Delta 400 Kitchen faucet

[bennybaby]

I am having trouble getting my delta 400 to stop leaking. It is a spray divertor model with the #70 stainless ball. It seems the hot starts dripping after some unknown event. The whole assembly can't be more than 4 or 5years old. I installed the the faucet myself and it worked great all these years. We are not having water issues..all other faucets and toilets are OK, although all other valves are different types.
2 months ago it started leaking, I pulled the seats and springs out and noticed small tears in the rubber seats. The ball seemed a bit worn, but looked good enuf. I replaced the seats and it seemed OK.
1 day later the faucet hot was dripping again. I bought a new kit (Aftermarket not OEM). I replaced everything that came with the kit ( ball, cam, packing, seats, springs, and o-rings) and added a bit of plumbers grease to smooth the action. It worked OK for about 3 weeks. Today the hot was leaking and it was a small stream. Again both seats were slightly torn, the hot seat had the biggest gouge I have seen yet.
Today I replaced the seats, springs, cam, and packing from a Delta kit.
It is working for the moment.
I left off the top adjusting ring today, and left the chrome cap as loose as I dared.
What is going on??? Any body else have such a stubborn delta before??

[master plumber mark]

you have probably beaten it ...

but you should really tighten down that
ball adjustment ring....that helps a lot sometimes


occasionally a delta will develope a leak around the
actual Stainless Steel insert where the washer is seated..

you have to look really close at it for signs of decay
and leakage or deformanity around that SS seat...


odds are you have probably won

[hj]

deformed seats usually mean a non-oem part or an overly tight cam.

[smellslike$tome]

Sounds about right to me for Delta. Look on the bright side though, the parts are easy to find.

[bennybaby]

Thx for the feedback. The SS inserts look nice and round, no corrosion where they meet the chassis. I probably have pushed everything in too tight before, maybe that is why I felt the need for grease on my second try.
Right now everything is loose, if my Mom doesn't get any drips I'll snug it up just a little bit and try that for a while.

The tears in the rubber seat washers are what is bothering me, it looks like the edge of the hole drilled into the ball is catching on the rubber when the handle is moving to and fro.
My Mom is old and freaking out about the possibility of losing pennies. She probably pulls that handle so hard to the closed position the entire chassis is stressed.

[patrick88]

You don't need to crank down on the plastic ring that puts tension on the ball. The faucet should glide as you move it with little effort. I'm assuming your cranking everything to tight and causing your self head aches, and pennies.

[Dunbar Plumbing]

I am having trouble getting my delta 400 to stop leaking. It is a spray divertor model with the #70 stainless ball. It seems the hot starts dripping after some unknown event. The whole assembly can't be more than 4 or 5years old. I installed the the faucet myself and it worked great all these years. We are not having water issues..all other faucets and toilets are OK, although all other valves are different types.
2 months ago it started leaking, I pulled the seats and springs out and noticed small tears in the rubber seats. The ball seemed a bit worn, but looked good enuf. I replaced the seats and it seemed OK.
1 day later the faucet hot was dripping again. I bought a new kit (Aftermarket not OEM). I replaced everything that came with the kit ( ball, cam, packing, seats, springs, and o-rings) and added a bit of plumbers grease to smooth the action. It worked OK for about 3 weeks. Today the hot was leaking and it was a small stream. Again both seats were slightly torn, the hot seat had the biggest gouge I have seen yet.
Today I replaced the seats, springs, cam, and packing from a Delta kit.
It is working for the moment.
I left off the top adjusting ring today, and left the chrome cap as loose as I dared.
What is going on??? Any body else have such a stubborn delta before??

Probably has everything to do with two things, one you never even mentioned:


Water pressure, what is it? Don't say "it's fine" because that's not plausible. You need a gauge on it to determine how high it is....otherwise you're shooting blind on fixing your problem.


Second, using anything but Delta OEM parts is what has you on a forum board troubleshooting your faucet. Leaving crucial components off the faucet is another reason it's not functioning.

Checking the water pressure, determining if it is high or not, using parts that were made to repair the faucet is what solves the problem.

If your mother is abusing the use of this faucet, no wonder it's leaking. Danco seat cups are notorious for tearing because the rubber is too soft and adheres to the ball. True Delta seat cups have a white powdered tint to the cups which is embedded silicone to provide proper lubrication.

Delta would of covered all these parts for free, sent to you at no charge......until you put those inferior parts in the faucet. You've now voided the warranty on a perfectly good faucet.

GOOD LUCK