# Leaky faucet handles

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaky-faucet-handles/465217
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 25, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaky-faucet-handles/465217 "2008-09-25T20:35:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaky-faucet-handles/465217/1 "2008-09-25T20:35:14Z")

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I had the problem of a leaky faucet in the bathtub where I couldn’t stop the drip.  
I also had the problem of when the cold handle was turned “on” water trickled directly off the handle.  
Instead of just replacing the rubber washers and o-rings on the stems I opted to replace both hot and cold stems completely.  
They are both in place now however I have the problem on both handles now of the water trickle when the handles are turned “on”.

Any trick to fix this?

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### Author: ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaky-faucet-handles/465217/2 "2008-09-26T01:06:13Z")

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You probably have hard water or some form of deposits building up.

Try taking your faucets apart, soaking all the parts in vinegar and scrubbing them with a toothbrush, than reassemble.

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### Author: ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2008, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaky-faucet-handles/465217/3 "2008-09-26T06:45:43Z")

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You installed new stems and they’re leaking?

Hopefully, you just need to give their bonnets (aka packing nuts) a little tightening. Otherwise, there’s not much excuse for new stems leaking, and it’s possible you either got the wrong kind (pretty unlikely) or the new ones are bad somehow.

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### Author: ![desertr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@desertr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/desertr)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaky-faucet-handles/465217/4 "2012-06-04T01:43:24Z")

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just a check