The external tap is hot to the touch... why? Is it due to a leak?

Hello can you please give us more info. About your tap, where is it located at your house? Is it near the water heater? What is it used for? Are there any other fixtures near by? Give us as much info. As you possibly can. Thanks ----zeke---

It is for an upstairs bath tub. Standard hot/cold/shower controls. Not near any hot water heater. Hot and cold taps have separate shut-offs. That's about it.

T6882ha:

Most likely the packing nut behind the chrome cover plate at the hot water handle is leaking and may not be showing up at front of the wall, but may be dripping down the inner wall at a slow enough rate to cause the hot water to flow constant enough to actually keep the handle hot, but not show up as a leak in the ceiling below... YET!!

Remove the handle and the trim plate... then run hot water and see if it drips at the packing nut. If it does, give a quick 1/4-1/2 turn clockwise and that should fix this if you are lucky!

Check it out... let us know what you find...

MARK