Anyone any good at recognising bathroom fittings? Taps particularly

The diverter valve to the shower hose on my bath tap has become very stiff to operate and it could do with a new cartridge as the cold side drips. Problem is it’s got no manufacturer name or details on the outside, and I can’t for the life of me remember the make. Original shop is closed so no joy getting my order details from there. It’s about 8 years old to the best of my recollection.

Anyone recognise the make at least? I’d rather not go for a full replacement, and apparently monoblock mixers with the shower function aren’t common these days anyway. Thanks.

Anyone any good at recognising bathroom fittings? Taps particularly

Yep, that’s definitely a tap. Hth

Tap lever style looks like a Bristan, but I can’t find anything exactly like that in their current range.

You may have to remove the cartridge to have a look.

https://www.tapwarehouse.com/p/xcmbsm-v

This is the kind of thing that Google image search would be ideal for, if it worked properly.

(might be worth a go though, but I cba)

I’ve got that type on my bathroom sink (no branding on it either). Wish I knew how it came apart cos it’s really stiff. Doesn’t seem to be anyway to get the top off it.

Good shout @hightensionline (Fall fan?) this is my set exactly https://www.tapwarehouse.com/p/dal001-002

I don’t think it’s the one linked above, the aerator is at an angle and yours point straight down.

Closest I could find it this https://www.bakerandsoars.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7440 – looks to just be generic cheap made in china/turkey brassware – you’ll be lucky to find spares unless you can get the cartridge out and compare to some others online. Failing that it’s new tap time (buy Bristan).

Wish I knew how it came apart cos it’s really stiff.

My assumption is that unscrewing the little knob would be a start, and when it was new it regularly used to come loose. Now of course a bit of corrosion has set in, the whole mechanism just turns in the valve body rather than the knob unscrewing.  🙄

That’s a good shout northernmatt,  I can also compare all the dimensions to confirm.

Fear you may be correct about a replacement though.

Failing that it’s new tap time (buy Bristan).

Are they still good? Currently ripping out a concealed bristan bath mixer I fitted 15 years ago and humming and hawing over various other makes.

I haven’t been in the merchant side of things for 3 years now, but for the 14 years I was doing the selling they were always my go to when looking for brassware. The spares service alone was worth it, frequently all it took was a photo of the offending article and they would come back with the part code and price pretty quickly.

Just make sure you pick a known brand, there’s far too many cheap bathroom companies that change their ranges endlessly and trying to get spares was a nightmare. B&Q, Wickes and other also fall into this category.

There aren’t that many different cartridges, pop yours out and go look here

There aren’t that many different cartridges, pop yours out and go look here

Yes, I’d be looking at the cartridge instead of the tap.

My assumption is that unscrewing the little knob

Yeah, I think it’s probably limescaled to hell. Very hard water down here. Easier to purchase a new tap, thanks to this thread 😀

Just make sure you pick a known brand, there’s far too many cheap bathroom companies that change their ranges endlessly and trying to get spares was a nightmare.

Cheers, yeah, there are a lot of names I’ve not heard before floating around on the discount sites.

I’m going with Mira for showers and now probably something Bristan or Hansgrohe-like for brassware.

Best bit of looking at the Bristan range today is the realisation that I can now get away with a 15mm feed for the bath filler, which is a massive win for my piping!

<end thread diversion>

<end thread diversion>

You fill your boot pal, I think I got my answer.

There aren’t that many different cartridges, pop yours out and go look here

Yes, I’d be looking at the cartridge instead of the tap.

Thanks for this, but there’s no mileage in replacing the cartridge if I can’t fix that diverter valve too/first. By the sound of it I’ll struggle with spares for that.

OP starts day hoping for cheap fix for old tap.
Turns out it’s better to replace the tap.
Can’t find any decent monoblocs with shower diverter.
Thinks: Might as well replace the bath since I need two tap holes.
Breaks a couple of tiles trying to get the old bath out, can’t find matching replacements…

Strap wrench and big pliers got my lever off and my tap’s sorted now. 😀

Big pliers for the win!

(Fall fan?)

Why yes, yes indeed.

I’m going with Mira for showers and now probably something Bristan or Hansgrohe-like for brassware.

Hansgrohe have weird euro threads don’t they?

(By which I mean logical sizes, unlike BSP) So unless you want to go hunting for adapters, I’d avoid. Which is a shame as their gear is very nice.

They do, but you can pick up Grohe 15mm to 12mm adapters for less than £20. I know, because someone in our household really liked the look of the fancy German taps online, but wasn’t aware of the different threads. It was my fault for not explaining it, apparently.
Lovely mixer tap, to be fair.

Hansgrohe have weird euro threads don’t they? (By which I mean logical sizes, unlike BSP) So unless you want to go hunting for adapters, I’d avoid. Which is a shame as their gear is very nice.

Not really.  It’s 3/8th or 12mm, you can get adapters from Screwfix and Toolstation for about £3 that fit into an ISO valve, the tails screw straight on.  I fit 100’s of Hansgrohe taps.  Big problem is they’re mostly high pressure, so I’ve you’ve got a combi or unvented you’re golden, gravity and you’re s.I.o.l unless you’ve a pump.

VADO taps also worth a look.  Crop up cheap on eBay, not as good as Hansgrohe IMO but will work with gravity.

@Blazin-saddles, good info, thanks.

If you don’t mind me tapping up your expertise (pun intended) on a related topic please, are Hansgrohe bar shower mixers a straightforward swap for other (UK) brand ones? I’m envisaging the space needed for a thread adapter might mean it would sit too far out from the wall….?

Depends on how it’s been 1st fixed.  I always put 15mm copper out of the wall and use a shower bar fixing kit, the 3/4 unions on the shower bar then screw straight to those using a fibre and rubber washer between.  That way (any) leaks are shower side not in the wall.

If you’ve got 3/4 female irons in the wall already (and aren’t removing tiles), the Hansgrohe bar comes with cranked male to male fittings to screw into those, and a shroud to cover the threads but they can be a PITA to get level and also there’s a point of leak in the wall where you can’t see it, so I always bin them and use my top method if new install, the latter I’d only use for retrofit.

having said all that, HG use 150mm pipe centres, so if your existing does, you might be able to easily just replace the bar

Thanks again @Blazin-saddles. The existing bar is 150mm c-c, sounds like I need to take it off and see what’s going on behind.