How to fix a dodgy tap that won't turn on properly 

Your smile could power the electricity for entire cities. And you happen to be a plumber, too. Two advantages in one. If you're not taken, ladies, form an orderly queue. If you are... lucky wife!

great video. thnks a lot. Saved me time and money. I could not figure out how to mend this problem. It's guys like you that keep the world turning. thanks

I’ve done this and the tap keeps sticking. Occurs every 2/3 months. But if a pain.

Thanks Hamish you have just saved me a call out fee etc , and I now know how to do it myself if it happens again , took this non plumber all of 30mins to sort it out . Great video , simple straightforward instructions in layman's terms , thanks once again .

Fantastic and easy to follow, though in-depth enough for an amateur DIY novice like me to follow without wondering where the missing steps were. Managed to repair a bathroom tap which had stopped flowing. Had previously stayed clear of trying for fear of messing things up. All-in-all, no concerns and took about twenty minutes to sort (probably really slow, but with little confidence in my ability and lack of knowledge, this was a great result!). Thanks so much for sharing this, Hamish. Definitely saved us a call out fee and repair cost at least, or worse, those plus the £70+ that the tap set is now retailing for. Thanks again.

Nice one! I have now done some Actual Plumbing for the first time in my life. Refreshingly, I fixed it better, rather than fixing it more broken, thanks to your excellent instructions.

Lots of videos on fixing cold water tap washers so nice to see this one on a common hot tap problem. I would have liked to see you protect the chrome work and sink from spanner damage though. Very easy for a diy-er to damage stuff.

Thank you Hamish. Tap had stopped working and after following your video, all working again

Sorry mate. You found the AREA of the problem, but not the cause! In your video, you threw away the actual cause at 2' 15". What happens is that the chamber above the washer-body fills with water (which you threw away), and when you try to open he tap, it locks up, because water is incompressible and it has nowhere to go. Had you simply re-assembled the tap, after discarding the water, it would have functioned correctly, for a while. No need to clean up and polish the inside at all! The problem is that this will keep on happening, over and over again. I used to have this problem on an older set of taps and thought I'd cured it when I changed to new tap bodies; and I did, but have now had to change the bodies again and the problem has returned. I need to find a way to let the water out of the chamber above the valve. I believe that the water gets in (I only ever have this problem with the hot tap) after running the hot tap and as it cools, the air inside the chamber contracts, drawing in a small amount of water, which stays there. After repeated uses, the chamber eventually fills up enough to lock the tap, preventing the washer holder rising up into the chamber, which is now partially filled with water. I am first going to try removing the O-ring that seals the chamber. If that works without causing any problems, I'll look for a longer term solution, like maybe a relief groove/hole of some sort. That is the cause of the problem; not dirt, or roughness.

I use a cut piece of old 'rubber bike inner tube' to wrap round the tap, as not to scratch the chrome finish with the spanner

Hi Hamish may I send you a pic of my 1960s Bolding cold tap? Going by what you said the washer may be ok so if that's the case can I clean valve myself?

It's always something simple. Cheers!!

Thank you. I thought I needed a new washer. When that didn’t work - I had no idea what was wrong until I saw your video. Fixed in minutes.

Thanks buddy I just fixed my tap. I wouldn't have attempted it without your video as I am uber cack handed.

Very useful One tip is to put the plug in before it swallows a screw. There are many different designs whixh all look v similar. My old taps would go on the new spindle so I had use the new mechaniisms as spares. Useful vid which gives confidence. But by golly I needed a good spanner and lots of strength

I got a problem I open the tap fully and the valve is locked open cannot free it I have to heat it with a blowtorch looks like the same cottage mechanism as what you're showing their

Thank you Hamish for your help in sorting out a single tap.

I have a new tap just like the one featured. The tap head keeps coming loose and I have to keep tightening it every three days. Can you advise?

Thanks for posting. Having watched your step by step instructional video I managed to remedy mine! Probably saved at least £100. A huge "Thanks" to you! I'll donate my saving to charity.

Thanks for this video. I was going to buy a new stem but thought I'd search for a possible fix before I part with my money and sure enough there was plenty of corrosion and grit inside. Cleaned it all out, applied some vaseline and is good as new.

good demo, but my heads spinning because of the spinning camera 😅

I had this exact problem. I followed your guidance and fixed it myself. Thanks Hamish!

Please help me how to remove bottom part which you’re cleaning

I've had an obsolete kitchen tap with low flow for a year, this sorted it in 10 minutes. Many thanks!!

There is a suspension bride on the thumbnail. Anyone know were it is.

If time is not a concern then you can also leave the valve to soak in descaler for 30 mins

thanks - really clear explanation, that'll definitely save me money. The challenge now is to work out how to do this when there is no isolator value on the plastic pipework!

Got our bath tap running again! Thank you so much for a clear, easy fix 👌

Can I use vaseline instead of that silicone thing you used?

Who runs your Fan Club, and what's the address?

Great video thanks a lot, you have saved me a lot of money!

Congratulations on the video! 👍

I think it would have been easier to just get a new tap.

Now I know how to fix my taps tomorrow. Thanks for that Hamish.

Instead of silicone grease, can u use vaseline

Thanks for posting this video. My hot water tap stopped running, so I followed your instructions to the letter and it's running perfectly now - thank you

Thank you so much, I’m useless at plumbing but this was a perfect guide to solve this exact problem. Thought it was an airlock but after doing this it works like new. Legend 👍

Thank You. I'll give this a go.

Thankyou, very helpful. 👍

the clip is too hard to remove ?

Thank you Hamish, my wife now thinks i'm a plumbing hero.......not sure that's a good thing actually

Can I use Vaseline instead of grease?

Thanks. You’ve solved my identical problem. Delighted.

Thanks, just solved an irritating tap that's bugged me for months.

I had put one together "without turning anticlockwise" and it would not turn on. After carefully watching this video I was able to fix it in a couple of minutes. Lifesaver! He made a subscriber out of me.

Wish I saw this earlier. I removed circlip and dissembled the gland. Re-greased and re-assembled. Should had given the inside a clean with wire wool to remove any scale. Maybe a job or another day when the issue arises again. thanks for posting the video.

Thanks for that Hamish. Just what I was looking for. Neither taps turned on at all. Now they do :)

mine was the tap itself installer hadn't seated it properly,so would only turn about 1/4 that was it,once seated properly works normally,or as it should

Ha! Hi Hamish. It,s ok my wife fixed the tap. What a surprise.

Thanks! Hot tap has been struggling for a while now, all it cost me was a can of wd40, a tub of grease and an iPad instead of a new set of taps

Thanks Hamish - worked perfectly, exactly as you described.

Thanks mate. Would never have figured out that grit was the problem. Sorted out an annoying kitchen tap finally! 5 ⭐ for you.

Congratulations and thanks. I spent hours watching YT vids on Tap probs, looking for someone to explain, the importance of turning the spindle anti clockwise ( fully open) before returning it to the Tap body. i was only getting a trickle of water, and only one turn, before it hit the fully open position.

Very helpful video, thank you. Can I just ask... what are you gripping underneath the tap to stop it turning at the beginning? The nut that secures it to the basin? The threaded section below that? Don't want to damage that thread, obviously, by using a mole wrench on it 'naked'. Thank you.

Good video, thanks 👍

Great video. Couldn't believe it was the same sink basin and taps as mine. I'd bought them from MFI 20-30 years ago, just before they shut down, and before planned obsolescence came in!!...

Thanks alot, just fixed my very slow running kitchen taps, too man 👍🏻

Thanks for the video. My kitchen tap was slow to start flowing then gushed and was stiff to turn off. This was exactly the problem. Cleaned up and greased and works like new now.

Just did this exact job. 20 mins start to finish. Couldn’t see any obvious but cleaned everything thoroughly and Hamish is your Plumber ...beats Bob everytime. Thank you !!!

Fantastic, cheers Hamish. I've just done both of the kitchen taps and they're working perfectly. They had been driving me mad for ages. 👍🏻

Hi, thanks for this. Is the principle the same for a deck mounted bath tap (traditional tap with screw down valve) showing the same issue?

Just saved us a trip to B&Q on a Saturday just by showing us the internal workings, the tap is now working again.

… I was quoted silly money to resolve , your video £5 from local plumbers for the grease , all sorted !!! Many thanks Hamish… 👍

You couldn't have made that easier , thanks for your help mate..fixed all the taps in the household now my partner will stop nagging for another week or 2

Awesome thanks!

Helpful video thanks, farted at 3:34 :)

Thanks Hamish, Plumber changed washers and told tennant that needs a new ta for the poor flow.. Would have to dismantle bathroom to get to it though so I'm hoping that as I suspected it would most likely be debris. Just fixed my own tap this way so was perturbed by the plumbers instructions. So your video has confirmed my suspicion. Thank you

Brilliant, hardly used the hot tap as I always shower.... Butt now the bath has got water again... For free ! Thanks thanks thanks

Brilliant! Just fixed one of my bath taps with this. Had no water coming out of it at all and it's fully functional again now 😁

Thanks Hamish. Quick trip to the hardware and have fixed my tap. Although I suspect it is quite old as it took a bit of effort to remove the spindle - it was proper stuck!

Crickey Hamish, I have been buying new ones on the advice of a plumber. Little did I know they were a bit dirty! I love all the technical terms for tap components.

Had this problem yesterday. I fiddled around with it until it worked. Now I know how it worked, and how to do it properly. Thanks!

Thank you it was great advice. I would like to know if the tap should be in an open or closed position before removing it to replace a washer? My hot water tap became stiff to turn after I replaced the washer.!!!

Perfect, I've got a completely different tap combo and this worked a treat. Nice one thanks and Merry Xmas

That solved my problem. Thank you very much.

Thanks Hamish. I have this problem bit on a very old sink/copper pipe. What do you do if you have no isolator?

Thank you so much. Had no hot water in the downstairs toilet for months now as couldn’t afford to replace taps. Watched your video once - 10 minutes and job done - including tightening other tap! Awesome! From a confident but novice DIY’er! Many many thanks!

On my sons bath mixer tap with shower head the shower works but there is nothing from both the taps it self can you give me how to fix

I'm really chuffed to have followed your video and fixed my tap! Thanks for your video

Great job Hamish i have replace the washer 3 times, now i know where the problem is

Excellent, 👍

Just used this to fix my bathroom mixer tap that had been slowing down for ages and decided to stop entirely this evening. Thanks for the video.

Thank you Hamish. Your video helped me fix my kitchen mixer tap. You are a superstar!

Hamish lad. You have saved two blokes considerable time and energy by showing us what we needed to do! TK & SB appreciate it! Legend.

Thank you so much!

My bath tap keeps turning but no grip; it doesn't open the water!

Thanks Hamish! Just fixed both my taps 🎉

Thanks Hamish, this video is the best one that deals with this problem. I tried to fix one just like it but the problem kept on happening. I now know to clean and grease the inside of the unit - will give it a go.

Nice one. Just saved me a few quid. Can this type of tap be replaced with a ceramic inner?

Had this lots of times in my house. The design of these inserts is crap they come out of sink

excellent video, i have this issue i believe and will now tackle it.

Thank you for the How to video, really helped me in a pinch

Is vaseline ok or bearing grease ? as We cant find silicon grease here tia

Good video, but if you find the headnut is stuck fast, look out for the easy tapslitter, makes it so much easier.

And thats why, you get THE MAN to fix it. Amen

Brilliant work well explained many thanks

Excellent, fixed my tap in a few minutes after watching this video.

Thanks, solved the problem by following your video.

Thank you. Easy to follow instructions, once I'd figured out how to get my bath tap off.

Worked a treat on my bathroom hot tap! Thanks.