Saturday, May 14, 2011

Calcium deposits on bathroom faucet

We installed a new bathroom faucet a few months ago, and it's been showing lots of calcium deposits around the handles, you know how hard is San Diego water even with a water softener. We have tried some products to remove the calcium, but nothing can really clean it since the calcium is stuck and one can't scrub due to the limited access to the area so I decided it was time to remove the handles and see what was going on.

Calcium deposits on right handle

Removed the handles and realized the right one, which is cold water, had a lot of rust and calcium. The left one was ok, so I am starting to think it's possible this faucet is getting water that hasn't gone through the softener or the softener is not softening. I'll check that later.

Right handle with calcium

Anyway, I used a product to remove calcium and rust and let it sit for a few minutes and scrubbed until all calcium was removed.

Calcium has been removed

Calcium has been removed
Then I used some marine grade oil for stopping corrosion, this will create a layer of grease that will avoid rust in the valve area, so it can be removed easily if the valve needs to be replaced in the future. Not sure if the oil will have any effect on the calcium but just in case I have sprayed the handle and valve, it can't hurt.

Adding oil to stop corrosion

Time to replace the handles and try the faucet. It all works ok, and the handles are turning smoother now.


Faucet looks like new

And that's it for today.

No comments:

Post a Comment