A leaking tap causes excessive water consumption and irritates with the sounds of falling drops. This makes it necessary to make repairs as soon as possible and insert new seals into the valve..
Modern taps are equipped with almost permanent ceramic seals. In older systems, rubber pads function, which wear out quickly. As a result, the tightness is broken and the well-known monotonous “drops” begins – the sound of water drops on the sink.
However, other seals can quickly age and wear out. Water begins to flow from places from which it should not flow. In this case, it is necessary to change the 0-rings – gaskets between the unscrewed upper part of the valve and the fixed body. It’s easy to change gaskets.
Before you start changing gaskets, you should shut off the water. To do this, turn both valves to the stop on the pipes extending from the riser and supplying cold and hot water to the apartment. The riser can be in the kitchen, bathroom or toilet..
Stock up on time with a set of different gaskets and seals so that you can carry out repairs in one go.
Remove the old gasket, insert a new one and, if necessary, secure it with a nut.
Attach the removed top part of the valve together with a new seal to the body.
Open the shut-off valve.
To replace the gaskets you will need:
- Set of rubber gaskets and fiber seals.
- Water wrench, screwdriver, pliers, knife for cutting the rubber seal.
The faucet is usually made of brass – a copper alloy. It does not rust, but it is quite soft. Therefore, the tap must be handled very carefully, especially when, to replace a worn seal, you will unscrew its upper part, that is, the valve
Unscrew the tight tap.
If the top of the faucet cannot be unscrewed, the following will help you: wrap the faucet with a rag and pour hot water on top. As a result of heating, the metal will expand slightly and the screw connection will yield to the connector. Sometimes it is enough to screw the top of the tap a little tighter to separate both threads..
Of the tools, you only need a plumbing wrench or an ordinary adjustable wrench, for which the width of the throat can be adjusted so that the cheeks for any size of the tap are constantly parallel to the hexagonal surface of its upper part. To prevent sharp notches from damaging the chrome finish, wrap the knot with a piece of thick cloth.
Even if the outside of the taps have completely different shapes, inside they hardly differ from each other, since they all function according to the same principle. The handle turns the valve, on the underside of which a rubber ring is attached as a seal. When the valve is closed, it is pressed against the valve seat. As a result, water access is cut off. The spindle located in the flow channel must be reinforced so that water does not flow out of the top of the tap.
In most models, the valve body consists of a fixed lower part and a twist-off upper part, on which a handle is attached. There are seals between both parts.
The figure shows the principle of the structure of a crane with a stationary water supply..
1 – flower plastic cap
2 – handle
3 – square with spindle
4 – stuffing box
5 – valve body with spindle
6 – valve plate
7 – sealing ring
8 – fastening nut
9 – valve body
10 – sealant
11 – nozzle
12 – mouthpiece
There is also a seal here, which has to be changed from time to time..
The most common rubber seals are under the valve plate. There are also sealing rings made of fibrous material. The fiber seals must fit exactly to the shape of the tap. Valve seals, if necessary, can be cut from rubber.
How to unscrew the top
Legacy cranes are divided into two main types: “rising” stem cranes and fixed valve cranes.
On cranes of the first type, when opening and closing, the handle rises and falls by a few millimeters.
Raised spindle crane. Currently cranes of this type are not installed.
Modern taps are designed as permanent valves.
It is possible to remove it and disconnect the valve only after unscrewing the protective cap. On cranes of the second type, the handle must first be lifted up; you will have to apply some force before the top of the valve can be unscrewed. To make it easier to do, wrap the part with a piece of thick fabric..
Check the slewing crane.
After disconnecting the transfer clutch, the rotary valve is removed. A piece of cloth will protect the clutch from a wrench.
On some models, you need to squeeze the retaining ring to disengage the rotary valve from the body.
The old seal is removed, the body and base of the slewing valve are cleaned of dirt.
A new seal is inserted, then the rotary valve with the retaining ring and the transfer clutch are reinstalled.
Replacing the seal (O-ring) on the leg of a rotary valve or on the valve poppet is relatively straightforward..
Even if there is a ring made of fibrous material that can withstand a large mechanical load, it also wears out over time..
To change the fiber ring, you must disconnect the transfer sleeve on the jib crane leg, pull out the seal underneath and replace it with a new one. Before this, it is not necessary to shut off the water in the riser or in the basement: when the valve is closed, after disconnecting the transfer clutch, only small drops of water flow out of the rotary valve.
If, when water is supplied, it appears on the leg of the rotary valve, this immediately indicates a malfunction of the seal. However, frequent turning may cause the overdrive clutch to loosen slightly..
Therefore, before starting more complex repairs, first tighten the transfer clutch and open the tap. If, in spite of this, water continues to flow out, you will have to change the fiber ring on the leg of the jib valve. When reassembling it, do not forget about the retaining ring.
How to change seals
If you are repairing a faucet and suddenly find that you do not have the appropriate size O-rings, you can do the following: clean the old O-ring and twist it once. Such a seal will still serve for some time, but it should still be changed. A piece of old bicycle tire can also become a temporary seal. Put the old seal on it and cut the part to the desired size.
The photographs show the stages of repair work carried out on the crane. First, the handle is removed, then the upper part of the tap is unscrewed, and only then the valve itself is removed.
Before starting this work, shut off the water in the riser. Other taps should be opened and closed only after residual water has flowed out. In this case, at the end of the repair and opening the shut-off valves on the riser, the pipes are again filled with water, and no air locks appear in them..
Depending on the type of valve, the spindle is removed either immediately or after separating the clamping ring from the top of the valve.
Check if you really need to replace the O-ring that seals the space between the valve and the top of the tap and which determines whether water will leak from the tap.
When disconnecting the valve, hold the valve body firmly so as not to damage the metal with the jaws of the adjustable wrench.
After you have detached the valve, remove all dirt from its seat, and also clean the valve body.
On some valves, the O-ring on the valve plate is held in place by a retaining nut. It must be unscrewed with pliers..
A worn-out sealing ring must be separated and replaced. This seal is easy to cut out yourself.
To replace the seal, you first need to separate the clamping ring, and then the spindle and the upper part of the valve.
Both 0-rings are visible on the sides of the spindle, which, however, are rare, but also have to be changed.
If the seal around the stem is in good condition and water is still leaking, try tightening the gland sleeve. It is quite possible that this will be enough.
Can you please provide a step-by-step guide on how to replace the seals in a tap?