Not experienced this before.. The black button and shaft etc just turns.. no stop like normal so I’m presuming it is badly worn inside?? the button/knob is very tight and the little shaft is starting to chew.. hard to get a purchase.. not really enough to grip and the button seems to be far too tight after this happened I did consider about placing it on the anvil then bringing a sledge to bear but happily (for the tap) that is some distance away..
A few months ago, my XN control cock became unwell, so I repaired it. At first, I thought it was not working properly due to old fuel and dirt, but even after cleaning the inside with carb cleaner, etc., it didn't get any better. So, in my case, I thought that the cam inside the cock was not properly engaged. I applied heat to melt the solder, then disassembled it, corrected the cam engagement, reassembled it, and soldered it. Finally, I cleaned up the parts that were contaminated by the soldering. Now it works perfectly. Please have a look at the photos. I don't have a lot of fettle technique and the above may be off topic, but I hope it helps you a little. Regards, Shinzo
Thanks to Admin for the title edit thanks @pete sav yes, the two black lines are from the jaws of the water pump pliers .. soft jaws but didn’t feel very soft thanks @gkpllantern for your photographs and help.. its not off topic at all I probably should have left it alone until I visit the lock up as I have limited means to fettle in the kitchen (no bench vice or heating facilities) I can see why you persevered and took more care with your older and more scarce version of the XN tap as it was worth taking time and care over? but as the one I showed is more common I will now use for spares. I will de-solder and inspect the wear inside but right now I can only think that to repair the worn piece involves adding silver solder then filing back to shape.. my concern would be that the heating will anneal it making it too soft to operate properly? There is also a chance that the channel/main body that the parts move in is also worn so that even after a repair it may not operate properly. I have another identical tap that is clogged and refuses to be cleaned so may as well sort them both out at the same time Shinzo, were the parts worn or just misaligned on your control tap? regards, pb
In my case, it wasn't so much that the parts were worn out, but rather the following 3 points. 1) The shaft was slightly bent 2) The cam was also bent 3) The bite was out of alignment. So for 1) and 2) I used a vice and pliers to correct the distortion. Regarding 3), it was just a misalignment, so I carefully interlocked it when reassembling. Maybe I got lucky in my case. One more thing: I don't think a silver solder (melting point 400 degrees) is necessary. The control cock is a place where the fuel goes through, so it is not much affected by the heat from the mantle. Simpler normal solder (melting point 200 degrees) is sufficient. Regards, Shinzo
I forgot to write it down. The melting point of brass is about 900 degrees. I don't think there will be any problems if you just apply heat with a blowtorch. Regards, Shinzo
@gkpllantern Thanks very much yes, I agree about the solder.. I wasn’t clear when I explained it, sorry Regards pb
