Leaky faucet

827 Views 10 Replies 5 Participants Last post by SeniorSitizen, May 24, 2020

Orangeman6

Discussion Starter · May 20, 2020

Hey All,

I've been messing with this leaky faucet for longer than I care to admit. A few months ago we had two separate faucets start dripping from the spout. The are both delta two handle faucets. One is in the hall bath and the other is my wife's side of the bathroom, so both get a decent amount of use. They were installed when we built the house 13 years ago.
My first assumption was that they needed new springs and bushings, so I replaced those. No luck with either one. I then figured, f it, might as well try the cartridge too. My wife's hot water started leaking too, so I did the same with that one. That side I was able to fix. After googling the problem, I found that if the new seats and springs didnt fix it, it may be that the body itself is worn. I checked this in the hall bath, didn't see any noticable wear, but when I put it back together, it quit leaking and now hasnt leaked in months. So....that led me to think I did something wrong when I replaced the stuff in my wife's cold water side. I've tried new seats and springs a couple of times now. I did have it stop leaking once for a few days only to start dripping again.
The fact that I was able to get the hall bath fixed after a few times of re-installing the seats and springs, and the fact my wife's hot water side was fixed, I keep thinking I just dont have something right. Obviously, there isnt much to replacing the seats and springs other than making sure they get seated properly. What i haven't been able to figure out is if the orientation of the body and the handle matters. Meaning, can those get misaligned to where the little holes dont get sealed properly? Or is there something else I am missing? I can understand things not lasting like they used to but these were'nt cheap faucets and the fact that I finally got the other two to stop leaking has me confused.

Thanks in advance

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dj3

· #2 · May 22, 2020

- Are you on city water?
- Do you have a PRV (Pressure Reducing Valve) on your mail water supply line at the point of entry?
- What is you water pressure in the house. A pressure gauge (under $20) at various locations will give you the psi.
Try at the water heater drain, washing machine supply or a garden hose bibb.
If you get over 80 psi - your pressure is too high and your faucets drip as a result.

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Orangeman6

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 22, 2020 (Edited)

dj3 said:
- Are you on city water?
- Do you have a PRV (Pressure Reducing Valve) on your mail water supply line at the point of entry?
- What is you water pressure in the house. A pressure gauge (under $20) at various locations will give you the psi.
Try at the water heater drain, washing machine supply or a garden hose bibb.
If you get over 80 psi - your pressure is too high and your faucets drip as a result.

I do have a gauge and will check. I did an owner builder on the house, and if I remember correctly, I can turn it down at the box by the street. We do have pretty good pressure. It’s been set at the same pressure for 14 years, but I have always wondered if I’m stressing the system having it at a higher pressure. I’ll see what the number is.

Thanks for the suggestion.

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bruceb3

· #4 · May 22, 2020

If the Delta parts are properly assembled, with new cartridges, cups and springs, it wont leak. I've rebuilt hundreds of 2 handle Deltas and never had a worn valve body. I take the cartridges apart and put silicone grease on the stems and bottom of the cartridge. The grease prevents squeaking as they age. ONLY silicone grease! Petroleum grease drgrades rubber.

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SeniorSitizen

· #5 · May 22, 2020

The spring has a correct and incorrect way to assemble. In case you missed it the large end of the spring goes in first. With plumber's grease I grease everything that rotates, slips , slides or even hints it may sometime in it's 20 year life it would like to move in any manner, including the ceramic or carbon seat or whatever it's made of. Makes for easier disassembly 20 years later.

This vid isn't your faucet but shows the seat and spring assembly.

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Orangeman6

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 22, 2020

SeniorSitizen said:
The spring has a correct and incorrect way to assemble. In case you missed it the large end of the spring goes in first. With plumber's grease I grease everything that rotates, slips , slides or even hints it may sometime in it's 20 year life it would like to move in any manner, including the ceramic or carbon seat or whatever it's made of. Makes for easier disassembly 20 years later.

This vid isn't your faucet but shows the seat and spring assembly.
https://youtu.be/MGx5qyryMKk

Thanks everyone. I’ve got the springs in the correct orientation for sure and I’ve been putting a little bit of plumbers grease on the cartridge when I re-inserted. I’m not even sure how many times I’ve taken the cold water side of her faucet apart. I don’t see any wear in the body, so it makes sense to hear a pro doesn’t normally see that.
The cartridge drops into the grooves, so I’m assuming there’s no real way to have misalignment with how the bottom of the cartridge rotates and covers the small holes where the water comes in?

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SeniorSitizen

· #7 · May 22, 2020

Early Deltas had nylon? Plastic ? valve body contacting the seat. Eventually they failed and the later replacement valve bodies had a stainless end that contacted the seat because the plastics eventually warped out of flat. The only experience i've had with the valve body being installed 180° from correct is that caused the control knob to be turned opposite of original. ie- rotate ccw to turn on was original but when installed 180° out ccw was off. I fired that plumber and started DIMyself.

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Ghostmaker

· #8 · May 23, 2020

did you replace the ball?

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Orangeman6

Discussion Starter · #9 · May 23, 2020

Ghostmaker said:
did you replace the ball?

No, I don’t think there’s a ball in there, right? It’s a delta 2 handle Victorian. I’m going to take it apart again (for probably the 10th time, haha) later this evening. I’ll post a pic just n case I’m missing something.

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Ghostmaker

· #10 · May 23, 2020

Sorry I was looking at the pic above that was a single handle delta. They have a ball.

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SeniorSitizen

· #11 · May 24, 2020

Ghostmaker said:
Sorry I was looking at the pic above that was a single handle delta. They have a ball.

Sorry bout that Ghost. That was the best pic i could find at the time and i should have put the below sentence in BOLD.

" QUOTE : SeniorSitizen:This vid isn't your faucet but shows the seat and spring assembly ".

EDIT: EDIT:

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