Reich Mixer Tap gone floppy
Morning
Taken our van out for the first time this year and our Kitchen mixer tap has gone floppy! The lever mechanism seems to be gone and no water etc. Water is flowing fine through in bathroom sink and shower. Van is a 2015 Swift and looks to be a Reich Vector S Tap.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Comments
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I had something similar at the start of the season last year. What had happen'd was particles of limescale had blocked the aerator nozzle when I bleed the system after the lay up. I unscrewed the nozzle and cleaned it and all was fine again.
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Doubt it, worst case is it will need a new cartridge. very easy to change.
Sounds exactly the same as what happen'd to mine.
To change the cartridge remove the little plug in the skirt of the tap handle, this gives you access to the allen screw that holds it on. Lift it off and unscrew the shroud & collar that holds the cartridge in place and it just lifts out. 10 minute job.
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Thank you for your responses.Milothedog we think you’re right on this occasion and it’s the cartridge that needs replaced. Managed to buy one on Amazon and stripped back tap today and can’t get under the collar to remove said cartridge as held in by 3 very small screws (not a screw on) which none of our 25 Allen keys would fit! Very frustrating so a call out to a service/repair will be required but thanks to you all anyway.
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Thanks Lornalou1. Yes, on further investigation it is a torque screw but is really small - any advice on where to get one? Have looked on the Reich website and clearly shows a torque screw to remove the 3 screws that are attaching the cartridge but searches on internet don’t seem to be clear on small torque screwdrivers. Thanks
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The smaller sizes are sold to take mobile phones apart. Try searching those.
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Also make sure you search using the correct terms. Torx , TX or TX star.
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Thank you everyone for your help in this! We finally managed to get all the tools, replacement cartridge and it’s all working fine again. OH very pleased with himself 😁Thanks again, good old Caravan Club x
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Just got back from a weekend away to find my kitchen tap is not working. It has gone floppy on the lever. I have took the lever off but the chrome collar Will not come off to access the cartridge. I don't want to force it in case of damage. Is there any tips.. I have took out the small torx screw at the rear of the collar but that's it, it won't budge.
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You can see the cartridge under the collar after removing the lever
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OK I intended to share but Ive been busy taking my tap to bits!
Thanks to Tim Probyn from Reich UK for info he also mentions
"With regards to spares please contact www.leisureshopdirect.com" for spare cartridges.
Sorry the instructions are German but pictures are easy to follow. but you do need a very small torx set (for mobiles etc) and allen keys
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Thank you for this - I have just had the same issue and could not access the cartridge. You post was brilliant. Just need a torx set ordered from Ebay
Thanks again
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Oh, this was on a swift quattro EW 2016
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Hi there,
The same dreaded floppy lever on the mixer tap Reich Vector S has also occurred in my 2015 Swift Challenger SE 530 and I wanted to check it is the 25mm Reich ceramic cartridge that fits the Vector S tap?
Can someone please advise before I order the part.
Many thanks,
Neil
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Dear Caravanners, I also recently suffered with the Floppy Tap syndrome on my 2015 Swift Major 4 SB Kitchen tap, just when we were setting up for our 1st day. Me being me had no idea at the time what the problem was, we had water to the bathroom tap and shower tap, so its not a water pump or pipe issue. I did some 'googling' and applied my engineers process of elimination, were I came to the conclusion, this could only be the tap. Fortunately the tap failed in the closed position so we could go about our weekend away.
When we got home, I set about stripping the tap down so I could understand what is inside, and apart from a plastic molding, the tab valve and 3 'O' rings, nothing else.
To dismantle the tap, and mine is a REiCH Vector S tap, and to buy a replacement tap is between £90 and £108 a pop, for a plastic tap.
1 - So to strip the tap, you start by flicking the little red and blue cap from the top of the tap handle, and removing the cap screw inside to take off the tap handle.
2 - You then remove the two small TORX Screws, one at the top of the tap, and one at the bottom of the tap body, (you might need a small screwdriver set to do this, I purchased this kit for less than £6 from Amazon. https://amzn.eu/d/9V9BuWo
3 - Once you have removed the 2 torx screws, gently lift the body of the tap and the top piece off the internal plastic casing, please note, there will be a little plastic piece at the bottom which might fall out, this is the retainer for the tap body which allows the tap to swivel).
4 - Now you will see a plastic valve retainer with 3 very small torx screws, this is what is holding the tap valve in place and seated on the sealing 'O' rings, gently remove these being careful not to drop them, they are about 8 mm long, once you lift the retaining ring off, you can now lift out the internal valve.
The image I have included shows my old valve after a disassembled it so I could see what had failed on the inside, if you look at the bottom right image of the tap actuator, you can see that the clear plastic end piece has broken in two, this is the thing that moves the valve selector plate to allow water to flow, you can clearly see the crack and separation. That's why the valve was floppy.
Make a not of any serial numbers and measure the outside diameter of the valve body to ensure you get the correct replacement, fitting the replacement is just the above in reverse.
I got my replacement, delivered, for less than £30.00 from https://www.swordcrowncaravans.com/ who are brilliant to deal with.
I hope this helps.
Regards
Dave Stevens
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I had the same problem. 2 sets of torx bits and none fitted. The 2 other screws had different size bits as well. The screw has a very shallow 5 sided head.
While some posts say it easy to change the tap I struggled and had to remove the side panel next to the fridge, having dismantled storage racks first. A larger access hole should have been provided.
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