Talk:Tap (valve)

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[edit] mixer taps

I'm not certain of this so haven't edited, but my impression is that mixer taps are much more common in the USA than here in the UK; certainly the great majority of my friends' and family's houses still have separate taps, even on basins etc installed in the last 10 years. Loganberry (Talk) 12:25, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

Aside from (obviously) the shower, for aesthetic reasons, I've only ever seen the point of mixer taps in the kitchen (to have a long spout you can move over two different sinks or whatever recepticals you want to fill). In the bath tub or wash basin one can simply fil it with the quantity of hot and cold needed whether is from one tap or two (when would you need a flow of water the same, apart from in the shower?). I also don't understand the comment on differing water pressure in the UK whether a combi-system or hot water tank is being used, surely any differing pressure will occur whatever conutry it is in? Dainamo (talk) 21:28, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
It's common in many places to wash your hands under the running water. A mixing tap is essential for that purpose lest your hands freeze or be burnt. In many commercial settings that now include taps controlled by passive infrared sensors, the mix is pre-set but still present.
Atlant (talk) 17:16, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
That's right. How can you wash your hands without a mixing tap and getting burnt? In Poland the mixing tap is the only type we use. I have been to many European countries and I have never seen separate ones, but I heard they use them in the UK and that it is very annoying :)
Trosmisiek (talk) 17:07, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Tapping barrels

We've just had a recent addition to include the use of 'tap' as a verb, e.g.

  • To tap a vessel containing liquid metal is to remove the liquid from the vessel...

which is good. But doesn't it apply to more than metal smelting. For example does one 'tap' a keg of beer when driving the wooden tap into the end of the barrel? -- Solipsist 12:14, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

If I am not mistaken, that is where the noun 'tap' comes from. In origin, the tap was the process of inserting the spigot; tapping the spigot against the bung forces the latter into the barrel and jams the former into the bung hole. This method forces the spigot and hole together so rapidly that there is very little spillage. That done, the barrel has been tapped so the valve in the spigot is called a tap.
However, there is room to think that the application of the word 'tap' to this process originates in the spindle shape of the spigot. (Compare 'tap root') The meanings of the German masculine noun Zapfen parallel this meaning of one form or another of short, tapered stick. (RJP 16:58, 7 January 2006 (UTC))
Certainly the process of knocking a tap into a cask (not a "keg", please! :-) ) is known as tapping. Although I think you might be right that the noun comes from the verb, I find it unlikely that it's from "tapping the spigot against the bung". If nothing else, it's more of a whack than a tap! Keystone (cask) and related articles have more about this including an action photo.
In addition, I'd be interested in what you make of the word "spigot". It's not something I've encountered in my extensive experience of the Real Ale world, or anywhere else really although I was aware of the word. I looked it up a few months ago and the OED if I remember rightly described it as a wooden peg pushed into a hole to regulate the flow - basically a primitive forerunner of a tap or valve. However, I've seen it used by Americans to mean a tap, especially one that's not over a sink (eg outside, for attaching a hose). PeteVerdon 01:25, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
I was the user that added the verb section. The use of 'tap' in smelting was probably influenced by 'tapping' for beer barrels, as the method is similar: the taphole at the base of a blast furnace, for example, is sealed with a clay plug that is drilled out when tapping commences. Electric arc furnaces usually have a mechanical flap, backed up by sand, to close their tapholes. Sentinel75 05:36, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
I've just Googled 'to tap' and I feel that verb meanings shouldn't be in this article; why don't I modify that section to point to a Wiktionary entry on 'tap (verb)'? Sentinel75 05:38, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
I don't see a problem with verb meanings of "tap" being in Wikipedia (as opposed to Wiktionary) but you're right that they don't belong on this page. Neither, in fact, do the other "other meanings" - the number of different uses of the word is precisely why it has a disambiguation page. In fact, two of the three "other meanings" were already listed on that page; I've added your molten metal one as well. PeteVerdon 13:45, 30 March 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Cone Vavles

The desciption at the end of a cone valve is not correct. I think what he is referring to is a ball valve, which has a ball with a hole through the middle of it. A cone valve Has a cone within a larger cone shaped housing. The flow is controlled by moving the inside cone up and away from the housing.

[edit] US specifics

A note on why Americans have two multiple-syllable words for taps whilst the rest of the English speaking world just has the simple 'tap' would be welcome. :) Anon.

Possibly for the same reason why we in Britain fancify a car engine cover by calling it a "bonnet" whereas in the U.S. they simply call it a "hood". I suggest you think of the proverb concerning people in glass houses..... Dainamo (talk) 21:13, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Faucet and Finish Comparison Video

http://www.plumbersurplus.com/videos/Faucet-and-Finish-Comparison-Buying-Guide/7 Above is a neat video describing faucet finishes and a comparison of the most common finishes. --216.70.141.161 17:39, 12 December 2006 (UTC)