How to Fix a Leaking Tap with Chemistry | Szydlo's At Home Science
Andrew explores some of the chemical and mechical causes for leaking taps as well as explaining the inner mechanisms of various taps.
Subscribe for regular science videos: bit.ly/RiSubscRibe
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
02:53 - The chemistry of limescale
04:30 - Limescale removal with hydrochloric acid
07:04 - Household limescale removers
19:30 - Tools to open up a tap
24:38 - How a tap works
28:36 - Inside a modern tap
31:45 - Further issues with older taps
35:28 - Lever taps
36:52 - PTFE tape
38:20 - The Rolls Royce of taps
41:35 - Polishing metals
Andrew Szydlo is a chemist and secondary school teacher at Highgate School, well-loved by pupils and Ri attendees alike. He has given public lectures around the country, been featured on TV shows and has become a popular regular face on our channel.
The Ri is on Patreon: / theroyalinstitution
and Twitter: / ri_science
and Facebook: / royalinstitution
and Tumblr: / ri-science
Our editorial policy: www.rigb.org/home/editorial-po...
Subscribe for the latest science videos: bit.ly/RiNewsletter
Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.
This man is so awesome... Calls his wife Boss, eats acids for lunch and present chemistry with such passion.. I'm glad I discovered this channel :)
I'm sure he could do a lecture on the chemistry of paint drying and make it interesting. Another great video, cant wait for next week's installment
Paint drying IS interesting in terms of the chemistry involved!
That actually isn’t a bad idea.
There's a lot to say about that indeed!!!
Man I love Szydlo, always a treat to see a video of his pop up.
I am an American about 60 years old now and I absolutely love watching all of your videos. I absolutely understand and learn from every video that you are sharing with the world. I would like to extend a very sincere thank you from Phoenix Arizona. Please keep the videos coming. ❤️🇺🇸
So I am a 40 year old man laying in bed at almost 1 am having just watched a chemistry lesson for children about incredibly mundane and boring chemical reactions and I was hooked until the last second. Most enjoyable thing I’ve watched in weeks. Thanks for being amazing.
32 year old, watching at 2:30am reporting in.
Szydlo, never change. You're an absolute legend.
No fahmudeen M.r is the one of legend in world
"To the average person, who doesn't have a clue about anything" I got the feeling he was talking about me, personally.
Welcome to the "Guys Named Joe" club. Our president wanted to welcome you personally, but he was afraid it would place him on either end of the bell curve.
When a chemistry professor calls his wife boss, then you know he could mitigate any damage.
OMG .... This is GOLDEN ........ Honestly i think i could quite happily watch prof Szydlo eating his breakfast eggs and explained why Sodium chloride tastes salty. BRAVO good sir BRAVO.
this guy makes chemistry so interesting and exciting.
@neil u it's a contagious enthusiasm that makes me want to learn more.
I love how he combines chemistry with surprise at how much things cost :D
There's no... surprise.. there... Lol ???
That is one of the best remote teaching lessons, I've ever seen! I was hooked throughout, chemistry, plumbing, engineering even regional accents! One of the best!
Szydio: "waiting for darker times..." Now there is a man of Infinite Positivity! :)
I have tears of sheer joy watching this. Such old school enthusiasm !! Such a joy to watch Professor Szydlo it is. His personality, expressions and interest in anything that he explains, is so so infective. God Bless you Professor. My love and prayers for you and your family.
His curiosity and amazement at things in life that most people don't even think twice about, makes Szydlo an entertaining person to follow, you never know what he's going to be intrigued by next. His enthusiasm and energy is infectious, definitely one of my favorites on Ri!
I don't expect belly laughs from a video on fixing leaking taps - except when the brilliant Prof. Szydlo is teaching. Another instructive and delightful video!
I do enjoy hearing him talking, such enthusiasm and eccentricity, proper man of science... :D
Brilliant. Whatever he does, this man's style is always as spellbinding and entertaining as it is informative.
This guy really gives you an appreciation for what we have.
I absolutely love this man, if we had educators of this calibur in the U.S., the overall economy of the country wouldn't weaken to the state of today. His enthusiasm for chemistry, science, engineering, and problem solving rivals my own. My 12 yr old son binge watches Andrew as he is facinated with chemistry and engineering as well. I adore his teaching style, and the way he dives into all aspects of the lesson he is teaching. Brilliant.
Poor Terry the plumber wont be able to afford to feed his family after this.
If he charges £300 just to turn up at your door, I'm sure he's doing OK.
Andrew, you have definitely quickly become my favourite scientist of our times! Very enthusiastic but especially because you investigate everything to the very basic understanding of the core foundations of what you look at. This is where the answers to everything are hidden!! I love that you take something simple and can easily explain an insane amount of knowledge of the foundational knowledge. Discussing practical applied knowledge like this will help get people more interested in chemistry. Things that people can use in everyday life and improve lives even if in a simple way. Finding a way to implant that scientific curiosity in others. By the way the greased string is called “packing” and compression fittings aren’t used in automotive applications because they are prone to failure under high pressure and illegal in braking systems, it’s a safety thing. Old cars had them but now use safer flared fittings and flanges mostly. It’s typically easier to just replace faucets but in cases of bathroom shower valves opening them up and fixing them is usually better than opening the walls when the old timers didn’t put in access panels loll. It’s amazing how much you learn when you try to learn everything and do everything yourself. Not because you want to save money but because you want to learn everything. Then how much knowledge transfers seamlessly from one field to another to another and eventually you find everything is connected. Like magnetism and electricity. Like a speaker if you reverse the function you get a microphone and if you reverse the function you also get a electric generator. Reverse the function of an electric motor and you get a different kind of electric generator. The more fields of knowledge you discover the more knowledge you will find of things that should have been discovered but the knowledge was separated by different “fields of expertise”. There is great knowledge in everything and too many very smart people ignore the obvious in favour of finding greatness beyond the horizon but don’t understand the great knowledge that already has been found. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!!!
This wonderful teacher makes me miss my Father, he would explain things just like this. Thank you, Sir.
I love this professor's teaching method. My wife even watches now.
It's like an assembly line. They keep cranking out Andrew's videos. Good job, crew!
We can take very little credit, it's all Andrew and Oscar!
"...and I'll have a sniff of this if you don't mind *sniff sniff sniff sniff* AH! Very reasonable!" My new favourite quote from this channel!
This guy is just brilliant, I could listen for hours. 👍
I miss the RI Christmas lectures on BBC2, they were a tradition in my house and always a great pleasure to watch. I'm so pleased I found the RI and Andrew on KZhead.
We're still going strong! They did move us to BBC4, but we're still an annual tradition. This year it may look a whole lot different, but if you'd like to take a trip down memory lane, most of the past lectures are up in our online archive - www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/watch
Hat off to Mr. Andrew. Every video of his is much better than most of talkshows and education comes free. ** Applaud **
Now "Sniffing Chemicals" with Andrew :D Great video as always.
This is what happens when you lock up an active mind indoors and forget to put away the caffeine :D
BUT....this was chemistry in the best way you can present it. With humour and enthousiasm. Love it
Thank you Sir, that was fun! I love your fast paced commentary, your wonderful manners and complete honesty. I'm sure I would enjoy working with you on any project sharing our vastly different empirical knowledge. Oh if the world had more teachers like you!
The man is brilliantly eccentric! It takes a certain tallent to make subjects like this interesting! Cracking video.
He is so dedicated in his work that he keeps posting regularly. Live long
My man is a worker for sure
"Doesn't look brilliant, doesn't look new. But by gum he does function well." -- The Boss about Szydlo
Mr Szydlo...and not forgetting Oscar...his enthusiasm leaves me breathless. So many great quotes from this session too !! How I wish he had taught me chemistry.
I had the same problem, I replaced the head assembly with a ceramic version, no more washers, ever. Research is key.
Ever, you think? Heheh... Just give it time... It WILL fail. I assure you, it will fail.
Rebuilding engines is easy and enjoyable, plumbing is not. Thanks Dr. Szydlo and Oscar for another video.
I love the enthusiasm, but I must admit I'd love to see you turn a new "joystick" for that original expensive tap out of brass stock on the Myford in the background, then show us how to chrome plate it.
Good sir, you've made the mundane tasks of fixing leaking taps and polishing various things exciting.
He is the most aggressively polite person I have ever encountered.
Such an interesting man. Your RI lectures are a joy. Thank you
Andrew Szydlo → always a great session!
No matter where he is he makes chemistry interesting! He also calls the wife "boss" legend!
I love this guy. He cracks me up, but also educates me! ❤
Great video. Educational and practical. Please continue to make more of them.
Yet another great basement chemistry lesson. Hard not to love this guy. Tip. When I de-Calc my coffee machine I just use a cup of household vinegar. Works just as well as the expensive special stuff. Also good for the shower tiles etc.
Szydlo you are brilliant 👌 Can't wait for next one. Thanks.
I've always wondered if there is a better way to remove lime scale then adding salt to water. Perhaps Sir could explain water softening? Or alternatives!
I love watching this guy and his son...he makes learning fun and energizing!
Andrew Szydlo looks like a very intelligent and artistic child. Totally love it!
Szydlo,I love your videos! I hope you continue to make more.
No gloves, no goggles. Just an impenetrable shield of enthusiasm and fun.
What a wonderful video. Great presentation and superb presenter. Very useful and enjoyable, thanks.
Mandatory meme: Royal Institution: We present "Chemistry with Dr Szydlow" Szydlo: I bought some spanners Royal Institution: ...
Quarantine drinking game. Take a sip everytime he says"actually"
You must be new to the professors videos. We drink when he gets distracted or switches topics unexpectedly
@@RedScaledKnight1 💕🤣 does he know he's lost track? He reminds me of such professors that go off on tangents I've had in the past.
@@RedScaledKnight1 I drink at y voala 😁 also
@@sacredweeds voila?
Just don't drink sanitizers: since you made it to this video, you're not hopeless.
i enjoy everything about the video, even when Szydlo would need to look to his left to remember "Head-Gear Assembly" and maybe other notes he might have. He is doing his best to not be too obvious and it makes me chuckle. I really enjoy his videos. keep it up good sir.
Very good job! Having been a professional plumber (in the US) I can tell you that this was an excellent lesson. And, I do understand why you would not call a plumber... the same reason I would never call a chemist to solve my various pest control and home maintenance and cleaning problems.
I got the biggest chuckle watching this! Awesome. Enjoyed the British names for common plumbing items: spanners/wrenches, lever valve / ball valve, head piece / crown and stem, etc....Looked like a 1/2" globe valve he was working on and a faucet isolation valve. LoL...plumbing is all about adapters...you can adapt almost anything to anything else...(I worked in the plumbing section of a hardware store for 3 years).
Lovely video. Enjoyed every frame of it!
This man is a lockdown legend!
Who can dislike this man ?
Thanks for the great video prof. szydlo
Absolutely wonderful!
Szydlo is a Hero
yesss more Szydlo!
2:49 heyyy hey hey, I didn’t realise this was going to turn into some advert! Haha this guy is awesome!!
I love this guy!
Could watch Andrew all day. Reminiscent of Fred Dibnah, Magnus Pyke, et al; old school.
This felt like an episode of sunny. 13:37 sniffing rust removers LOL
I was waiting for "But wait! There's more!" Lol
Stetson wrench? Stilson perhaps. Wonderful stuff.
Huh. I've never heard spirit of salts before. It's called muratic or hydrochloric acid in the US.
Citric acid... Works a treat. Cheap as chips and safe
Or acetic acid (vinegar essence). You have to rinse the kettle a few times or your tea tastes funny, but other than that it's my go-to.
Greetings, for sensitive materials on the vice try using soft wood, bicycle tire or even an piece of cloth
Not sure if thats still chemistry or a plumbing tutorial... Love it anyway :D
Why not both?
Love it!
A very nice and interesting video indeed, BUT as a chemistry student I just have to ask, where are the safety glasses?
In Texas USA, I had a tub tap that water stopped coming though, so the tap was turned in the 'on' position. One day the pipes burst under the house. Hard flakes of hard water had settled on the screen over the tap opening, thus making it build up pressure and with the tap left on 'open'. Cost a bit people for such an easy fix. Unscrew the end of the tap and take it off and clean it out every few years. Once a year maybe, but water is coming out well so if it slows check it out.
Love you guy's!
This was an interesting lecture. Just a random comment on how to even improve this video is to have a close shot of the dishes. Or have multiple camera angles on the dishes.
30:15 this sounds like mutiny to me? ;-) love all your videos!
very good
Love u Andrew syzdlo
A chemistry professor simply eating greek yogurt off the same table he was just pouring hydrochloric acid over is not something one would see in a lecture were it filmed at the Royal Institution. A sign of the times.
Now that was hilarious...many thanks.
Great video. I know the how to of plumbing I just cannot get into the tight spaces under the sinks anymore! Poor me. lol
Great vid
Well after watching all saw zero taps fixed with chemistry!
please, more videos like this
I'd love to see an analysis video
33:20 perfect London Accent!
I'd like to upvote this comment more than once :)
:) lots % ,i remmember we used HCl to clean stone bricks from cement and been good for limescale as well just one down thing it been eating nickel plating down to copper
If a man says he'll do something he will do it, and you don't have to nag him every six months!
I don't bother nagging, do it myself!
I know right...I mean how many times do we need to be told before they get the idea we don't need to be told...Ummm...no wait...
More!
If I could give this two thumbs up, I would.
I can't help but liken listening to Szydlo to listening to Ludwig von Drake (the Disney character) try and explain chemistry... This isn't in any capacity a bad thing. I'm loving watching this, and I don't even have a Leaky tap! XD
love it :)
No glasses, no gloves, sniffing chemicals by sticking his nose into the dish, eating in the lab... probably not the best example to students, but nonetheless entertaining and informative as ever. I really like his energetic and slightly chaotic lecture style. Even though it's just basic chemistry for children, it is really fun to watch.
He ABSOLUTELY is the best example to his students, I would posit.