Repairing a defective faucet handle

The mixing lever can simply be removed, if necessary wooden sticks or plastic cards can help. In this instance, the mixing lever came off in my hand with only a slight pull.

The picture shows the inner workings of the faucet after removing the mixing lever and protective dome. The protective dome can be easily pulled off.

The yellowish lever has a hole with a diameter of about 4 mm. An M4 screw will screw into it. With this repair, however, we would like to be able to push it in without having to make a screwing motion.

A picture of the mentioned dome and the dismantled lever.

A number is stamped inside the lever. Whether this is a type or serial number is unknown to this author Number: 614644

Inner workings of the lever: The piece outlined in red has broken out.

Marked in green is the adjusting screw, which, if over-tightened, could possibly cause the red wall to break.

This adjustment screw will not be needed henceforth.

And another picture of the lever with the broken wall.

An important note about this step: The author didn't realize how lucky he was in drilling so that the lever fit almost perfectly onto the faucet again.

Hence the recommendation: stick to the specified measurements as closely as possible!

The metal block in the mixing lever is 1 cm thick, a drilling depth of 8mm is quite possible. But: 6mm depth is enough.

Before drilling, mark the center of the hole with a steel nail, i.e. make a first notch so that the metal drill bit does not slip. The hole must be drilled in the middle, and the distance from the center of the hole to the outer surface of the broken out wall (marked in red) should be 6.4 mm.

The drilling and tapping are not pictured. The photo shows the result with the M4 thread inserted.

Depth of the hole: 6-8mm. Diameter of the metal drill: between 3 and 3.5 mm. Follow the recommendations of the threading tool used. The drilling diameter should not be more than 3.8 mm, because the thread cutter still needs material into which it can cut. The author used a 3.5mm metal drill.

After drilling: use the thread cutter (tapping tool) to cut the thread into the hole. Screw the M4 threaded rod into the hole until it is tight

The protruding head of the inserted screw is a little too wide: it cannot be pushed into the plastic hole in the fitting.

The thread of the screw can be crushed a little with flat-nose pliers or filed off a bit with a metal file. Don"t file too much! Some resistance when inserting the lever is desired.

The pictures show the result with the M4 screw inserted. Ideally, the screw should protrude 19mm from the base. The screw can be shortened with a metal file.

Insert the lever back onto the mixer tap together with the dome. Done. The author hopes that this lever will last at least 8 years (again).