Help wanted with dripping plastic swivel kitchen faucet please.

[cliveshep]

We live just North East of Bangkok and Min Buri and have a tap/faucet problem. We bought this older house 6 years ago and installed a UK type kitchen and 2 extra bathrooms - shower rooms - making a total of 4. We bought pretty much all the plumbing from Do Home, Home Pro and Thai Watsadu. All nice looking chromed taps and waste fittings.

 

Within a year or so the chrome had gone, the taps turned black, the wastes corroded and leaked. Inspection showed everything was an alloy casting. So bit by bit we replaced things as they failed. Then the kitchen swivel tap failed, dripping more and more so we had to change it. This is a problem because the stainless sink-top is a double bowl inset into a granite top. At the time the fittings were inaccessible to screw it down so it was bonded. Eventually we had changed every trap, every waste fitting, and every tap in the entire house at least once.

 

So we had little choice as our water was clearly so aggressive but once again bite the bullet and change everything for the 3rd time but this time we elected to use abs plastic fittings, Not as pretty but rather cheap, bathroom basin taps 99baht for example. And they are really good- they are not globe valves with a lever - they are screw down with a rubber washer and fully serviceable. The traps are plastic, the waste fittings are actually stainless steel an option not available initially. But we could not find a screw-down kitchen swivel faucet in plastic that had a screw-down valve with a rubber washer, only another lever operated globe valve.

So the inset double bowl and drainer has this plastic globe valve, and is once again for the 3rd time bonded down.

 

And the swine is dripping!

 

Now I suspect it is a ball with a slot through it and a shaft all bonded on that receives the lever - suspect only! I also suspect that a special threaded hut and sealing washer push it back into it's seating to keep it from dripping and that needs tightening. There seems no way to pull the lever off to see whet is behind it and if I use force and break it with a pump feeding the whole house I'll give myself major grief.

 

Has anyone ever stripped one of these very cheap plastic globe-faucets can advise if it is simply pull off the lever and tighten a gland nut behind it or not?

 

Otherwise I'll have to buy one and risk destroying it to take it apart to check how it comes apart - hardly an economical way to proceed! 

 

Thanks guys!

[JetsetBkk]

A picture is worth a thousand words.

[giddyup]

We bought our house new 11 years ago, all the inside taps and fittings are American Standard. Never replaced one in 11 years, not one drips either, and the chrome is still like new as well, so can wholly recommend that brand.

[cliveshep]

2 hours ago, JetsetBkk said:

A picture is worth a thousand words.

That's the one. The spinning aerator thing on the spout my wife added. Her favourite shop is the 20 baht one, buys loads of "tat" some of which is good value and some which is not. Still - happy wife=happy life right? 

But I buy loads of stuff like T-wrenches, zip ties, heat-shrink tubing etc. All good value!

 

Got any ideas on getting the lever off?

[cliveshep]

1 hour ago, giddyup said:

We bought our house new 11 years ago, all the inside taps and fittings are American Standard. Never replaced one in 11 years, not one drips either, and the chrome is still like new as well, so can wholly recommend that brand.

Don't know where you live but our water here is aggressive and very astringent - hurts your eyes, so your super-dooper expensive American Chrome would fare no better than our cheap one, Chemically Chromium is the same who ever uses it. Thai and Chinese stuff probably comes from Kazakhstan, no idea where the American one originates but it all comes from Chromite. Our water gets contaminated by sodium so causes galvanic reactions between the aluminium alloys and chromium used in common Thai taps and wastes.

 

Still need to know how to dismantle these cheap ABS taps if any one can help?

[stubuzz]

2 minutes ago, cliveshep said:

Still need to know how to dismantle these cheap ABS taps if any one can help?

They are throw away!

[cliveshep]

2 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

They are throw away!

You are probably right but removing and re-bonding the sink top is not desirable, sadly as the granite is top is also epoxied down onto the steel-framed aluminium-clad units. It is a bit of an exercise not normally required apart from <deleted> Chinese products forcing it.

 

So I really would like to fix it and leave the top on, sadly access to the threaded tail is blocked underneath or I'd simply change it. 

 

This is a long reply - ignore if you wish from here on. Nothing else happening today lol!

 

I'm a retired Construction Project Manager and my personal mission is keep occupied, so I learn new skills. 2 weeks ago I bought electric de-soldering tools from Lazada and some tiny push-to-make button switches and happily - <deleted> or bust - de-soldered and changed 4 programme switches on the programmer PCB module of our German coffee maker. Cost including tools to actually do the job £7 UK money and the machine is in daily use again. We had bought a Thai one in the meantime - it failed flooding the worktop after 2 weeks only - lesson there! My electric multi-meter failed - again Thai humidity was the culprit as with the coffee machine, de-soldered and cleaned components visibly corroded under a magnifier, now it's in use again.

 

American side-by side American Fridge-Freezer - compressor capacitor changed, fan panel, defrost heater, both thermistors changed (parts ordered amazingly from Lithuania), same  washing machine changed the pump,  (Amorn), drum bearings and seals changed - exact same part numbers used on Toyota gear-boxes - machine working daily again and costing under £10 (450 baht, not 30,000 for a replacement front loader). 

 

We bought two touch modules for bedside lamps that failed - 40 baht each Lazada, lamps working again, we changed the lounge wall clock motor 40 baht from Lazada.

 

The list goes on but when you are supporting others on your pension saving money on broken stuff you repair means more for them or more for us, We no longer employ builders - we all do it together. Recently changed out all the old rotting windows up and down for lovely powder-coated sliding aluminium ones all with mosquito screens. Bought a 9 inch diamond saw as the openings had to be sawn down 10mm wider and the bottom built up 100mm, house looks lovely, cost us 15000 baht for 10 windows, no leaks, draughts, insects or leaks. My wife is an invaluable partner in these things even though she is half my age - literally! 

 

We even built a 11 metre long extension together and I'm so proud of her - she did all the ceramic and porcelain tiling - I just did the diamond sawing for her and of course plumbing and electrics. Naturally I did the setting out and the steel frame and welding with my repaired UK mig welder (parts from Thailand of course), family mucked in to concrete base and over-site, walls we built together, roof we did together although having nearly died falling through it (I'm 76 with Arthritis) I'm now banned from going up there!

 

We even dug out and replaced our old cement fibre drains that had collapsed and replaced them with UPVC pipes, including breaking up the back patio, laying pipes, new manhole for new kitchen and bathroom, and re-laying back patio which herself then tiled all on her own.

 

Blowing my own trumpet here but seriously - our Western throw-away culture is wrong on so many levels. YouTube has how-to-do-it videos on almost anything and with stuff in Thailand readily available to repair even European things there is little excuse to not have a go! 

[Nojohndoe]

24 minutes ago, cliveshep said:

Don't know where you live but our water here is aggressive and very astringent - hurts your eyes, so your super-dooper expensive American Chrome would fare no better than our cheap one, Chemically Chromium is the same who ever uses it. Thai and Chinese stuff probably comes from Kazakhstan, no idea where the American one originates but it all comes from Chromite. Our water gets contaminated by sodium so causes galvanic reactions between the aluminium alloys and chromium used in common Thai taps and wastes.

 

Still need to know how to dismantle these cheap ABS taps if any one can help?

Looks same as one I have recently worked on. If is then the following worked.

The handle/knob/lever has a hidden screw under a cap that pops off/out easily using the point of a sharp knife. The shaft assembly is retained by a threaded insert that takes quite a bit to start unscrewing. I used a pair of long  nosed pliers to lock into the retainer.

The internals contain two ceramic parts (not  ball valve).

The leaking is due to the collapse of the o-rings that seal the shaft and apply contact pressure of the ceramic parts. Making sure the ceramic parts stay in proper position is the trick part. The cure is to replace the shaft o-ring ( I simply added a thinner one as a packer above the original and similarly to the o-ring seal on the assembly body). That one was very flat and at first attempt water leaked there but with a new one it was ok.  Screwed it tight by degrees to check leaks so as not to crush the ceramic disks. With handle refitted is now a little stiff to rotate but at least no leaks.

Originally I was expecting the problem to be scoring of surfaces.

BTW I also fitted this type of  faucet because metallic alloy ones basically "rotted".

Real brass or stainless probably would solve that but ..Yeah I'm a cheap Charlie ! 555

 

 

[cliveshep]

Thanks for that - I have seen the type you refer to with ceramic discs and this may well be that type. However, I'm a cheaper cheap-charlie than you as we chose this pink flower one as being cheap and pretty!

 

Had a close look at it - it is NOT as you suggest, there is no disc to prise off with a craft-knife blade to expose a screw, the lever is moulded in one piece and I pulled and pushed quite forcefully but no joy. No concealed grub screws, no plugged holes seen or felt. i think our friend is right - meant to be a throw away item.

 

In operation it turns a full 180 degrees from off to full on at 90 degrees to off again. So it points left or right for off and straight up for full on which is why I suspect it is a ball with a slot in it.

 

However, with no visible means of dismantling I'll have to replace it for the 4th time with something ABS that can be serviced.

[Nojohndoe]

4 minutes ago, cliveshep said:

Thanks for that - I have seen the type you refer to with ceramic discs and this may well be that type. However, I'm a cheaper cheap-charlie than you as we chose this pink flower one as being cheap and pretty!

 

Had a close look at it - it is NOT as you suggest, there is no disc to prise off with a craft-knife blade to expose a screw, the lever is moulded in one piece and I pulled and pushed quite forcefully but no joy. No concealed grub screws, no plugged holes seen or felt. i think our friend is right - meant to be a throw away item.

 

In operation it turns a full 180 degrees from off to full on at 90 degrees to off again. So it points left or right for off and straight up for full on which is why I suspect it is a ball with a slot in it.

 

However, with no visible means of dismantling I'll have to replace it for the 4th time with something ABS that can be serviced.

Oh ! It looks exactly the same except for the flower patterning. Ours can also be turned 180 degrees with off being at each end of rotation.. I wonder if the floral thing is an overlay that disguises access? I know it's galling to be denied the option of repair.

Failing all else I would drill a hole in the top of the knob large enough to insert a slim shafted screw driver just to check it out !

[Artisi]

Go buy a quality stainless steel unit for maybe less than a B1000, install it and sleep comfortably for a couple of years. My experience with the high quality units leaking is a build up of lime in the workings, pull it apart and scrap all the lime of the internals, this usually helps. 

[bbko]

On 12/17/2021 at 4:38 PM, cliveshep said:

sadly access to the threaded tail is blocked underneath or I'd simply change it. 

Would a basin wrench reach?  Available on Lazada super cheap.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/faucet-and-sink-installer-wrench-5-in-1-multi-purpose-tool-i1133146789-s2619266047.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.29.dff22f29ZLD5ca&search=1

 

[cliveshep]

Regarding basin wrenches - I got several sorts and they won't fit. The tap hole is located immediately above the central division in the steel framed floor unit, it had to be that way as the division fits between the two bowls. A notch accommodates the tail of the mixer and the flexi pipe connector so long as they are fitted before the top is bonded down to the granite top otherwise the bowls obstruct access. I "might" be able to forcibly unscrew the body from both swivel union and back-nut by holding them below and turning the tap - a big "might"! Anyway - Christmas comes first  now and if infected with "lazy-itis" lol.

[cliveshep]

On 12/17/2021 at 8:11 PM, Artisi said:

Go buy a quality stainless steel unit for maybe less than a B1000, install it and sleep comfortably for a couple of years. My experience with the high quality units leaking is a build up of lime in the workings, pull it apart and scrap all the lime of the internals, this usually helps. 

Got SIL needing medication and hospital treatment, plus medication for me plus feeding everyone's dogs, 4 adults, 3 cars, 4 cell phones etc and I'm stretched as I dug deep into the 400,000 immigration fund earlier to change all the windows to aluminium sliders, plus cars broke down etc so right now 1000 plus for yet another tap is not an option - money has to be in the bank by New Year and stay there and SIL got hospital then too. Good idea - will have to wait but even stainless steel I bet has some parts that could corrode. As for lime - not in such a short period of time I think.