water in tap problem

mickman

hi there

i have a mixer tap in my kitchen which was working fine until yesterday. but now there is cold water in in but no hot. all other taps in house are fine. any ideas whats causing this??

PeteHeat

Hi,

Possibly an air lock ?

Another possibility is dirt in the pipe which has made its way to the tap head and is now blocking the water from flowing.

If you can hold your hand on the tap and open both taps, then close the cold and see if the water runs from the the hot side.

.

mickman

wudnt an air lock cause it to splutter and cough etc?

there is just a constant trickle from the tap

when you say "If you can hold your hand on the tap and open both taps, then close the cold and see if the water runs from the the hot side."

how do i do this? do you mean with the tap taken apart?

darcy.jonny

the previous poster is correct . the most affective way to remove the dirt would be to screw out the tap spindal.

mickman

thanks guys. how do i do this?

i know the tap is kept in place by a half moon shape bracket under the sink and a screw keeping that in place. i loosed it last nite as you can loosen it with a screwdriver. i presume when i remove that and the bracket the tap will just lift off. where to go from there?? thanks

darcy.jonny

oh god man dont take the tap off thats the last thing to do .

screw it back together first lol ..

when thats done . put the paslm of your hand over the top of the nossle and squeeze tight (where the water comes out )

open the hot tap side as in turn on ......... then open the cold side ok. what ur trying to do is send the cold water into the hot side by blocking the tap off u will hear the water back filling through the hot tap do this for aproxx 20 secs. while still holding onto the tap!! turn off the cold side and remove your hand and the water flowing should be from the hot side ... it will splutter a bit so let it run for a while and should start to work fine .
try this a few times if it dosnt work

second method ....... get a big towel first , make sure the water in the hot system od cold ...... (this is a live opening of a tap) . on the tap head (where u turn to open ) the head should be removable . if you sent a pic ild advise you how to do it . after its off ull see a brass fitting screwed to the chrome tap use a spanner and turn this open at the base of it . .,, water should start coming out .. get your towel ready . put over the top and with you other hand screw it all the way open remove it about a 1/4 inch and quickly tighten it back up . this will remove any dirt in the system .

you can of course close off the cold supply to the cylinder (making sure to turn off a pump if fitted ) and carry out the procedure ... the problem ive had doing this over the years is that the dirt tends not to come out .

mickman

thanks

its this kind of tap / more or less.

http://images.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=https://www.plumb-point.co.uk/taps-1/mayfair-taps-258/cosmos-354/mayfair-cosmos-basin-mixer-12600-9694_zoom.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.plumb-point.co.uk/taps-1/mayfair-taps-258/cosmos-354/mayfair-cosmos-basin-mixer-12600.htm&usg=__0De021kFflP6G8zDGi7wyOBPpME=&h=750&w=750&sz=33&hl=en&start=32&sig2=EfDxsO0zsRTWMsYixwNRdg&um=1&tbnid=lR9mCgwNg2p9cM:&tbnh=141&tbnw=141&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpictures%2Bof%2Bmixer%2Btaps%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18%26um%3D1&ei=5oVUSqmVHIm1sgaUxKTSBw

darcy.jonny

u see where there is a tittle blue and red indicator on the tap a lil plastic fella ?? pop that off with a very small and sharp screwdriver / knife ........... look inside and you will see a small grub screw that gets opened by a small allen key . now the processes on that tap is different , see us plumbers differenciate between sink mixers (kitchen only ) and basin mixers ( bathroom) thats a single head mixer which can be found in both but its not the norm if you get my drift


to do the first method mentiioned above .... set the tap in the middle and push up which will allow the cold to enter the hot while holding ur hand over it ..... turn it to the hot side and remove the hand

to open that tap is a lil different remove the head by way of allen screwas i said pullit up and off . then there will be a plastic and brass fitting inside a rather large one at that to open first remove the chrome ring at the top (its large looks like its part of the tap ) then ull see what would look like a large nut open that very carefully when its off lift up the plastis fitting slowley and be careful not to disturb the washers .

im my opinion if the first method dont work get a plumber those taps will be a knightmare toput back together if you dont know what you doing u could flood the place

mickman

darcy

fixed the tap at lunch using method one. it only took a few seconds to get going .thanks so much for your help. i really appreciate it. what causes that in the first place?

darcy.jonny

air lock in the system usually from the storage tank draining down

mickman

must have been last week so when i turned off the mains for 24 hours. thanks again