Riptide
Active member
My bath faucet has leaked for some time, and I finally got around to putting in a new one.
I replaced it with a Reich Kama, with the same Julia hand shower. The Kama fits the same 35 mm hole that the original one did (can't remember the name).
This is my third time pulling the sink, so its old hat, but I was determined to do something about the cause of the faucet leaks. As many know, the Reich's use a sort of slip-fit/o-ring setup, with a locking pin inserted to keep the connection in place.
Personally, I think the arrangement sucks, because it's not very forgiving of any off-axis tension the way a normal screw-on connection would be. The first picture shows how one of the fittings has worked out from it's socket, even though the locking pin is still in place. This was the source of the leak behind the sink.
In the case of my replacement, I also sourced some Reich angled fittings that I hope will alleviate some of the strain that Westfalia puts on the hoses in their torturous path under the sink..
I are-purposed the original hoses, as they seem to be a thinner wall than the stuff I could find locally, and I used some elbows to prevent kinking. This, however, made installing the new faucet a little more complicated, in that I had to install the faucet without the hoses, then make up the push-in connections, then insert the locking pin. Instead of the Reich pin, I used a 10d finish nail, which has the same diameter. I bent it so that it can be extracted with some pliers, in case I gotta take the faucet out again in the future.
I also remembered to lay down masking tape for the caulk job BEFORE I screwed the sink back down, so my caulk job came out awesome. GE almond caulk is a pretty good match for the bathroom liner.
Works great!
I replaced it with a Reich Kama, with the same Julia hand shower. The Kama fits the same 35 mm hole that the original one did (can't remember the name).
This is my third time pulling the sink, so its old hat, but I was determined to do something about the cause of the faucet leaks. As many know, the Reich's use a sort of slip-fit/o-ring setup, with a locking pin inserted to keep the connection in place.
Personally, I think the arrangement sucks, because it's not very forgiving of any off-axis tension the way a normal screw-on connection would be. The first picture shows how one of the fittings has worked out from it's socket, even though the locking pin is still in place. This was the source of the leak behind the sink.
In the case of my replacement, I also sourced some Reich angled fittings that I hope will alleviate some of the strain that Westfalia puts on the hoses in their torturous path under the sink..
I are-purposed the original hoses, as they seem to be a thinner wall than the stuff I could find locally, and I used some elbows to prevent kinking. This, however, made installing the new faucet a little more complicated, in that I had to install the faucet without the hoses, then make up the push-in connections, then insert the locking pin. Instead of the Reich pin, I used a 10d finish nail, which has the same diameter. I bent it so that it can be extracted with some pliers, in case I gotta take the faucet out again in the future.
I also remembered to lay down masking tape for the caulk job BEFORE I screwed the sink back down, so my caulk job came out awesome. GE almond caulk is a pretty good match for the bathroom liner.
Works great!
Attachments
-
99.3 KB Views: 86
-
108.6 KB Views: 84
-
103.8 KB Views: 87
-
109.2 KB Views: 87
Last edited: