My kitchen faucet had a slow leak for 3 months before I finally fixed it

I noticed a tiny puddle under the sink back in September (you know, that damp feeling when you reach for a sponge). I kept putting it off thinking it was just a loose connection or something simple. Turns out the O-ring inside the handle assembly had completely dried out and cracked. I finally took it apart last Tuesday and found the culprit after staring at the parts diagram for 20 minutes. A $4 O-ring from the hardware store and 30 minutes of wrestling with the retaining nut and it's bone dry now. Has anyone else dealt with a faucet that only leaked when the water was on a certain temperature?

2 comments

2 Comments

joelp819d ago

Wait, it only leaked when the water temp was different?

graym499d ago

Oh come on, you really think that's a coincidence? Temperature changes make metal and plastic expand and contract at different rates. A pipe fitting that's fine at 60 degrees can separate by a hairline gap when things heat up. I had a buddy with a commercial boiler system that only leaked during the summer when the building got hot. Drove him crazy until he realized the expansion was pulling apart a joint that was already borderline. So yeah, temperature differences absolutely can and do cause leaks. It's basic physics, not some mystery.