Mixer tap problem, help!?

Question

the right side (cold) tap barrel/turny thing no longer turns the water on, it just spins round and round.

The wife went to B+Q where we bought it from, but they say we have to fit a new mixer tap in its entirety.

The tap screws off, and the inner "grab" is cracked, so doesn't grab the blue spindle inside, hence it doesn't work.

is there anywhere I can just buy the barrell, and not the whole tap?

Answer 1

yes you can buy universal tap guts that will fit most types of tap you can get these from somwhere like B&Q or your local plumbers merchant as i recall i dont think that they are mega expensive either

Answer 2

Taps are generally imported from the Far East as sets.  In theory, someone could stock parts, but the cost of importing a few dozen parts would make them more expensive than the whole tap set imported by the thousand.

Dismantle the tap.  You can glue the broken part together with a polyester resin adhesive like Unibond Repair Metal.  That will extend its life by a year or so.  

When you finally have to replace it, keep all the good parts.  Next time you need one, you'll go to your box of bits and find it doesn't fit - but that's what DIY is all about.

Answer 3

You can buy replacement tap tops for your mixer.

Answer 4

You can buy tap revivers, they are easy to change-

http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/taps/r...

You can get them here-

http://www.screwfix.com/search.do;jsessi...