How to change Kitchen Tap O Ring Kit

If your Kitchen Tap is dripping where the spout meets the base of the tap then usually a new set of O Rings should fix this problem.

Please also make sure that it is not the Spout itself that is damaged or has a crack or pin holes. (more about pinholes below).

DIY Guide for changing O Ring Kit on Standard Mixer Tap / Filter Tap  

1. Turn off the hot & cold water supply under the sink unit.
2. Please see our blog post here to remove the spout : REMOVING A KITCHEN TAP SPOUT
3. Unscrew the spout collar by hand.
4. Remove the two black “O” rings and replace with the new ones. We would never recommend replacing any of the white ptfe rings unless they are broken.
5. Fit new “O” rings.  We would recommend that you use a lubricant that doesn’t cause rubber to perish if you wish to grease them first e.g Plumbers grease, washing up liquid. Do not use Vaseline, as Vaseline can cause rubber to perish.   As sometimes the new rubber o rings can be damaged on installation and the tap will still leak.
6. Gently push the spout into the body.  Care must be taken when reinserting the spout into the body to ensure that the grub screw is located in the split of the white PTFE ring (where Grub screw is present).  Where no Grub Screw present care must be taken to ensure that the black o rings remain in correct position because if they move your tap will continue to leak from this spot.
7. If you have a collar (locking nut) then turn the collar clockwise to tighten.
8. Turn on the hot & cold water.
9. If your Spout is still leaking at the base, please check that all rings have been properly fitted into their grooves.  Please check also for pin holes in the spout as these can be missed and that could be the reason why your spout is leaking.
10. Tip: Take a picture of your own O Rings on your Spout before removing / replacing , to ensure that you replace like for like.

DIY Guide for changing O Ring Kit on Single Lever Tap :

A single lever tap can be more complicated depending on where the o rings are located so we have split into two different guides.

Type 1 : Where O Rings easily accessible :

Refer to above guide for a mixer tap if the location of your O Ring Kit is similar to a standard monobloc twin or tri lever tap e.g.a side lever tap.

Type 2 : where o rings below the cartridge – see DIY Video guide below:

 

It is not  as straightforward if the o rings are placed below the cartridge, which makes it harder to access.  This DIY Video Guide goes through all the steps

 

Troubleshooting :

I have fitted O Ring Kit and tap is still leaking ?
This could be due to how the O Ring Kit is fitted, so please check again.
It could be that you have a pinhole in your spout and the spout is worn and then no new o ring kit will fit this. You would have to replace the spout itself. Where this happens and you have already purchased the o ring kit from us, we deduct that (refund) it back against the cost of a new spout.
Here is an example of a worn spout that had pinholes