I've a bath tap/shower mixer. When the shower's selected, there's a considerable dribble through the bath outlet, reducing the flow rate to the shower head.
The shower's selected by pushing a plunger on the mixer.
This seems to be the offending part: tinyurl.com/k3tqu8e
When fitted into the vacant groove, the rubber O ring seems to be a little too large to drop into the hole and completely block the flow to the bath outlet. I don't recall ever replacing it.
The O ring dimensions are: ID 23.4mm, OD 30.5mm, cross section 3.4mm (as close as I could measure them). The groove the O ring fits into is 25mm.
It's an old fitting and may well be imperial, in which case the dimensions would be: ID 15/16", OD 1 3/16", cross section 1/8".
Anyone with plumbing experience suggest a fix before I venture round the usual places with my vernier gauge?
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BT.
You can buy boxes of O rings miscellaneous metric and imperial:
www.screwfix.com/p/metric-o-ring-set-3-50mm-419-pieces/27385
I've got a box of both. I remember one of them came from 'man aisle' in Lidle for a lot less than that and maybe is a bit of an investment for one O ring but it does give the opportunity to try different sizes on the job in hand.
The slot it sits in also wants a clean out with some fine wet n dry.
Last edited by: Fullchat on Thu 8 May 14 at 19:32
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It would be worth the fifteen quid to fix the problem, but imagine dropping that lot on the floor!
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OK BT. I've checked my stock :). I have infact got three boxes.
Bear in mind that the O ring you have may have swelled a tad.
The sizes below are ID and X section in mm as stated on the chart on the box:
22 X 3.5
23.5 X 3.5
25 X 3.5
22.5 X 3
24.5 X 3
The Imperial box gives the size in mm
21.82 X 3.53
23.31 X 3.53
24.99 X 3.53
There are grooves on the box to check the X section and 1/8" seems to equal 3mm
The nearest is the second one down and when you fit it will stretch and reduce it's X section.
If you wish you can send me an address by a Mod and you can have one of each so that you can find the best fit. I've got plenty.
Last edited by: Fullchat on Thu 8 May 14 at 20:15
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Many thanks Fullchat, much appreciated. I've emailed the mods.
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Last time I had an O ring/tap problem, on the caravan, I rummaged through a couple of those assortments without finding one to fit. There are so many variations in different applications and probably some are non-standard sized anyway.
My daughter offered to make me one - she had the kit at work and knew how to use it, not sure if she still has it - but as the caravan was being serviced anyway I got them to fit a new tap - I had already discovered that every time I reassembled it, it tended to leak somewhere else, the whole thing was the devil's work.
Easy to make up apparently
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0051ODVSI
If you can find one in a kit that is the right section but too big, you could try shortening one if you are dexterous. The challenge is getting the clean perpendicular cut and lining the join up. Superglue sticks the ends OK. I nearly succeeded with this but the one I was playing with was too small for my fat fingers.
Have you tried reassembling with some silicone grease? My 5/8" brass hose fitting arrived yesterday, very hard to get the Hozelock fitting on to - put some grease on and it connects easily and seals completely, better than the plastic tap adaptors ever did.
Last edited by: Manatee on Fri 9 May 14 at 09:48
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BT. They are in the post. Post doesn't get collected until late afternoon. Optimistically you might get them tomorrow otherwise it will probably be Monday.
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Interesting Manatee. I wonder how durable a glued, butt join would be. Could be OK if it's clamped in a fitting, but my application requires it to be slid in and out. I used silicone grease, useful stuff. First used it years ago on the car door seals in winter to stop them freezing.
Fullchat. Looks like I owe you a pint.
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>> Interesting Manatee. I wonder how durable a glued, butt join would be.
Not unusual to make them up in industry apparently, though whether it's a simple butt joint or an angled cut in the more expensive kits I'm not sure. I suppose it depends on the application as to how long it lasts, or if it is a problem at all. My daughter works for a medical engineering consultancy, they design and things like injectors and inhalers. I suppose they use the kit when building prototypes.
Not sure about the glue. She was pretty sure that superglue would work for me (if I had had the dexterity and accuracy to to it properly) but that was in a push fit joint that once assembled doesn't move. The commercial kits use cyanoacrylate anyway but probably stronger stuff. It's a resin so possibly not sufficiently flexible and durable in your "plunger" situation, thinking about it, especially in a straight cut butt joint. Advice is to use as little as possible.
It will be much easier if FC's kit has one the right size:)
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Superglue is amazing stuff on rubber and... fingers!
I actually had a CV joint boot on a Maxi glued with the stuff and the thing worked fine until the car died about 18 months later. As with all sticking jobs, clean the area to be stuck, and then do it again.
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About the only thing I've ever managed to stick with superglue is stuff to my fingers.
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www.polymax.co.uk/o-rings/
Any size you like, big choice of materials.
I used them to get replacement O-rigs for a spin-on oil filter conversion on the Triumph. The size was critical because they have to squash to just the right extent. I bought a range of likely sizes in small increments for trial and error.
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Oh great!
Not only do I have to determine the size exactly, but now there's a choice of a dozen different materials.
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Fullchat.
O rings turned up this morning.
I definitely owe you a pint.
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Yes, sorted. It just took ages.
Remove shower hose. Unscrew shower/bath selector. Remove plunger. Remove O ring and try another. Re-fit everything. Try shower.
Repeat above for different size O ring, again and again and...................................
The most suitable O ring seems to be the 2.5mm cross section, although 22mm ID is a bit of a tight stretch. I must have changed the original at some time, but I've no recollection of doing so. I don't know why it started leaking.
I've made a note that a 25mm (or maybe 3/32") cross section seems most suitable. Next time I'm somewhere that sells them I'll have to buy a selection.
Many thanks for your help.
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Plumbing problem - Fullchat
