The faucet stands as an essential fixture within any household. Despite its ubiquitous presence in daily life, discerning the quality of faucets is paramount when making a purchase. Below are some insightful considerations to aid in your selection process.

Faucets within the functional category

Faucets serve various functions and are categorized accordingly. They encompass bathtub faucets, basin faucets, shower faucets, kitchen sink faucets, dunnage faucets, washing machine faucets, and more. When purchasing faucets, it's essential to consider the unique requirements of each application.

For instance, bathtub faucets require an extended spout reaching the edge of the tub to prevent water spillage. Basin faucets, preferably with rounded shapes, necessitate shorter spouts to prevent scratching and allow ample washing space. When selecting shower faucets, consider additional features like shower, surfing, or spray functions based on personal preferences. As for kitchen sink faucets, prioritize models with long spouts and popular pull-out styles for convenient vegetable and tableware cleaning.

Determining from the surface

A superior faucet boasts meticulous craftsmanship and impeccable surface finishing, resembling a distortion-free mirror. Its construction is sturdy, featuring uniform plating that maintains a lustrous, vibrant appearance even with prolonged use. Contemporary surface production techniques employ polished chrome, flange gold, polished nickel, brushed nickel, paint, PVD, and other methods, satisfying the contemporary consumer's appetite for product aesthetics and decorative appeal.

The surface plating of a faucet plays a crucial role in its durability and aesthetic appeal. Ideally, the plating layer should gleam like a mirror. During the manufacturing process, faucets undergo grinding and polishing to prevent oxidation and corrosion. A layer of nickel and chromium is electroplated onto the surface to enhance durability.

When purchasing a faucet, it's advisable to inspect it in a well-lit area. Look for signs of oxidation, porosity, plating leakage, scorch marks, and ensure a uniform color without burrs or grit. A quick test involves pressing your finger onto the surface—if fingerprints spread quickly and leave no trace, it indicates good quality and resistance to dirt buildup.

Professional assessment of faucet plating typically involves two methods: measuring the thickness of electroplated nickel and chromium, and employing salt spray detection equipment. The international standard for electroplated nickel thickness is 8 microns, with higher-quality faucets reaching up to 12 microns. Ordinary brass faucets may only have 3-5 microns of nickel plating and 0.10 to 0.15 microns of chromium. Requesting relevant documentation from sales personnel can aid in making an informed decision.

Reputable brands subject their faucets to rigorous spray tests, including neutral salt spray and acid salt spray tests, to evaluate corrosion resistance. The EU standard EN248 mandates a neutral salt spray test duration of 200 hours for high-quality brands like Hansgrohe, Roca, and Kohler. Generally, faucets passing a 48 to 96-hour neutral salt spray test exhibit satisfactory quality.

Plating thickness is a crucial indicator of durability, with thicker plating offering better corrosion resistance. However, accurately measuring the combination of plating thickness and spray test duration remains challenging. As a rule, thicker plating and longer spray test durations correlate with superior performance, although no strict data exists for precise measurement.

Determine from the Weight

Brass faucets tend to be heavier due to their thickness, which ensures durability and sturdiness. Typically, the faucet body is crafted from brass, and those with chrome plating offer the highest quality assurance. The purity of the brass directly correlates with the quality of chrome plating, providing a corrosion-resistant surface. However, some manufacturers opt for zinc alloy to cut costs, resulting in lighter and less durable faucets with weaker corrosion resistance compared to brass. While zinc alloy is permissible, its inferior plating quality makes it easier to identify—brass faucets are heavier and harder, while zinc alloy faucets are lighter and softer.

Moreover, the market offers faucets made from other materials such as stainless steel and plastic, which will be discussed in detail later.

Turning the Faucet Handle

When operating the faucet handle, it's essential to ensure minimal space between the faucet and the switch, facilitating smooth opening and closing motions devoid of any hindrance or slippage. In contrast, lower-quality faucets often exhibit a significant gap, leading to a noticeable sense of obstruction.

Ceramic Valve Core or Not?

The ceramic valve core represents a leap forward in valve technology, boasting resilience against high temperatures and pressures while resisting aging. Its superior sealing capabilities and extended lifespan, often exceeding 10 years of regular use, make it a favored choice. Additionally, faucets equipped with ceramic valve cores offer a smoother and more comfortable operation. Although brass faucets currently dominate the market, they stand out for their disinfection and sterilization properties, effortless maintenance, resistance to deformation, and heightened durability.

Knocking the faucet body

When assessing a faucet, listen for a crisp sound upon tapping it to determine if it's made of brass or stainless steel. Pay close attention to the interface for any signs of dullness. Examine the faucet components, particularly the main ones, to ensure tight assembly. A brass faucet body and handle typically convey a sense of solidity and weightiness, adding a touch of elegance to your kitchen.

Check Faucet Accessories

Inspect each component meticulously, paying particular attention to the tightness of the main assembly. Ensure the faucet body is of superior quality, crafted from refined brass for durability. The handles should also be made of brass, offering a substantial weight and a satisfying sense of solidity.

Identification Mark

Most standardized goods display the manufacturer's brand logo and laser mark, whereas informal or lower-quality products may only bear paper labels, or worse, lack any identifying marks altogether. It's imperative to exercise caution while shopping to ensure product authenticity and quality.

Determine Cross-Sectional Cutoff

Numerous brass faucets available in the market feature brass plating on their surfaces, but the internal components may not necessarily be brass. Hence, it's imperative to exercise caution during the purchasing process. Carefully inspecting the cross-sectional interface of the faucet to ensure the body material is brass is highly recommended. Paying attention to these details will aid in making an informed purchase decision.

Check the Cartridge Brand

The current market faucet mainly has a ceramic cartridge, ball valve cartridge and rubber cartridge. Ceramic cartridge is a new generation material, good sealing performance, physical properties, long service life, general normal use in more than 10 years. Switching times more than 300,000 times; low-grade products mostly use brass, rubber and other seals, shorter service life, but the price is low. Look at the brand of the cartridge can also determine the quality of the cartridge. At present, the export of more is the track SEDAL, Hante, Mingshi, Juteng and so on, the international brand also has Kerox, Fluhs, Vernet, etc., Kang Qin, Han You the two Taiwan brand is also good.

About Faucet Manufacturer - TIEMA

TIEMA were founded in 1985 with the name of Taizhou Matie Plumbling & Valve Factory. Since 1996, the name has been changed to Taizhou Zhengshing Valve Co., Ltd.

TIEMA is a specialized manufacturer of faucets, mixers, taps, bibcocks, valves, sanitary wares, shower accessories, drainers and so on. As a member of China Council of Promotion of International Trade, and International Commerce Chamber of China, we have independent import and export right.

We have 30 years study on tap first-class production team in order to satisfy the demands of custom and the product quality guarantee。

In 2022, the factory will introduce polishing equipment, which can better remove paint Surface contamination, oxide layers, light marks, resulting in a uniform product color Consistently bright as new.

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