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Ceramic Disc Valves

What are Ceramic Ceramic Disc Valve & Cartridges?

Ceramic Disc Valves (CD Valves) and Cartridges are types of flow regulating valves used in modern taps. Essentially they consist of two ceramic discs that move relative to each other. There is a hole in each of the discs that allows water to flow when the two holes are aligned and stops the flow when the holes are not aligned. One of the discs is fixed in the valve or cartridge while the other moves relative to the handle and regulates the flow. The discs seal as they are polished to almost perfect flatness. An example of the discs can be seen below:

Why are these better than rubber seals that were in older taps?

Older taps used the below rubber stop valves. These seal by pressing a rubber seal against a flat surface when you turn the tap. This seems simple enough but problems start when the rubber wears out and the tap starts to drip! To fix this, people tend to turn the tap further resulting in the seal deteriorating further. Ceramic Disc Valves and Cartridges are set to a specific turn (usually a quarter turn but other turning angles are available) which avoids this. This also makes them extremely easy to operate and control.

Old Rubber Stop Valve


Ceramic discs are more durable and due to their hardness, they do not wear out very easily. They can withstand line debris and mineral build up very well and tend to only see problems when large pieces of debris make their way into the valve. If the pipes are flushed correctly and filters are in place, this should not be an issue.

They also move across each other parallel to the floor so there is no tightening force exerted on the discs as with the rubber seal types, making them easy to operate for children or people with arthritis.

In summary

Ceramic Disc Valves and Cartridges allow greater reliability, better control and ease of use and that is why we use them in all of our taps here at thetapshop.ie. It is better to buy your taps of a known retailer so if they do need to be replaced, you can get a replacement easily and not have to buy a new tap!

Please see our range at www.thetapshop.ie

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