How to fix a dripping handheld showerhead?

[Stevelkt]

Hi,

A couple of months ago, I engaged a plumber to replace the jumper valves in my shower taps to stop my hand held shower head from dripping after the taps were turned off. He used half inch jumper valves and had to force them into the spindle with a bit of difficulty because the thick plastic stem of the valves could not fit the hole in the spindle. After reassembling the taps he turned them off with force very quickly and there were no drips. Later when I turned on the taps, I felt that they had been over tightened. When I turned them off, the taps would reach a locked position (can’t turn anymore even with force) but the shower head would still drip. In order to stop the drip, I had to over tighten the tap by turning the taps on again and turning them off with a quick and forcefully twist. In doing this the tap went past the locked position by about 25 degrees.

1. Could this have been caused by the stem of the jumper valves not having free movement when turning the taps on and off since they were jammed into the spindle? And instead  of being pushed into the seat, they are instead being screwed into the seat? I’m  not  sure about  the spindle mechanism but in the illustration does the part labelled A move in and out or turns when the tap is turned on and off?  
2. Will operating the tap this way by over tightening damage the seat of the tap connection?

I would appreciate your insight and advice on this problem.

Thank you.

SteveIllustration

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @Stevelkt 

Part A of your spindle should turn as it goes down as per normal.   I cant see why it would matter if the valve stems are  pushed into the spindle and are lock in and  turning to. (They might wear out quicker as such).

I really sounds like the  valves are a poor fit against the seat is the only way you can  have water leak and weird having to rapidly close a tap to seal water. 

Plumber might have being running low on his usual seals and you ended up with poorly fitting seals, ?

I would shut of the water and take the tap off you have seen how its  done  now.  Eye ball the valves and see if they fit across the seat.  and look for  damage on the valves. get new valves a  better fit.

I have a collection of  valves  they dont all fit all tap seats well. I use the ones that best fit and work well .

Ithink  this is your situation.

[DIYGnome]

Hello @Stevelkt I would have to agree with @Jewelleryrescue as it sounds like a poor fitment issue, the valves should turn freely in the recess at the bottom of the tap shaft (indicated A in your image) as you tighten it to stop the water flow, this is the intended design as it permits a downwards force to be applied to the valve without a sheering force on the face of the valve. 



I too have a selection of valves I mix and match to suit the installation. 

I am wondering what the valve seat face in the tap body is like, resurfacing may be required with a tap reseating kit (very handy to have). 

 https://www.bunnings.com.au/fix-a-tap-13mm-1-2-tradesmen-tap-reseater_p4923501

[Stevelkt]

Hi @Jewelleryrescue, @DIYGnome 

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and suggestions on this problem.

I think it’s a good idea to replace the valves with better fitting ones. However, since they have been forcefully pushed into the spindle, there is a risk that the plastic stem of the valve could  break off in the process of pulling them off. Then I would end up having to replace the spindles or taps as well. I guess it’s a risk I have to take. Fingers crossed.

From your experience, do bathroom shower taps like mine take 12 mm or 13 mm valves? I notice there is a much greater variety of 12 mm valves at Bunnings.

II

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @Stevelkt 

If the plastic  valves  break of in spindle just drill the plastic out with a  smaller drill bit and this will allow it to easlily come out. as it is a smaller drill bit tto spindle hole it wont be  rebored either,

Also take you spindle to  bunnings  and try see if smaller shaft plastic valves  are avaliable to fit..

Hope your  problem  fixed soon.

[DIYGnome]

Hello @Stevelkt I would agree with @Jewelleryrescue regarding the drilling out process if everything goes south removing the tap washer, multigrips/pliers could also work should there be sufficient shaft protruding.

12mm or 13mm is really just a manufacturer labelling preference as both will proclaim to to be 1/2 Inch, there are various sizes but these 2 are interchangeable in my experience.

https://fixatap.com.au/taps/tap-valves/

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Stevelkt,

Some great advice from our knowledgeable members and I agree with everything they've said. Tap valves are somewhat universal, so I'm not sure why the ones installed need to be jammed in. I suspect it could be a combination of ill-fitting valves and your seats needing to be reground.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Mitchell