How to fix water not turning off after new taps installed?

[Teegs95]

hi, 

Im changing my shower taps over from old school ones to mondella cadenza curvy chic ones. 

My existing taps sat far back into the wall so the new spindle didnt poke out far enough. Ive got the ceramic extenders but im now having the issue that the water just doesnt turn off. 

I managed to get the bath set working fine (even after having the same issue). But ive tried a thousand times with the shower taps. Ive tried reseating the old breach and the new extenders and still no luck.

Having to shut my main water supply off  so the shower isnt going constantly. 

Please please help with a solution. Even if its only temporary until i can get a plumber out to fix it.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Teegs95. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about installing new taps.

The most common reason for new ceramic disc taps not turning off is that they haven't been adjusted to the correct depth. Unlike older styles, there's an outside locking nut that needs to be removed from the spindle body. The inner body is screwed in until it seats against the breach or your extender. Only then is the locking nut installed to lock the spindle in position. If this locking nut is not removed from the spindle, it will prevent the spindle from being fully screwed in, and the sealing washer at its tip will not engage the breach. This allows water to bypass the spindle altogether.

In the image below, you'd remove the red section from the spindle, screw in the remaining spindle and once it has seated then screw back on the red section.

There could be another issue going on, but let's make sure that's the way you are installing them first. The first time I installed ceramic disc spindles, they ran continuously, and this was the cause.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[HectorVu]

I'm running into the same issue, where the spindle goes all the way in and leaves no thread for the locking nut.

I'm looking for an extender, that goes in before the spindle. The one at Bunnings is a bit too long 28mm.https://www.bunnings.com.au/kinetic-28mm-ceramic-disc-spindle-extender-2-pack_p5050142?store=2010&ga...

I've found this shorter one online but not sure if it would solve the issue

https://prideindustries.com.au/product/basin-sink-ceramic-disc-mid-seat-extender19mm-2/

Additionally, I also encounter the issue when using the 28mm extender above, the water cannot be shut off. Given that I firmly installed the spindle first, and then install the locking nut later.

One thing I noticed is when I tried blow at the extender end, the air could not go through when the spindle is in shut mode, the air went through ok when I turn on the spindle though.

[EricL]

Hello @HectorVu 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's marvellous to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about your tapware.

I suspect that you have a deep seat spindle base. Would it be possible for you to post a photo of the original spindle? Even with the extenders attached I'm afraid they will not be long enough to reach the spindle seat.

I've placed two images below of a standard spindle and a deep seat spindle to give you an idea of what the difference is. Once we see what your original was, we should be able to tell which spindle you have.

If you have a deep seat spindle you can only replace it with a similar type of spindle. But if you have a standard spindle the ceramic spindles should work.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[HectorVu]

Hi @EricL,

Thank you for your advice, here is the picture of the the old spindles along with the new ceramic one.

The thing is, the issue only occurs with the cold spindle (in the middle), the hot one works fine (even without the extender) with the new ceramic spindle. However, the hot and cold spindles look identical though 

 

[EricL]

Hello @HectorVu 

Thank you for sharing the extra photo of your spindles. In order to eliminate the possibility that the cold ceramic tap is damaged, I suggest removing the hot ceramic spindle and putting it to the cold side. I then recommend using one of the old spindles to close the hot tap temporarily. 

If the cold tap does not leak then there is something wrong with the cold ceramic spindle. But if the hot ceramic spindle leaks, then there is something wrong with the cold side of your tap body. Once you have your results, you'll be able to decide if you need to replace the Mondella spindles or call a plumber to fix the plumbing.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric