Grohe Kitchen Tap - QuickFix Plus won't tighten

[595Heaven]

Old kitchen tap leaking round the base of the spout, and will not come out (no grub screw) whatever we do, so bought a new Grohe tap.

This one: https://www.diy.com/departments/grohe-start-loop-c...

The fitting for under the sink is a Grohe QuickFix Plus, which I just cannot get tight - it turns and then drops a thread. The tap wobbles.

They have a video here which makes it look easy - slide the connector up the tap mounting and tighten https://fb.watch/3vMveu4uAe/

Can't even put the old tap back, as we had to cut through the threaded bit that passes through the sink as it had rusted up.

AAARRGHHH!!!!

Anyone fitted one of these and got it to work?

Edited by 595Heaven on Sunday 7th February 16:14

[595Heaven]

Just taken a quick video to demonstrate the issue. It just turns and turns and... yep, you guessed it... turns.

Edited by 595Heaven on Sunday 7th February 16:13

[sherman]

B&q link doesnt work.

Is there a washer/plastic wrap/packing/transport clip thing blocking the top of the thread?
The threads not broken?

[595Heaven]

Thanks - B&Q link should be fixed now!

There was nothing in the (sealed) box apart from the tap itself with the threaded section and flexible tails and the QuickFix thing itself. No other washers or anything.

The threads look fine.

The white part in my video is from another tap I bought after taking the first Grohe one back because I thought it was faulty... That tap has 300mm tails which are too short to reach the connections under the sink, and no-one seems to sell the 500mm versions on a Sunday... Will be returning it tomorrow.

Yep, it's been one of those days...

Edited by 595Heaven on Sunday 7th February 16:39

[595Heaven]

Had to admit defeat for today. What an absolute waste of time! What should have been a 10 minute job took hours and I'm still not finished... Literally disconnect the tails from the supply, undo the tap nut and fit the new one.

I've order some longer tails from Amazon so maybe will fit the second tap I bought tomorrow.

At least the Lancashire Hotpot I made smells delicious and the bottle of red will help.... And relax

[dirtbiker]

Did you ever get anywhere with this? I've got the exact same issue with a Grohe Start tap and it's massively frustrating.

They didn't have any in stock at my local B&Q so I ordered what I thought was a replacement so that I could try a different QuickFix Plus nut on it but what has been delivered is a 'new' version that just uses the basic QuickFix. Not much to go wrong there so I'll fit it tonight but I'm wondering if Grohe has realised that the QuickFix Plus doesn't work as it should!

I notice that the Start Loop tap that you've linked to still comes with it though which is interesting.

I've spent far too long getting this tap sorted! The first one I ordered from Toolstation has tails that are too short and I'd already cut through the copper pipe so had to do an emergency trip to B&Q to buy the first Grohe tap and some tail extensions. It's not doing wonders for my wife's belief in my DIY skills ;-).

Hopefully, get it all sorted tonight and then it's just a matter of a final trip to B&Q to return everything, I've chucked the first Grohe Start box though so I guess it depends on who's on the returns desk how that one plays out. Oh, the joys!

[595Heaven]

It was a total pain but eventually they sent me a new version of the quick fix fitting kit which got stuck in customs for about six weeks but did eventually arrive and worked perfectly. The one in the box just doesn’t.

Edit: just found the email and the part number of the kit was 48477000

Looks like this: https://www.bathroomspareparts.co.uk/grohe-mountin...

Edited by 595Heaven on Friday 17th September 22:31

[dirtbiker]

595Heaven said:

It was a total pain but eventually they sent me a new version of the quick fix fitting kit which got stuck in customs for about six weeks but did eventually arrive and worked perfectly. The one in the box just doesn’t.

Edit: just found the email and the part number of the kit was 48477000

Looks like this: https://www.bathroomspareparts.co.uk/grohe-mountin...

Edited by 595Heaven on Friday 17th September 22:31

Great stuff, thanks. Just speaking to Grohe UK on Twitter so hopefully they'll be able to send me the same kit and I can finally get this sorted!

Edit: Just to add to my saga, the new version of the Grohe Start tap has 300mm tails that don't reach my connections. I tried installing it anyway with some extension sections but managed to drop the nut which fixes it to the worksurface somewhere down the back of the kitchen cabinet. Yesterday was not a good day!

Edited by dirtbiker on Monday 20th September 10:38

[595Heaven]

dirtbiker said:

Great stuff, thanks. Just speaking to Grohe UK on Twitter so hopefully they'll be able to send me the same kit and I can finally get this sorted!

Edit: Just to add to my saga, the new version of the Grohe Start tap has 300mm tails that don't reach my connections. I tried installing it anyway with some extension sections but managed to drop the nut which fixes it to the worksurface somewhere down the back of the kitchen cabinet. Yesterday was not a good day!

I had to buy longer tails as well. It was a blumming nightmare - what shoudl have been a 20 minute job to change the tap took over a month in the end.

I feel your pain...

[_Hoppers]

I had the same problem with my Grohe Startloop Quickfix nut! It tightened fine when test fitting but not when installing onto sink. I worked out that the top and bottom faces of the composite sink probably weren’t 100% parallel, but applying pressure to one side of the nut when I tightened it got it to grip. Once it had ‘gripped’ I managed to get it nice and tight.

[dirtbiker]

_Hoppers said:

I had the same problem with my Grohe Startloop Quickfix nut! It tightened fine when test fitting but not when installing onto sink. I worked out that the top and bottom faces of the composite sink probably weren’t 100% parallel, but applying pressure to one side of the nut when I tightened it got it to grip. Once it had ‘gripped’ I managed to get it nice and tight.

You're exactly right - any kind of deviation from being perfectly perpendicular to the tap body causes the nut to slip. I've spent a long time in the cupboard under my sink trying to get the pressure right and had no luck. Hopefully, the kit which Grohe are sending out (which has a few different washer options) will allow me to get it sorted.

Weirdly there are not many other posts about this online - trust PH to come up with the goods!

It's very annoying because it's a great idea in theory and far easier than mucking about with multiple socket extensions (and that's before you've dropped the nut somewhere where it can't be retrieved!).

[_Hoppers]

dirtbiker said:

_Hoppers said:

I had the same problem with my Grohe Startloop Quickfix nut! It tightened fine when test fitting but not when installing onto sink. I worked out that the top and bottom faces of the composite sink probably weren’t 100% parallel, but applying pressure to one side of the nut when I tightened it got it to grip. Once it had ‘gripped’ I managed to get it nice and tight.

You're exactly right - any kind of deviation from being perfectly perpendicular to the tap body causes the nut to slip. I've spent a long time in the cupboard under my sink trying to get the pressure right and had no luck. Hopefully, the kit which Grohe are sending out (which has a few different washer options) will allow me to get it sorted.

Weirdly there are not many other posts about this online - trust PH to come up with the goods!

It's very annoying because it's a great idea in theory and far easier than mucking about with multiple socket extensions (and that's before you've dropped the nut somewhere where it can't be retrieved!).

I don't know why a simple nut would suffice, and it would be a cheaper solution?! The quick nut, in theory, probably saves about 10-20 seconds over having to wind the nut over all the thread but in reality made a 15minute job into an hour, for me!

[g7jtk]

Have you tried jently pulling the neck up while slowly twisting it to locate a key way? Usually 90’ from straight on.

[dirtbiker]

Just to close the loop on this one; a nice lady called Claire at Grohe UK helped me via Twitter and they sent out a fixing kit that included the brass nut shown above. Fitted this with the included large washer and a flanged o-ring under the sink and the thin rubber gasket supplied with the tap on top of the work surface and now have a non-wobbly tap. Happy days!

I think they should probably just send them out this way in the first place! There are also threaded holes which you can put tension screws through to get it pulled down even tighter but I didn't see the need for them (and it was gone 21:00 by the time I was finished mucking about!)

Hopefully, this will help anyone else with a similar problem that stumbles on this thread in the future!

[Raz WildInStyle]

Had this problem, Grohe QuickFix wouldn’t tighten when on thicker sink fitting. The thread would slip when minimal pressure was applied, but when testing separately, it would tighten fine.
Found that squeezing the outer casing of the bottom screw fixing gave enough contact so that the threads managed to get a grip. Once they get a grip, then you can tighten fully. Just used the pressure of my fingers, wouldn’t recommend using a clamp as that would probably damage the outer casing.
Went through an hours frustration before I got to this, wish Grohe would mention it in their instructions, or at least in their YouTube videos. It’s clearly a common problem with an easy fix.

Edited by Raz WildInStyle on Tuesday 24th May 09:21

[Audis5b9]

Currently fighting this fight with a new tap.

Can get the quickfix to tighten when practising but when on the sink no luck. Very frustrating!

Have spoken to Grohe who are going to send out a brass nut...