are fully open. This means that the mixer is installed correctly.
How to replace bathroom faucet
- Shut off the water in the pipes. In the bathroom, the faucet is attached using couplings or union nuts, which must be unscrewed with an adjustable wrench, first shaking a little. Sometimes, before these light blows of the hammer, the nut or coupling is tapped for easier unscrewing. It is not worth applying very large efforts so as not to damage the pipes.
- Next, the old mixer is removed, and adapters - eccentrics - are turned out. It is necessary to do this very carefully, since they are made of brass, which is not very durable. If the adapter breaks, you need to cut the fragment remaining in the pipe into three or four parts with a piece of a hacksaw blade and then remove the pieces from the pipe. This is not a very pleasant, but necessary work. The internal thread of the pipe must be cleaned of rust, lime deposits and old winding. Then they lubricate the new eccentrics and run them through the thread a couple of times so that they twist effortlessly.
- For the tightness of the connection of pipes and eccentrics, it is necessary to wrap the threads with tow or fum tape, and then wrap them in pipes. It is very important to accurately adjust the horizontality and center distance of the eccentrics, then install the rubber gaskets and tighten the nuts or couplings to secure the mixer to the pipes. To protect nuts or couplings from dents and scratches, they are wrapped with two layers of electrical tape.
- We open the water, check for leaks and, if necessary, tighten the connections. Water must not leak out when the inlet taps are fully opened!
Of course, you can entrust this work to specialists. It will cost you 800-1000 rubles. But even in this case, it is better to control the process of replacing the faucet and the quality of the plumbing work yourself. Today there are a lot of such offers on the service market, from “a man for an hour” to a master from your housing office. But probably, a man should try to do it himself, since there is nothing complicated in such a process, but in any case, it is better for the fair sex to turn to professionals.
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