# any tips for tap removal



## pabsie (Jan 29, 2009)

We have a 1995 Hymer 564 and i am trying to remove the bathroom tap. It is in a pig of a place and might even need a special tool to take the locking nut off underneath. has anyone got any tips?
I have also managed to take the cold water pipe connection off but cant get the pipe back on to the fitting to tighten it up! its turning into a pig of a job as there is no room to get my hands in there


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## Roger7webster (Oct 10, 2006)

I don't know your motor home layout but if you have a mixer tap they are normally secured with an 9 or 11 or 12mm nut and stud 
They are difficult to access and need a set of box spanners. 
Screwfix sell a suitable set in the plummers tool section listed as"mono block tap spanner set". Cost £6.68, makes for an easy job!! 
Use a mirror and torch if you cant see or take a photo with your mobile phone


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## Dizziblonde (Jan 30, 2006)

I have replaced taps due to frost damage in our old Hymer. It was a pig of a job to put the pipes back on. I used the wife's hair dryer to soften the pipes, enabling easier refitting, prior to tightening the jubille clips. Be careful to direct the air flow carefully so as not to heat up parts of the van that might cause damage. I also found the area you are working in was rather restrictive and consequently very awkward. Take extra time and care and all will be fine.

Good luck.

Dai


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## pabsie (Jan 29, 2009)

thanks for the tips ..... i have got the kitchen tap off and the locking spanner is about 47 mm across flats. A friend of mine said you can buy special 'claw feet spanners to fit it.

How does frost damage the taps?


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## joedenise (Jul 20, 2007)

pabsie

it might be impossible to remove the bathroom tap from the kitchen sink! :lol: :lol: :lol: 

Joe


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## inkey-2008 (May 24, 2008)

Get somebody else to do it.

Andy


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## Dougle (May 18, 2006)

Hi Pabsie,

I went through the same scenario last year with my B564 [1993]
Not sure if your bathroom would be exactly the same as mine [I know they changed things a bit after my model] but I ended up having to remove all the mirrors/surrounds, splash back and the corner cabinet to access the fixings for the basin [everything overlapped the screws] It was about an hours job to remove everything, but I was then able to lift the basin unit up to access the tap thread, pipes and microswitch wiring to effect the replacement.
Good luck.

Regards
Dave


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## regnarts (Sep 23, 2009)

Had the same problem today with my bathroom mixer tap, assume it was frost causing the main head of the tap to pour water all over as soon as I switched on the pump. I decided to leave the tap in situation and stripped it down from the top down over. Carefully removing internals and cleaning and smearing a little lubricant over the o-rings, reassembled and all was fine. May be worth trying before removing the whole unit.


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## NevilleStreet (Oct 17, 2009)

We are having an intermittent problem with the bathroom tap in our 1994 Hymer. It sometimes activates the pump and sometimes doesn't. We are relatively new to all of this, so I was delighted to discover a "workaround" whereby if I open the bathroom door and turn teh kitchen tap on a tiny bit, that turns the pump on and the bathroom tap then flows. All a bit wasteful and inconvenient though.

A friend suggested shorting across where the tap spade connectors go into the main electric circuit, which does start the pump and so it then works. He also said we could rig up a switch to effectively separate the pump and the water flow, but I can imagine that resulting in the pump burning out when one of the kids forgets to turn off the pump when they turn off the tap.

Yesterday I removed the spade connectors and reconnected them and it worked a few times, but it had stopped working last night.

It sounds like we need a new switch within the tap, or a new tap, but I wondered if others had resolved it any other way?

Thanks for your helpful hints! NS


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## Rincewind (Jun 24, 2009)

All my taps work fortunately but I was thinking of putting in an inline pressure switch so the tap switches aren't needed as i know it will be difficult to replace the microswitches when they do go.

In line pressure switches are available from lots of the online accessory suppliers and they fit into the water pipe. Once the pressure drops when you have opened the tap, the switch turns the pump on. When you turn the tap off, the pressure builds up and the switch then turns the pump off. It is how our caravan worked. You can get pumps with a pressure switch already built in, in fact i would think most motorhomes now have this type as it saves the cost of lots of taps with switches and asociated wiring.

Couple of points, it would be important that the taps don't drip or leak (pump would keep coming on as the pressure dropped) and if you have a manifold the switch would need to be mounted before the manifold to ensure it would work when any tap was turned on.

Also, if you have a electric flush loo I am not sure if there is an internal pump or whether the switch just activates the main pump, if it is the normal pump this would mean you would need two forms of switching the pump on! Pressure switch and loo.

Now the caveat, i haven't done this myself so can't confirn that it works but it may be something you could consider and make further enquiries as to feasability.


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## Bob45 (Jan 22, 2007)

The tap in the bathroom of my M/H was faulty - get dripping into the cupboard space underneath. I tried undoing it but gave up, drove to the nearest Hymer place in France (thank heaven for sat nav) and a mechanic with the right tools replaced it in 15 mins.
It was a pig of a job but he knew what he to do!
Sometimes just get an expert.
Bob


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## Seeker (Dec 26, 2005)

Also had the frost damaged taps problem a couple of years ago and couldn't get at them easily underneath for a DIY job. Took it to that dealer and watched while the fitter did them. He had just as much trouble as I'd had but having done several of them before was not as gentle as me so brute force and grazed knuckles seem to be the answer! And it will save you £150.

Harry


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## NevilleStreet (Oct 17, 2009)

Not to contradict previous posters, but I have just had to replace the shower head whilst on tour in Europe and it was pretty easy (I am not a very practical/mechanical person). Found the part at a German Hymer dealer for 38.60 Euros and managed it myself in 5 minutes in their car park with my adjustable spanner. Access was awkward but it is done and the drip has stopped. Basically there is a large plastic nut under the point that the tube comes through the sink and there is a smaller metal nut that attaches the tube to the end of the water pipe under the sink.

In my case the fault was in the actual end of the head where the water comes out. The bit that can be turned to change from no spray, to shower spray to tap flow. I took apart the shower head hoping it was where the tube joined the head which is inside the plastic section, but it was the actual head that was leaking and there appear to be no user serviceable parts so I guess frost damage/some kind of failed seal. Water was tracking back down the pipe into the cupboard underneath making all the loo roll go mouldy!!

We have also had to replace the tap part with the microswitch in but a friend at work did that for me, which may be what the previous posters were talking about and may well be more tricky as there are electrical connections involved.

Hope this is useful if anyone finds themself with a dripping tap!


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## boringfrog (Sep 22, 2006)

*Microswitch burnt out*

I had my bathroom tap stop working 2 years ago and have survived by putting a on-off switch under the sink, you can hear the pump running so there is no fear of leaving it running. While in France this year the kitchen tap micro switch also stopped, so we just used the toggle switch in the bathroom to get the water flowing in the kitchen. After we came home I looked at replacing the kitchen tap but it looks like I would have to remove the sink first. Today I solved the problem in 20mins. I put one of them inline pressure switches mentioned by Rincewind. Job sorted. Got mine off flea bay here: FleaBay


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yep, we had similar problems with the shower mixer tap fixed to the ceiling of our Hobby.
After getting fed up with cracking the basin tap to energise the pump to shower. I spent about three hours stripping out all the shower panels to drop the ceiling and access the tap. Dismantled the tap only to find the microswitch was welded into the plastic.
Ordered and fitted new mixer tap £65. Several more hours work to reassemble shower.

Could have saved all this time and money buy fitting an inline pressure switch as said.

Older, wiser and poorer.

Ray.


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