How to fix the valve yourself and at no cost

Sometimes the replacement of the faucet may be too big a budget problem, so it is quite natural that the tenants have a question about how to fix the tap in the kitchen or in the bathroom. By and large, repair of valves and fittings is possible, but you will, first of all, have to understand its device.

That is, the locking mechanism may consist of a ball valve, cartridge, as well as a worm or ceramic crane box. Let's look at these devices together, find out what can be done and see a comprehensive video on this topic in this article.

Different cranes

Offset Definition

• It is quite easy to determine the ball locking mechanism - in everyday life it is used as a walk-through or angle tap and as a regulating knob it has a check mark, as in the photo above or a lever. Such devices are strictly half-turn - is there exactly 180 between the position of full closing and full opening? - usually. On the case there are limiters.

• If you have a single-lever mixer in your kitchen or bathroom - you can be sure - there is a plastic or ceramic cartridge as a constipation and a question how to fix it - if the faucet runs, it will be focused on the cartridge. Such mixers are now most common - they are very convenient, they are easily mounted to the sink or even in a box or booth, where the faucet comes with a shower outlet (with or without a spout).

• If you are interested in how to fix it - if the faucet in the kitchen and in the bathroom flows and at the same time the faucet has two lambs for cold and hot water, it means that there is a faucet-box with a ceramic pair as a locking mechanism. For some reason, such mixers are also considered to be half-turn, although in most cases the turnover of the lamb from fully open to fully closed position and vice versa is almost 360 ?.

• In houses without hot water supply, when they were commissioned, in 99% of cases, it was such brass and sometimes even silumin cold water taps that you see in the photo above were used. They are used in our time, moreover, not only in the kitchen or in the bathroom, but, for example, on the street, in the outbuildings, and so on — there, in any case, the flow of water is regulated by a bush with a worm gear.

Ball valves

Note. It should be remembered that not all locking mechanisms are subject to repair or partial replacement of parts. In some cases, such devices need to be simply replaced with new ones.

So let's start by fixing the ball valve if it flows?

First of all, it should be noted that the ball stop valve is made through the type and the flow, as a rule, arises from under the body, which means that the reason is either in poor-quality winding or in a crack.

1. In the first case, you can remove the device and repack it.
2. And here, in the second case, the complete replacement of the mechanism is necessary.

It happens that the ball lock just does not hold (trickle or digging in) - in this case, the cause may be salt and lime deposits, which means that you need to dismantle and completely disassemble the valves.

After that, clean the case from the inside - most likely the ball simply does not complete its working cycle - pack it all over again. In case of wear or damage to the ball (this is extremely rare), the instruction manual does not provide for its replacement.

Cartridges

Now let's see how to fix the current tap with a plastic or ceramic cartridge (the cartridge itself cannot be repaired, so only its replacement is possible). First of all, after you shut off the hot and cold water supply, you will need to remove the handle (adjustment lever) from the joystick case.

To do this, remove the red-blue cap from the case, which is under the handle, and there you will see the screw, which you will need to turn three turns to the left - after that the lever should be removed, although if there was a leak, then it is very likely that it will go enough tight.

After that, you need to unscrew the decorative nut (left), and then another, locknut, which fixes the insides in the body. Now you can take out the cartridge and buy a new one in the store - a replacement will be enough for a complete repair - assemble the mixer back.

Only when buying is best to take with you the old cartridge, so as not to be mistaken - they have different size numbers.

Cranes

To begin, remove the lamb - in the center of the handle there is a decorative cap that you need to pry off with a screwdriver or a knife for dismantling, and under it you will see a bolt to be unscrewed (see also the article Learning how to replace the crane).

But if your leakage did not occur through the spout, but through the upper part of the body, then try using your hands to tighten the locknut a little harder and it is quite possible that the malfunction will be eliminated. If it was not possible to eliminate the lock tightening, then proceed to the next step.

But the next stage will begin with loosening the lock nut (left), but it is possible that the axle box will start spinning too, therefore, either temporarily wear a lamb, or fix the rod with the pliers for the time of unscrewing.

When the nut is dismantled, you can pull the bush (for the stem) out of the body. If it does not give in, then there may be a retaining ring that needs to be removed.

Now we will disassemble the crane axle box and for this we remove the retaining ring from the rod - it holds it so that it does not fall down. Then push out a ceramic pair with a rubber sealing ring using a rod, and if it does not work out, apply 5-6 light strokes with a screwdriver handle on the stem.

A possible difficulty in this process is a consequence of the sedimentation of salts and lime scale on the surface of parts.

Pay attention to the top photo - there you see where exactly you need to stick two or three layers of electrical tape on the top of the ceramic pair - this will increase the distance between the ceramic and the rod, therefore, the pressure on the rubber ring will increase and the flow will disappear.

You can also compensate for the thickness of the flattened rubber ring, if you make a copper wire washer and substitute it in the planting bowl, the effect will be the same. Do not forget to clean the parts from lime.

After that, collect everything in the reverse order and try to open the water - if the leakage is not eliminated, then you need to change the faucet box, especially since its price is not big.

To repair the worm axle box, you need to do the same steps for dismantling and disassembling it. Only here you will have to replace the rubber valve with a new one - you can cut it out of a piece of thick, dense rubber, or buy it in a store selling sanitary ware. One-piece such valves are most likely not sold, then buy a dozen - they cost a penny.

Attention. When repairing any kind of faucet or mixer, be sure to turn off the water - the tap is in front of the water meter!

Conclusion

Now you know almost all the ways how to fix a water faucet of any type. However, in the process of work, you may find something new - this is quite natural, because the person’s imagination is limitless!