If your delta faucet is dripping from the faucet’s spout, I’m going to show you
how to fix it by changing the seat and spring. If you turn on the faucet and there’s a
leak around one of the handles, you’ll need to replace the cartridge. The cartridge may
also be referred to as a stem unit assembly. You’ll see how to change the cartridge as
well in this video should you need to. Now years ago, when I was a a new home owner,
I went to the local plumbing store, explained my issue to the sales person and came home
with nearly $20 in new parts, which included two new cartridges and a pair of seats and
springs. Had I known better, I would have spent a modest $5 on a pair of seat springs
'cause that would have solved my issue. This is a seat and this is a spring.
Let’s get started. Sometimes you can find out whether it’s the hot or cold faucet
that's dripping by simply feeling the temperature of the drip. In this case it feels like the
hot so I’ll be changing out the seat and spring of that faucet. It’s not a bad idea
to do both faucets while you're at it, but I’m on a tight schedule today. I want to
keep this to 5 minutes as promised. All right. Let’s get under sink. And now I’ll need
access to the cold and hot water shut offs. Let’s get all this stuff out.
There’s the hot. The cold is up there. I'll turn off the hot water, righty tighty. Let’s
see if I was right about the drip. Yup. Seems to have stopped it, but since the hot and
cold water mix, it’s important to shut off both supply lines. If you don’t there will
be a mini fountain of water coming from the supply line that’s not shut off and that
happens when you pull the cartridge. Now that I’ve got the camera adjusted. It’s
time to remove the handle. This may differ by sink. It may be a screw on top like this
one, or it may be a set screw on the side, which will require an Allen key. Other times
the screws may be hidden under a plastic cap you’ll need to pop off, but the point here
is to remove the handle so we can get to the cartridge. And once we've removed the cartridge
then we can get to the seat and spring. I should have also mentioned it’s really important
to make sure the strainer is in the drain or the drain is covered so you don’t lose
small parts down the drain. I’ve done it so many times and have had to use the wet
vac to suck the parts out of the plumbing. So once the screw is out, I just need to pull.
This handle never comes off easily. It's going to take some brute strength I'm sure. For
those folks who are thinking this will make a difference, let me show you... I’ve made
this mistake before. It doesn’t do anything. Now for that brute strength. Phew! As you
can see there’s a bunch of junk that I really should clean off, but given I'm on a time
crunch here, I'm going to leave it for now. To get the cartridge out, I’ll use channel
lock pliers to remove the bonnet nut turning lefty loosey. And it's always important just
to take note of the orientation of the valve, and then pull it out either by hand or with
the pliers. Note here that some water's going to come out, and a lot more had I not turned
off both the hot and cold water supplies. While I’ve got the cartridge out, it's a
good idea to check the condition of the gaskets to see if they're stretched, dried, or cracked.
These look pretty good. And again, if water is leaking out of the handle, you’ll want
to replace this as well. I'm going to try and clear out some water so you get a better
look at this. The seat came out with the paper towel. I’m going to put it back in so you
can see what it’s supposed to look like. This is what it should look like. Let me show
you why the faucet was dripping. Check out this seat. It's worn and it's torn so it's
not creating a good seal. And this is the spring that goes underneath. That spring looks
good. I’ll replace it anyway. You can see the spring tapers up. And that’s
how it goes back in. I'm going to do a little cleanup here.
Now I'm going to put in the new seat and spring. The spring is going to go in first tapering
up and then the seat with the rim or the smaller hole side up. Man I’ve had too much coffee
today. I’ve got a case of the jitters. I’m going to use my finger to gently get it seated
over the spring. And now to put everything back together. I'm going to put back in the
cartridge just as it came out. Oh. Your faucet may also have a little notch in it like this
one and that just keeps you from putting the cartridge in incorrectly. Push it down. Put
the bonnet nut back on... righty tighty. And then I'll tighten it up with the pliers. All
right, I’ve got to take a few seconds and wipe that stuff up. I just can’t stand looking
at it anymore. All right. And the bonnet nut just has to be tight. You don’t want to
crank it down with brute force. Put the handle back on with a good push. Secure it with the
screw. Turn back on the hot water supply. Turn back on the cold water supply. Now to
check my work. And I realize this video took a little more than five minutes, but it should
take you about that long to do this now that you know how to do it. And as I always say,
"If you want to make something take twice as long make a video about it." So unless
your delta faucet is leaking from the handles when turned on, don’t let the plumbing supply
store sell you new cartridges when all it requires is a $5 delta universal seats and
springs repair kit. I got these in the plumbing aisle at my local Home Depot.
I hope this video has been helpful. If it has, please do me a favor and like it. More
importantly please subscribe. That always helps me out. Thanks so much for watching.