Fixing garden taps

frankvw

frankvw

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I have several brass garden taps that all have the same problem: they leak around the stem (the vertical shaft attached to the T-shaped knob). Arrows in the image below indicate where the water comes out:

Taps.jpg

The tap on the left is a no-name one, the one on the right is a Cobra. I took them apart, expecting to find a perished O-ring or something similar that I could replace, but no. The no-name tap has two sections around the shaft that can be unscrewed (as shown on the photo) but the shaft won't come out no matter what I do, nor will the section with the washer (which spins freely). The Cobra tap has a single section around the shaft and the pin with the washer comes out, but that's it. I can't remove the shaft from that one, either.

The taps themselves close properly (no water dripping out when tap is closed) but when you open them water starts running out around the shaft as well, which is what I'm trying to fix.

It looks like I need to get the knob removed from the shaft somehow, and maybe then I'll be able to see if there used to be an O-ring or something similar that has packed up. Any ideas on how to do that? There's no screw or other visible fastening to be found anywhere.

These taps are not cheap, and it burns my @$$ to have to throw them away and buy new ones simply because of a perished gasket or O-ring. I'd expect to find that at least the Cobra tap should be repairable. I've seen replacement knob/stem/washer assemblies that I could replace the old ones with, but they're almost as expensive as an entire new tap (which makes sense given that the only thing that doesn't get replaced is the tap housing itself).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
 
There are spare parts for both cobra and generics, and they do sell the individual parts at Brights instore, problem was I did not know there was a difference between cobra and the no names, so did not take parts for either:

www.brights.co.za

COBRA SPARE CRUTCH STANDARD HEADPART 15MM

COBRA SPARE CRUTCH STANDARD HEADPART 15MM – High quality tap spare.
www.brights.co.za www.brights.co.za

I cannot find the internet listings. This is if you in Cape Town Northern Suburbs, but there should be decent hardware stores all around SA.
 
You dont have to replace the whole crutch, just one part. I am planning to go either tomorrow or Friday for the cobra part as that is the tap that I have. It was R79 if I recall.
 
rh1 said:
There are spare parts for both cobra and generics, and they do sell the individual parts at Brights instore, problem was I did not know there was a difference between cobra and the no names, so did not take parts for either:

www.brights.co.za

COBRA SPARE CRUTCH STANDARD HEADPART 15MM

COBRA SPARE CRUTCH STANDARD HEADPART 15MM – High quality tap spare.
www.brights.co.za www.brights.co.za

I cannot find the internet listings. This is if you in Cape Town Northern Suburbs, but there should be decent hardware stores all around SA.
Click to expand...
That's my point: R260 to replace the entire crutch assembly (read: everything except for the main tap housing) simply because a 10 cent rubber seal has perished and I can't get things opened up to replace that seal. Plus, a new tap is actually cheaper than the one at the above link.

But if I understand you correctly, this is designed not to be repairable?
 
Yeah pretty common issue. Was able to seal one with hemp. In plumbing section. That or the usual plumbers tape should sort you out
 
You do not disassemble your tap or nothing.
Turn tap open and see water coming out next to shaft. Then tighten this nut till water stops coming out. You should only need to tighten it a few mm. Do not tighten too much otherwise tap will be very tight to open and close.
1741189977104.png

Edit and I do not know if its still like that today but there used to be some carbon thingy in there. You did get replacements at some shops, but I have never found a tap that needed replacement, just a mm or 2 turn to tighten every year or two.
 
frankvw said:
That's my point: R260 to replace the entire crutch assembly (read: everything except for the main tap housing) simply because a 10 cent rubber seal has perished and I can't get things opened up to replace that seal. Plus, a new tap is actually cheaper than the one at the above link.

But if I understand you correctly, this is designed not to be repairable?
Click to expand...
Cobra has gone to hell in a handbasket. In the "olden days", when you had to replace the washer, you'd replace the shaft o-ring at the same time.
 
Jean Claude Vaaldamme said:
You do not disassemble your tap or nothing.
Turn tap open and see water coming out next to shaft. Then tighten this nut till water stops coming out. You should only need to tighten it a few mm. Do not tighten too much otherwise tap will be very tight to open and close.
View attachment 1801730

Edit and I do not know if its still like that today but there used to be some carbon thingy in there. You did get replacements at some shops, but I have never found a tap that needed replacement, just a mm or 2 turn to tighten every year or two.
Click to expand...
Just tried it. Had to tighten more than a couple of mm's, but stopped the leak. Simple and effective fix. Thanks
 
So just tried it.

You dont have to turn off the water. I did as I was not sure.

I decided to go with the teflon tape, as just tightening it a little, made it too tight to turn.

100% solid advice.
 
Too add, my outside tap, gets the most pressure as it is the first tap after the meter.

It does not leak, and I can use my gardena, to shut off water at the end of the hose pipe without any leaks. Before the tap would leak, if I close off the water.
 
Perfect timing for this post as i currently have a water pump pliers sitting at my taps to open and close them, now I know what to do.....
and
the taps were only installed a year ago....

Thank YoU!
 
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rh1 said:
Anyway, in the few moments since my last post, I checked my second tap at the back, and it was leaking out at the top, a bit of teflon tape, and viola, leak fix.

Once again, thank you @Jean Claude Vaaldamme and @IamNoone for the advice.
Click to expand...
Don't know why you open it to put teflon tape on. It already have something in there to seal, just turn that nut a small bit clockwise and you done in 5s
 
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Willie Trombone said:
Both actually.
Click to expand...
How so, that's a seat reseating tool?
rh1 said:
I tighten the nut just a little, but it (the tap) was too tight to turn, then only did I use the teflon tape. Which worked.
Click to expand...
The tap becoming tight after tightening the gland washer is common because the tap shaft gets excessively/unevenly worn and it will be fine when open but extremely tight when closed.

So you loosened the gland nut completely and slide it up the tap shaft and then wrapped ptfe tape above the existing gland washer and then tightened the nut back down?
 
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