![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kera.name\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/DSC_1422.jpg\" "\\"Tap")
<\/a><\/p>\nI rent an apartment and have little to no documentation of the major fittings, though there is a pack of assembly instructions for a few furnishings hidden away at the back of one of the kitchen draws, enough to identify my tap as a "Mixer Tap with Pop-up Waste" from Bristan<\/em><\/a>'s "Matrix" range.<\/p>\n (Apparently the unit is also sold under the Vado<\/em> name<\/a>, and pop-up waste means that there is a push\/pull lever at the rear of the assembly for raising and lowering the plug.)<\/p>\n The web contains a few descriptions of how to change the "cartridge" (the actual interior mixer mechanism) for various models, but I had little joy trying to find specific instructions for this model, and was less than keen to play around blindly. A water leak or broken tap is the last thing I need, and I'd have a hard time explaining to my landlord how such a thing could have happened without my direct intervention.<\/p>\n Disliking the phone in general, I emailed Bristan's customer service directly:<\/p>\n I have a Bristan Matrix Mixer Tap with pop-up waste (see attached image) and no idea how to service it. The handle no longer moves "smoothly", which I attribute to a build-up of debris and\/or limescale on the inside of the mechanism. I have been unable to find detailed instructions on how to disassemble, clean then re-assemble the tap.<\/p>\n Can you advise?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Experience tells me that companies tend not to respond to such specific inquiries, especially for models that do not appear to be sold any longer<\/a>, when plumber-level documentation is already available on their website for similar units.<\/p>\n I knew that at the very least, having sent my message late on Friday, I'd have to wait until at least Monday to receive nothing back.<\/p>\n Come Monday, before 10am, imagine my surprise…<\/p>\n Good Morning Tom,<\/p>\n Thank you for your email.<\/p>\n Please find attached an exploded spares diagram for your Matrix tap which I hope will assist you in disassembling your product. As you will see, there is a small grub screw located beneath the blue & red indice (which will prise out). This will be removed usually with an allan key and then the handle will lift away from the tap.<\/p>\n The shroud beneath the handle will unscrew to reveal the cartridge beneath.<\/p>\n Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require any further assistance.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Well, how about that! The key to the whole endeavour was the new certainty that the blue\/red "indice" would "prise out"; I'd suspected this but didn't want to go stick screwdrivers in things unless I was sure.<\/p>\n So now, armed with an IKEA "FIXA" toolkit (plus random Stanley knife I acquired somewhere along the way) and Bristan's diagram for reference and peace of mind, I was ready to go.<\/p>\n First thing's first, though; from my original web browsing I'd discovered the easiest way to safe the sink — isolate the water supply to the taps, leaving other supplies in the flat enabled so that I could still use them to clean individual components as I went along.<\/p>\n One half-turn of the screw on the hot water pipe then the same on the adjacent cold water pipe behind the sink is enough — when horizontal the water is cut-off, and when vertical it flows. This made it easy to discover which screw to turn, as I would have been uncomfortable turning any of them more than a few rotations during my guesswork for fear of springing a nice big leak in the pipework.<\/p>\n Checking that there were no evident leaks anywhere — I didn't want a nasty surprise when moving on to pulling various components out of the assembly — I prised out the "indice", which actually popped out quite easily with help from a strong fingernail, and found a tiny grub screw barely visible behind it as promised.<\/p>\n It was quite far behind the hole in the handle. I had been advised at this point to use an allan key, but my IKEA kit has screwdriver heads of various sizes with the same pattern, so I used the one labelled T15. T10 is a tighter fit, but I'd struggled to get initial traction with it through the tap head.<\/p>\n (Allan key image by Richard Wheeler (Zephyris) 2007.)<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Once loose enough, the grub screw fell off inside the mechanism but, no foul; I figured I'd find it again later.<\/p>\n With this done, I set about finding a way to "lift out" the handle from the tap. I really didn't want to force it and found no obvious separation point, but a quick referral to Bristan's diagram showed me where it should have been, giving me the confidence to apply more force. Indeed, a firm vertical pull "clips" the handle off the base.<\/p>\n My first cleanable component! As expected, some water-related detritus had accumulated around the inside of the handle. There was actually less build-up here than I expected, so at this point I expected more cleaning to need doing, not least because I had read about people cleaning and even replacing mixer tap cartridges, setting a precedent for my expectations.<\/p>\n For now, though, I gave the inside and outside of the handle a good wipedown using a different sink and a j-cloth.<\/p>\n At this point the cuboid head of the cartridge was mostly exposed, and using my finger I could rotate it in the same manner that the handle does; it still felt stiff, but this could have been mostly attributable to the lack of leverage.<\/p>\n (I took this opportunity to reclaim the fallen grub screw, too.)<\/p>\n Again following the diagram, I unscrewed the "shroud" to get at the cartridge proper, using a rubber glove to get some traction.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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