Dismantling faucet seized (discount, Chinese?) Indestructible Vs Grohe Kiwa!
published: 16/01/19, 20:40
I just spent 4h this afternoon ... to change my kitchen faucet leaking since 2 days (the leak was important so I had to cut the water)! Yes 4h while logically such an operation is 1h-1h30 ... Explanations ...
The leaky faucet was only 4 years, it was a model in the 30-40 € bought in a brico (certainly made in china), ask me neither the brand nor the brico, I do not remember, so no a very first price but far from the high end ...
The problem: crappy materials which on the one hand explain the leakage and disassembly indémontable because one of the 2 screw pushers was seized (I tried to clamp vice as I had the first but without success) so I had to force, distort the platinum and go through the sink hole! In short a mechanical operation of the kind childbirth!
If the 2 screws had been seized, it would have been indémontable: to cut the tap to the grinder from the top would have been the only solution! Or disassembling the sink but do not mess!
I replaced it with an old Grohe Kiwa which must have already 15-20 years ... and not a trace of rust: the brass is not chromed steel!
Finally, if we do the math, a grohe that lasts 20 years (edit: more because mine would already have more than 25 years) 150 € is cheaper than a middle range that lasts 4 years to 50 € ... not to mention the comfort ... and 4 years I'm nice: I'm not a large family! Such a cock in a family number is 2 years!
Photos:
Photo from above, I already understood the pace of the platinum that it would not be easy!
After 2h30 disassembly: extraction method from above! Fortunately, Chinese steel folds well !! It's about as dirty as a child finally!
Design comparison with the 15-20 years Grohe Kiwa and the 4 years old faucet!
The screw that could be dismantled: as bad for corrosion as for mechanical resistance !! It does not seem to me to have done the nagging editing yet! Pinching and distortion on the left ... bin is the clamp ...
Moral: never again will I install a tap not a big brand ... even if you have to save! And I advise you to do the same ...
The leaky faucet was only 4 years, it was a model in the 30-40 € bought in a brico (certainly made in china), ask me neither the brand nor the brico, I do not remember, so no a very first price but far from the high end ...
The problem: crappy materials which on the one hand explain the leakage and disassembly indémontable because one of the 2 screw pushers was seized (I tried to clamp vice as I had the first but without success) so I had to force, distort the platinum and go through the sink hole! In short a mechanical operation of the kind childbirth!
If the 2 screws had been seized, it would have been indémontable: to cut the tap to the grinder from the top would have been the only solution! Or disassembling the sink but do not mess!
I replaced it with an old Grohe Kiwa which must have already 15-20 years ... and not a trace of rust: the brass is not chromed steel!
Finally, if we do the math, a grohe that lasts 20 years (edit: more because mine would already have more than 25 years) 150 € is cheaper than a middle range that lasts 4 years to 50 € ... not to mention the comfort ... and 4 years I'm nice: I'm not a large family! Such a cock in a family number is 2 years!
Photos:
Photo from above, I already understood the pace of the platinum that it would not be easy!
After 2h30 disassembly: extraction method from above! Fortunately, Chinese steel folds well !! It's about as dirty as a child finally!
Design comparison with the 15-20 years Grohe Kiwa and the 4 years old faucet!
The screw that could be dismantled: as bad for corrosion as for mechanical resistance !! It does not seem to me to have done the nagging editing yet! Pinching and distortion on the left ... bin is the clamp ...
Moral: never again will I install a tap not a big brand ... even if you have to save! And I advise you to do the same ...