Ikea sink plumbing questions

[Bodger]

I recently put in two new kitchens (it's a long story), and in both cases time and money dictated choosing Ikea, including the plumbing - something which I am now coming to regret!

I have two questions for anyone who has tackled (and beaten) the Ikea sink plumbing system:

1) The 'Atlant' sink waste system - those ridiculous sink plugs!

The first of these I installed came with the older type of plug, which NEVER sealed properly and drove Mrs Bodger mental. The second came with the newer version (the rubber/plastic bits that stick out underneath are slim and 'toothed', rather than shaped like teats), which (mostly) works, if you take the time to seat it properly.

I therefore bought a set of the new plugs for the older sink, assuming that this would solve my problem - but the bloody things still let the water out!! As far as I can tell, both Atlant waste system I used are identical, so I can't fathom why these plugs work in one sink and not the other.

Can anyone offer any advice on this? Or suggest an alternate make of plug which will fit (and work!)?

2) Edsvik mixer tap

This gives a very low flow of hot water. I have checked (and swapped) the valves and they appear to be OK, and I have checked the flow of water before it gets to the tap, and this is OK too. We live in a flat, so the hot water pressure in the kitchen isn't as high as it would be in a house, but it should still give a much greater flow than it does (the supply is fine in the bathroom, where the pressure is the same).

The first of these taps that I installed works fine, but that was abroad and the hot water there is at higher pressure (a 'geyser' type boiler). Also I suspect that that tap, although it has the same name, might be an older model and different internally.

The tap that is giving the problem appears to have a separate CENTRAL internal channel (which is connected to the hot supply), which has a much lower cross section than the chamber surrounding it (as opposed to a tap divided down the middle to give equal chambers). Had I known this before installation, I would have connected the cold supply to the central channel - although I am not convinced this would have been correct either, as I would have ended up with a very high pressure jet of cold water coming out of the middle of the tap, and mixing would have been interesting! - but the instruction leaflet gave no indication as to how the hot and cold should be connected.

Has anyone else had this problem - and solved it?

I could, in theory, simply swap the hot and cold feeds, but unfortunately I had to cut these to different lengths to connect them to the supply because of space restrictions, so swapping them would be a bit of a job. Also, I may be able to remove the tap and swap the inlet pipes supplied with the tap (these screw into the base of the tap), but, as the base of the tap is not reversible, this might be more of a problem than a solution.

And, as I've said above, I'm not altogether sure that fitting the much higher pressure cold supply to the narrow central chamber is a good idea anyway.

Any thoughts on all this would be welcome.

Cheers.

PS - Sorry if this isn't the right place to post this, I'm a newbie.

 

[Puddle]

Firstly their is nothing wrong with Ikea kitchens

Just three things to remember

1,no space at rear of units for pipework

2.Kitchen sinks,I have one,nice stainless sink,good price,but sink waste,not uk standard and rubbish,throw away,fit macalpin basket wates with double bowl waste kit

3.All taps very high pressure,prices the same as elsewere and buy elsewere,I like bristan kitchen sink taps,just a preferance

 

[WHPES]

If your hot water is fed by gravity that's your problem - the taps are desinged for high pressure supply (such as a combi boiler or mains fed unvented cylinder)