Faucets
 

Well, this sure ain't car-related.
Cheapskate that I am (and not fond of doing plumbing under vanities), I've never changed my bathroom faucets to washerless type, which has meant fairly frequent replacement of faucet washers. During the most recent replacement, I got to thinking about why they fail (after 32 years in this house... duh...). I concluded that there's a fundamental design flaw- nothing prevents ham-fisted-Harry from cranking them down HARD and damaging the washer- and then the next person has to crank even harder to stop the drip, etc. So I did some measuring and came up with precision shims (actually just carefully selected steel washers) that provide a positive travel-stop just a whisker beyond where they totally shut off the flow. That was about two months ago, and still not a drop from them- I think I'm onto something!

Better get a Patent for that!!!!

I just replaced the ceramic faucet stems for my American Standard bathroom faucet.
35 bucks!!!
Keep the washers...............................

Take a flashlight, look down in where the washer/stem thread in & check the seats. Could be that they are all pitted up or corroded. This will make you go through washers like crazy. You can replace them really cheap. You need a seat wrench to get them out. Not too expensive either. A BIG allen type wrench with square instead of hex end on it. Wrap it sharply with stout metal instrument to loosen seat, take to real plumbing supply store to find correct one & replace.

Serious ????? does this apply to antique faucets as well. how about the lead ball supply tubes is there a replacement for those as well???

I've put new seats into my faucets probably about a dozen times in the last 32 years. The last few times I used non-metallic seats (nylon?) which don't corrode. Washer life was only slightly better with these seats.
What I have yet to do (mainly out of curiosity), is to look at whether "better" faucet sets (washer-type) actually did incorporate a positive travel stop that mine didn't.

Yep. Old faucets have seats. Most were brass. I have not seen the nylon replacements but have seen nickel plated. Been a few years since I have had to do this. I don't know if it does any good or not, but I grease all the threads with petroleum jelly when I replace anything in these old faucets in the hopes of making it easier next time. Seems to work.

You wont find this stuff at Lowe's & Home Depot though. You have to go to actual plumbing supply places or old hardware stores with people who know something. I know this might not seem possible depending on your location, but it saves a ton. Find the supply house first, & then take the seats with you to make sure of a match. Danco is one manufacturer that makes a bunch of replacement seats & stems. If washers were ever allowed to go too far or cranked down as described above seats are often scored or damaged.

Jack i think you are on to something also.

Still good after seven months.

More than a year now- still goin' strong!

After 15 months, finally had to tinker with one faucet- the downstairs 'hot' that gets a ton of use. I had to adjust the positive stop down about .010". Could I have originally set the stop at that point and gotten the same 15 months of service- I don't really know. But that same faucet used to go through a couple of sealing washers a year.

I'm not exactly visualizing where you're putting the washer to stop travel.

Between the top of the stem retaining nut and the bottom of the handle-hub (which locks onto the stem with a pair of setscrews). The whole stem/handle travels downward when turning toward 'OFF'.

Ok, I see what you mean now. Add a stack of shims and keep removing them until it just shuts off. Good idea.

my local Ace hardware and H-D sells seats for faucets .

Umm... you got something against reading a thread before posting???

It would of been nice to have known this a few years ago before a couple of the kids were grown/gone. Was replacing washers and seats in the tub at least every two months. Told them over and over to just cut it off, the drip would stop in a minute. Next time I'ld go in there, it would take two hands to turn the water on.

Anyhow that's behind us but we've took in a new one to raise. And believe it or not, the locked tight, torqued down knobs have returned.

New story: Late one Sunday evening noticed the hot water in the tub running a steady stream. Knob cranked tight as (it was tight), and the washer crushed gone. Cut the water off to the house and took it all apart. Always kept washers and seats on hand, this time had seats but no washers and every place was closed. Had to do something, even if it was just for the night. Got in the car stuff and found a nylon insulator/washer that with a little filing fit.
After putting it back together, off was a positive stop. Been nearly two years and no problem.
Now the stem is finally wore out and water drips from behind the knob when it's own. It still doesn't drip when you cut it off.
Fixing to put in all new.

Yeah, as I said in my original post, it took me 32 years to step back and analyze the problem! Although my kids are also grown and gone, the downstairs-bath hot-water faucet still gets a workout. So at least I'm getting some payback from it. I haven't gotten around to looking for whether there are any positive-stop poppet-valve faucets available- anybody know?

Two years as of yesterday. Still going great on the same washers/seats. Just required that one adjustment back in November '08.

LOL!

Your faucet has officially been "hot rodded"!

I've always said "...car guys can fix anything...".


K

Five and a half years now on the same set of washers. Had to tweak the stop on one of them about a year ago.

Pretty cool how a thread about a faucet dripping could have such a long time frame of follow up. Just three things to say, one is how SO right the comment was about buying replacement parts at a real plumbing supply rather than Home Depot, And even more important are the tools you use, like a seat wrench, a cheap version will get you in trouble fast. Condition of water, acidity , hardness, etc plays a big role in what works and what won't . Most Washer less faucets are not really washer less per say, they are designed with a less abusive sliding motion as opposed to a crushing motion. But what I want to say is that I would tell everyone that new plastic faucets are garbage, then after some experience found them to be advisable in many cases, you can buy a cheap $19.00 faucet for a basin these days from someone like Moen and it will last years and years. parts won't rot and fuse, even the chrome finish lasts great. If you do have to repair it ,its a cheap simple fix. on these faucets the handle has a stop, it is not the washer that takes any abuse from over tightening. Just my 2 cents.