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Old 27th August 2021, 10:20   #1
stevestrat
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Default Old Tap

This is a long shot but does anybody have any knowledge of the internals of the old tap below



Its on our rainwater barrel in the garden, old boy next door gave it to my father years ago when my father first set up the water barrel. old boy says it came off an old water boiler/clothes washing thing.

It started leaking and getting worse, the leak isn't coming from the nozzle, its coming down the side between the internal rotating part and the body. There must be some kind of washer that has finally given up the ghost but I can't find any information about what's inside.

I undid the screw thing on the front and didn't find anything behind it . . . . God knows what its for; I removed the nut on top of the handle thinking that would release the rotating internal part, even smacked the thing with a mallet but I couldn't budge it.

Any ideas
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Old 27th August 2021, 11:13   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stevestrat View Post
This is a long shot but does anybody have any knowledge of the internals of the old tap below



Its on our rainwater barrel in the garden, old boy next door gave it to my father years ago when my father first set up the water barrel. old boy says it came off an old water boiler/clothes washing thing.

It started leaking and getting worse, the leak isn't coming from the nozzle, its coming down the side between the internal rotating part and the body. There must be some kind of washer that has finally given up the ghost but I can't find any information about what's inside.

I undid the screw thing on the front and didn't find anything behind it . . . . God knows what its for; I removed the nut on top of the handle thinking that would release the rotating internal part, even smacked the thing with a mallet but I couldn't budge it.

Any ideas
These things are generally very simple - it's probably what's called a gate valve. I'd suggest the screw on the front is a stop & retainer for the tap barrel when it's rotated to open/close the water flow. If you want to have a look at the internals remove the screw at the front and then try extracting the barrel by carefully twisting and lifting upwards - there should be some water in the drum (but only just enough to give you a short deluge so wear some wellies and stand to the side...) to help lubricate the removal. There is probably a couple of rubber 'o' ring seals on the shaft above and below the hole/slot 'gate' that lets the water flow.
Just a guess but no harm in trying
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Old 27th August 2021, 12:01   #3
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The screw on the front is very short, only about 1/4" and seems to do nothing other than plug the hole it leaves when you remove it! I know that from yesterday, I was kneeling in front of the barrel, removed the screw, jiggled the tap and got a jet of water right at my crotch ending up resembling incontinence

Looking at the base of the tap I suspect the rotating centre comes out of the bottom but after removing the nut on the top I couldn't get the handle off or the centre to move even after tapping it with a mallet.

I doubt if its "O" rings, with the age of it more likely fibre washers, certainly that's what's on the screw at the front.

I don't really want to replace the tap, I've done a lot of searching and can't really find a quality replacement, just cheap plastic things that all get naff reviews.
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Old 27th August 2021, 16:24   #4
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Finally persuaded it to come apart, very surprised to find there's no washer, "O" ring or anything. The core is slightly conical and its purely the interference fit once the nut at the top is tightened that stops the water getting through. Solution, grease it before refitting, liberal amounts of grease then clean away the excess once it was all back together. Its drip free at the moment but the water is only just above tap level, see what happens when there's a decent head of water in it.

I'm no further forward as to what the screw in the front is all about, there are two holes in the core, the one that opens the tap and a second one that allows water through the hole when the screw on the front is removed
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Old 27th August 2021, 20:26   #5
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Originally Posted by stevestrat View Post
Finally persuaded it to come apart, very surprised to find there's no washer, "O" ring or anything. The core is slightly conical and its purely the interference fit once the nut at the top is tightened that stops the water getting through. Solution, grease it before refitting, liberal amounts of grease then clean away the excess once it was all back together. Its drip free at the moment but the water is only just above tap level, see what happens when there's a decent head of water in it.

I'm no further forward as to what the screw in the front is all about, there are two holes in the core, the one that opens the tap and a second one that allows water through the hole when the screw on the front is removed
I have a very similar but plastic tap on my rain barrel. If leaves manage to get into the barrel the hole in the front serves as an access to rod away any leaf blockage.---
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Old 27th August 2021, 20:33   #6
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I have a very similar but plastic tap on my rain barrel. If leaves manage to get into the barrel the hole in the front serves as an access to rod away any leaf blockage.---
That's possible but the tap was never intended for a water barrel, it was originally the drain tap on an old clothes boiler . . . . I shudder to think what could have blocked that!
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Old 28th August 2021, 11:15   #7
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That's possible but the tap was never intended for a water barrel, it was originally the drain tap on an old clothes boiler . . . . I shudder to think what could have blocked that!
Knickers---
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