Repair a Bathroom Ball Joint Faucet Leak with These Easy Steps

A ball joint faucet is commonly found in bathroom. Used to adjust as well as turn on and off the water with a single handle, a ball joint faucet often gets a lot of use and is particularly vulnerable to leaks. If your ball faucet begins to leak, you can fix the problem yourself with a few new parts and some basic tools. This tutorial explains how to fix a ball joint faucet located in a bathroom.

Normally when a ball joint faucet begins to leak the valve seats or springs are to blame. Because these pieces often fail, most hardware or home improvement stores carry a repair kit. Make note of the model and type of your particular ball joint faucet and purchase a repair kit. Then follow these steps for an easy repair you should be able to complete in less than an hour.

Begin this repair by turning off the water supply to the faucet. Then you should remove the handle cover. This is the piece located at the tip of the handle and can be removed by prying it off with a flat head screw driver. With the handle cover removed, you should see a screw that holds the decorative handle on the faucet joint assembly. Remove this screw. With the screw removed, you should also remove the entire handle.

With the handle removed, you should see a rubber cap that covers the mechanical part of the ball joint faucet. Remove this cap by unscrewing it and lifting up. You will also want to remove the ball stem that will be located in the center of the cap. The cam and ball assembly of the ball stem is what controls the flow of hot and cold water in your fixture.

The next step is to remove the valve seats and springs. Faulty springs or valve seats are commonly the cause of the leak. To do this, use a screwdriver to pry up the rubber seat and spring that are in the faucet. The seat and spring are roughly the same diameter, and are typically around ¼".

With the faulty parts that are causing the leak removed, you can install the new parts. Begin by putting the new springs in. Some springs have a cone shape. If your ball joint leak repair kit included these springs, place them with the largest end towards the wall.

Then use the new seats in your ball joint leak repair kit and place them over the springs. Then you can place the ball and cam back into place over the new valve seats and springs. The rubber cap should then be placed over the assembly.

Now you should make a few adjustments to eliminate the leak. Begin by using pliers or the tool provided in your ball joint leak repair kit to turn clockwise the adjusting ring that is located in the cap. Now you want to turn back on the water to the bathroom and turn on the water in the bathtub using the ball joint faucet. Check for a leak. If there is a leak, tighten until the leak disappears.

Once the ball joint faucet has been adjusted and any leak has been eliminated, you can twist the handle back into place. Secure the handle with the screw you removed in the beginning steps and replace the handle cover to conceal the screw.

Fixing a leak in a ball joint faucet is an easy task, especially when most hardware stores sell kits with all the parts, and sometimes tools, you'll need. Of course, if you don't have the time or aren't comfortable with basic hand tools, call a plumber who will be able to fix a leak for you.