if i just bought a brand new repair kit for my tub faucets can the seal be damaged or not work?
I have replaced everything in my tub faucet and it still leaks from the handles. some are suggesting it may be the seats but since i bought a brand new repair kit is that even possible? Also someone mentioned my use of plumbers tape and the fact it may not work for some instances. (which I used sparingly). Also just FYI and my help here is more description….I have a generic faucet with 3 handles one for hot and cold and one for the shower in the middle. As for the leak….when you take the handle off and the stem is exposed, the water (when turned on) leaks between the stem and the bolt it sets into.
The stems are in need of replacement not just the seals
you can tell if the seats are bad by feeling them with your hand, they are bad if they are not smooth but an easier way to do this would to just pull them out and visually check them.
But in your case you just I would tighten down on the nut where it is leaking from, dont tighten too much or the handle will be hard to turn. I have replaced hundreds of faucet stems and I have never used teflon tape for this job.
i have no idea what you got in that repair kit. if you have those long stem jobs there is a bunch of washers on the stem thats supposed to stop the stem from leaking. By the way Plumbers Tape is really metal stripping with holes in it to hang pipe from the ceiling. You are talking about teflon tape. Wrap a lot of that teflon around the stem and put it back on. Maybe that will stop it. Wrap the tape the same direction as you would tighten the bolt.
Not sure what you mean when you say replaced everything. Did you replace the stems or just the washers. They should not leak if they new stems unless you need to tighten the packing nuts around the stems. (Not on all faucets) The seats will not cause this leak, nor will Teflon tape fix it. I hope the bolts its sets into are nuts that you can gently tighten to stop the leak.
according to your description, your problem is in the packing of the stem. i used to use teflon tape as additional packing string to solve this problem.
remove your knob
unscrew the first nut
make a string out of the teflon tape and wrap it around the stem shaft.
replace the nut snugly.
replace the knob without the screw and turn on the water. remove the knob to see if it still leaks while the water is running. if the leak continues, slightly tighten the nut until it stops.
replace the knob and voila! you’ve done it!
ok i here is what is wrong. there is a nut on the very end of your stem the last part sticking out of the wall. this is a packing nut. tighten it a little then turn on the water before you put the handles back on to make sure it is not leaking because then you will need to take it off again. saving steps is always good