Sunday 30 October 2022

How to fix a dripping bathroom tap



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CARTRIDGE SPLINE FINDER CARD TOOL - for measuring your cartridge to find a replacement
https://amzn.to/3fhB9sh - sorry, can only find this in the UK
ALLEN or HEX KEY SET
WD40 SPRAY

How to fix a dripping bathroom tap or faucet? Our bathroom taps were dripping, constantly leaking so I knew I had to do something like replacing the washers or O ring, but I've not done this for a very long time... So this video shows me repairing our dripping tap by replacing the whole mixer tap cartridge.

How I fixed our dripping tap: LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES



TRANSCRIPT: (CLICK PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE)

THIS IS THE TRANSCRIPT - CLICK PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE!
hello I'm Neil welcome back to the dad delivers Vlog where I try something new every day to make your family happy and today we're making your family happy here! 
we're back in the bathroom so we've already done the toilet seat and the toilet roll holder 
that's been a big success 
It’s look... it's wobbling just a little bit don't tell anyone 
the seat is holding out - the Ikea toilet seat is holding out but it is kind of cracking here 
so it's not wearing too well there and I don't know what we're doing to uh to cause that but fingers crossed that can hold out for another year 
and today we're now working our way around the bathroom because this video is all about this! 
yes it's the classic... the dripping tap 
I don't know how we've managed to avoid this for so long 
I knew when I started this Channel and I just wanted to record the little jobs that I do around the house - almost as proof that I do something now and again 
but this... I hope this day would not come and... and it's here... it's here now the tap is dripping 
obviously if I get this wrong we can expect a trip - an expensive trip - from Mr Plumber which I really really want to avoid 
and that's even if you can find a plumber 
we can't even find a plumber at the moment and I wouldn't bring a plumber into this situation but if I make a wrong turn or disable the tap like you know it could like drip quite more violently than it is at the moment 
it means that we're wasting water which is terrible for our water bills I mean the environment 
and most importantly at night the sound of this is really really annoying 
but here's the thing I've not done this in a long long time like I mean like decades 
so I don't know if I've even got the right tools I... 
I definitely haven't got the right washer the right o-ring that we'll need inside that tap 
the kids are home from school you can probably hear them in the background I've got it... [DOG BARKING] oh and that's Casper I don't think...
I don't think Casper is very happy with the kids 
he... he tells them off more than we do! 
he's a great dog 
I think the first thing I need to do is to shut off each pipe to each tap to work out which of the Taps are leaking 
maybe both of them are leaking! 
and to do that I'll need to get a screwdriver - a flat headed screwdriver - come with me down to the toolbox let's try in here
that one looks like a good one the... 
Casper's been chewing the end of it but I think that might be the one 
back up the stairs and we're lucky because we've got... we've actually got these shutoffs 
you might not have them 
this is the pipe for the hot tap so I'm going to turn this so that it shuts off the water 
I think if you just turn it like that... yes brilliant so that water's off
and it's still dripping fantastic! 
this is really good news because it means that it's the cold tap that's dripping not the hot tap so I'll probably turn this back on and then I'll go around the other side 
just get the lights 
and over to the cold tap pipe and I'll turn this sideways... and as if by Magic the leak has stopped 
so it's definitely coming from the cold tap which is on this side so the next thing that I need to do is to take off this thing 
I don't know what do you call it? it's like an indicator 
your tap obviously will be different but pop this off 
I know I'm going to get qualified plumbers in the comments telling me how I'm doing it wrong which is good! 
please leave me a comment and tell me how you would tackle this 
well maybe I need a small... oh there it goes yeah it's just... Levering it up and this comes off like this 
yeah fantastic and what's in there? 
that looks like a bit of an allen key job 
back downstairs to get the Allen key and good job I didn't tidy up the toolbox - Allen keys
so put the Allen key into the hole 
hey it’s too big - okay so this is classic dad delivers Vlog - the actual Allen key that I need is the one that is missing 
that's too big and this one's too small 
gotta get back to the Allen key collection  
oh you know I... I'm this close to throwing away all my Allen keys because I've got a really good Allen key set 
but it's a good job that I keep lots of old ones so let's try these ones now oh man 
these jobs would only take like two minutes if I did them properly 
okay that's way too big 
this is smaller this might be the one 
my options are getting Slimmer by the minute 
right now I'm going to turn... oh no it's not good 
oh yeah right so this is a tip I saw once 
close... put the plug in because if you drop something into the sink then that's bad news 
so I've... I've hit a wall before I've even started 
I've Got to Now not only get a washer and an O-ring but I've got to get an Allen key that's like this - but one will actually work 
there's only one place for this 
this is a place that we have in the UK called poundland 
you've probably got something similar in your country if you're not in the UK where everything in the store is one pound 
this is me wandering through the aisles trying to find an allen key set 
and I found the DIY section and oh my goodness 
this is what the one pound Allen key set is worth now 
oh my God £2.50? 
I don't know if things are like this wherever you're watching but the prices have definitely gone up 
but anyway I've got the... the Allen key so now back home to take it apart 
I was kind of hoping they would have O-rings or washers as well but they didn't 
there we go, brilliant - it's going
okay this is why it's definitely definitely worth putting the plug in so you don't drop any vital bits but this is what's come out 
Is that in Focus? oh it won't come off oh no... oh wait oh... oh there he's done 
right so now we're into this I guess the... the washer is inside here maybe 
I'm gonna try and undo this and see if there's something inside that needs replacing 
this might be the most difficult part of the job because the WD-40 is in here somewhere 
okay I've got this it's not quite as good because the wd40's got this really nice straw on the end of it so you can put it on really accurately and this? 
this just kind of sprays everywhere
Let's give this a go 
I guess it's cleaning the tap 
yeah I don't even know which way to turn the bolt around 
it's probably been here... I think it's been here since 1990 so it's about 30 years old 
okay I really do not want this to go snap!
brilliant I'll send you a picture 
all right then see in a minute bye bye 
so my my Unstoppable wife is at a DIY Superstore now - she just happens to be passing - but I can't... I can't tell her what rings to get 
I don't know what washers because I just can't get it open 
I'm going to send her a picture of what I've got so far and we'll see how that goes 
my brilliant wife did give me a tip off though that the WD-40 
I don't know how she knows these things 
but she said have a look in the cupboard in here 
oh there it is! 
how does she know these things? how do you do... how do you do that? 
I'm gonna watch this with her - this video - I'm gonna ask how... how did you... how did you know this was in here?!
it's only one thing for it - I'm gonna give it one really really hard turn 
I don't want it to fly off and hit me either
I did it! 
I did it! look at this Dad delivers success no, no not finished yet 
come closer look at it turn 
magnificent - whoa there we go - I'll be able to call my wife now oh
is it in there? oh where is it? where's the washer? so it's stuck in there [PHONE RINGS]
I've got it! I've got... I've done it so now I've kind of shredded the washer that's inside, I can't get the washer out 
I've got some O-rings of different sizes 
oh brilliant oh tweezers! do you know a tweezer, there have been some blue tweezers hanging around yeah?
yeah I was gonna do my eyebrows, I left them in the bathroom - on the glass thing - oh yeah of course yeah I moved them all right thanks okay alright bye! 
okay bye 
I can't get this washer out and it's coming out in bits 
there we go 
oh whoa look at that! that's what we needed! 
let me try to explain what happens next 
my wonderful wife came home with a load of washers 
none of them fit - it's just an O-ring! I just need an O-ring for this cartridge! 
the next day I went to the big DIY Superstore myself 
I didn't mind - it's a... it's a day out isn't it 
here I am pulling up after the 20 minute journey and it's quite exciting so I go to the plumbing section to see, well I had to find the plumbing section first to see the amazing array of products that might be able to help 
I don't know where to start 
what my wife did get me - which was absolutely crucial - was this! 
it's like a... it's like a guide so you can hold your cartridge up because obviously there are hundreds of these 
you hold your cartridge onto the card and you can measure some really specific things - it's now getting really complicated! 
I just want... I just wanted the O-ring 
I could not see any o-ring here 
I mean feel free to pause the footage - I would 
I don’t know where to begin! 
which means that the only thing I can do is to buy one of these! 
these cartridges and I don't know which one 
I mean I've done my measurements but there was only a small selection of a few on the shelf and they are 15 quid for literally... for an O-ring! 
I'm gonna have to replace the whole thing 
this stuck in my throat ever so slightly and I wasn't convinced that it was the right one 
the extra confusion is that this is blue because it's on the blue... the blue tap because it's for the cold tap so it opens anti-clockwise and closes... no 
so they only sell them in pairs and I only need one! 
it just felt like I'd be buying in a panic if I just grabbed this cartridge here and... and I don't need two of them as well - I just need one for the cold tap so I got a refund for the washers, came home and I found this page here 
a pair of them for... for half price so I ordered them and here they are! 
They’ve just arrived - I'm very excited 
now we can go into the bathroom and try this out 
this is getting to be a catchphrase on the channel isn't it 
what do we say 
it's never easy! 
I really want this done now as much as you do because look we've got pork chops! 
I've gotta... I've got to do this before the chops are ready 
so I've managed to tidy up and close this again... I managed to tidy up after Friday 
it's now Sunday 
we've been without a bathroom sink for two days 
this should be as easy as just screwing this into that hole 
and sorry my kids are playing electronic Monopoly at the moment so you might hear some shouting and some swears in the background sorry 
I'm going to try and get some of this water out here
actually oh it's probably not a good idea using tissue oh no 
oh this is trapped in here for all time 
That’s clean now 
let's try this 
so I'm hoping this will just screw in 
well it fits - I've got the right size one... oh this is looking too straightforward 
then I'll get my spanner oh this is looking very promising 
the next big test is to see if the tap handle fits onto this, so this has to be the right number of teeth is this gonna... this could still go very wrong
it's like Cinderella's slipper! it fits 
just make sure it's straight 
that's not straight oh man, now I can screw this on 
fingers crossed let me take you closer 
we'll get the crucial piece here and then I'll put this in right side up and I need to screw it tightly enough for the handle not to wobble
and finally I'll put the little top on for Elegance 
I'll just push that on - oh
Kids?! where are you? oh there you go 
kids please come see this 
come see what your old man's done 
how long did that take you 
two days and 10 pounds 
well it yeah it took a lot longer than I thought but you know, given I haven't done this before 
the final thing is - maybe you could do this - can you just turn that - yeah okay quarter turn... quarter turn? 
yeah which way 
oh okay you ready 
okay let's do... you do the cold tap, I do the hot tap oh go on, go on you do both
oh and is it dripping 
I'm calling this a dad delivers success! 
I win! I win!
No you don’t - I do! 
you and me are on such a voyage of Discovery thank you for making it to this point and if you're hitting the thumbs up or subscribe button thank you for being awesome and right here is what YouTube knows that you're gonna love next! 
we did it 
Can you please help my daddy get 10000 subscribers just click on his face thanks bye! alright this is gonna be the proper one right?


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