A faucet is leaking: what to do, how to fix it?
If it suddenly starts to leak from the tap, or it constantly undermines, it is not necessary to immediately contact a plumber to fix the malfunction. You can also troubleshoot the crane yourself.
Moreover, making minor repairs to a crane with your own hands is often easier than changing it to a new crane.
Important!
Before repairing, turn off the water supply to the mixer, otherwise you will flood not only yourself, but also your neighbors.
Reasons for valve leakage and repair
Why does rusty water flow from the tap? Why is water dripping from the faucet tube, even if you carefully turned the faucet back on? There are reasons for this:
Rusty water flows from the tap
Valve gasket wear
This is the more common reason yellow water is leaking from the tap. The leak starts due to its too strong twisting.
Gasket wear
The recipe for repairing a water tap is to install a new gasket. Better to buy - these kits are sold in stores - but you can cut it out of a sheet of rubber.
The crane is repaired as follows:
First, unscrew the valve body. You need to rotate counterclockwise. The old gasket is pulled out, in place of which a new one is installed. After that, the seal is wound up to the stop of the edge of the seal, and with a wrench, the valve is screwed back in.
The sealant is of two types. There is a seal in the form of a rubber gasket, which is located under the valve. And then there are fibrous O-rings that should fit the shape of the faucet.
Worn seal (stuffing box)
The gland seal is worn
When the tap is closed, the rusty water does not flow, and if it is open, it immediately begins to flow. Why does yellow water flow when the tap is open? The answer is that the gasket seal has worn out, thereby depressurization has occurred.
PTFE seals
Repair of the crane is as follows:
First you need to purchase a gland seal or you can make it yourself from a PTFE sealing plate.
A seal in the form of a plate can be bought for about 450 rubles. The PTFE seal is resistant to chemicals other than chlorine. Also, gaskets made of a PTFE sealing plate do not stick and do not stick to the valve body, that is, they can be easily removed, in case of repair, without damaging.
Then unscrew the stuffing box nut with a screwdriver and put a seal inside the stuffing box. Then the seal is tightly wound on the valve stem, and the nut is returned to its place, checking the operation of the valve. It should turn easily and smoothly.
Nuances of repairing a crane with a ball mixer
Repairing a ball valve can be difficult.
The reason for the leakage of the valve is often this - debris got into the ball cartridge between the steel ball and the rubber seats.
Repair of the crane consists in its disassembly, cleaning and assembly:
1. First, unscrew the screw that holds the lever.
Unscrewing the screw holding the valve arm
2. The lever body is removed by slightly pulling and loosening upwards.
3. The resulting threaded connection is unscrewed with a screwdriver, the tap cover is removed and the plastic part located under the cover is removed.
If there is plaque on the gasket of the valve gland, then it is carefully removed with vinegar diluted in water, or with a common faucet cleaner.
4. Take out the hollow ball. If it is damaged, then the entire valve will have to be replaced, since the ball is usually not sold separately. If the ball is in order, then it is rinsed with water.
5. Then remove the seal by picking it up with a screwdriver.
6. Old seals are replaced with new ones. They are immediately lubricated with a special seal lubricant available from the Plumbing Store.
7. The next stage in the repair of a water tap is its assembly. First, the ball is installed in place, and then the valve body and flywheel. Next - connecting the water and checking the tightness of the connections.
