Leaking kitchen mixer tap

[rm55]

Can anyone help with a problem I have with my kitchen tap?

It has started leaking where the top rotating part meets the main bit of the tap (please see pic). It only happens when the cold is turned on and then the water starts to trickle out. The hot side is fine.


IS it possible to remove the top part of the tap? I found a small screw at the back of the tap and removed this but that doesn't seem to have made any difference.

So far I've managed to switch off the water supply to the tap but that's as far as my plumbing knowledge goes!

[rm55]

Thanks everyone. I think it'll be best to get a new tap as this one has more than one issue (the handle on the cold side keeps falling off too!).

[rm55]

herewego said:

Did the screw look as though it would interlock with something, in which case you may just need to be firmer and pull the spout straight up.

Gingerbread Man said:

Screw should undo which secures neck in. But there's normally two O rings which will be a tight fit. So should pull straight out but will be tight.

Yep, I did manage to pull it out in the end. I couldn't see any reason for it to leak and it's weird that it only does it from the cold tap (although there is much higher pressure on the cold).

I put it back together but it's still the same and at the same time water is dripping down into the cupboard underneath as well after the tap's been run. And when the cold tap is turned on there is a couple of seconds delay before the water comes out as if the water is draining back somewhere.

[rm55]

I think you're exactly right on the water dripping into the cupboard side of things. It doesn't happen straight away but I noticed if you come back half an hour after the cold side has been used then there can be a foot wide puddle of water in there.

However, looking at the pipes under the sink going up into the tap, the cold one has that green corrosion colour around it, and the ring (c-type?) that the bolt goes into is very rusty looking so I'm not sure if there's also a leak where the pipe enters the tap.

Would this http://www.grandtaps.co.uk/products/prod_1591616-K... be OK as a replacement?