It’s been working for 25 years and all of a sudden started leaking badly. It was difficult just getting the handle off but I got it with a big screwdriver against the valve dome. Next is removing the chrome dome over the valve body. This allows access to the ball and the rubber seals.
I got a rag and a big pair of channel locks and got a good bite and started turning it and the whole body turned. I took off the escution and saw that the only thing that connects the valve body to the mixing chamber is three little pieces of soft copper tubing. I was bending the tubing. I was lucky to see it before I broke something.
I can’t get a hold of anything to counter hold it and I can’t get enough torque on it to break it. Anybody had and experience with this?
MY PLAN: Replacing the whole mixer will be very major surgery – tile and backer board and everything else. The dome is brass and chrome. If I don’t hear a better idea, I’m going to take my air die grinder with a thin cut off wheel and try to cut a slot along to dome to the threads and just score it over the threaded part to avoid damaging the threads. Then I’m going to take my big screwdriver and place it in the slot and try to pop the dome enough to loosen it. I have an old faucet that I can steal the dome off of or the plumbing supply house will hopefully have one.
Any input will be apreciated. Thanks!
Replies
Make sure you have the parts BEFORE you take the pry-bar to it!!!
But after 25 years???? Ask your home improvement expert (your DW) if she would like a new shower! A little bird tells me that she would like you to gut it and rebuild.
Then get a new faucet.
The house is a rental that is still in really good shape. You are right though - my wife would want a new one. Thanks for the input.
It needs to be "shocked" to get past the corroded threads.
Applying counterclockwise pressure & tapping the dome could work.
Apply massive amount of boiling water to dome to expand could work also.
Then slicing a groove may be the best option, but be prepared that you may have to replace the whole valve if you slip.
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” —Albert Einstein
Had the same experience with the same type valve two years ago, ended up putting in a new valve.
the good news is it's a delta so whatever parts you need you can get.
i have hit this before and never did the cutting trick you mentioned,but that would probably work,i use a propane torch and heat it up pretty good and squirt it with penatrating oil ,let it set for 15 mins and try again. if that don't work i'll heat it again.
all the plastic will be ruined but your going to replace that anyway,oh and put a little grease on it going back together.larry
if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
My last job was maintenance in an apartment building with 36 of these in various states of dis-repair. I never turned the whole body like you did but the other maintenance guy did. He turned it to the point where it broke. I was pretty upset. We had to replace it with another valve from the back.
Your idea of cutting a slot in the dome part will work. Once it is cut you can fit a screwdriver in the slot and twist it open a bit. That and some spray lube should do it.
Another way to break it loose is to take the pliers and squeeze it at different areas around the dome. That might break it lose. You will still wreck that piece from the marks on it.
Whenever I assemble plumbing I lube EVERYTHING. All the threads. This isn't so much as to make it work better as to keep water out of those areas so you can get it apart in a few years. We had delta units and they weren't that good of a valve. They tend to leak out of that dome area when they were on. It's ok because it drips in the tub but it also deposits water on the threads and the body so there is an accumulation of minerals. That is probably what froze those thread so solid. They got whetted over and over so the minerals in the water filled them up.
I hit the local supply house and there was a crusty old guy behind the counter who told me to remove the plastic screw-in retainer in the dome that adjusts the seal against the ball and it will come off by hand - then he sold me a new dome in case I had to cut it off. He said, "if all else fails cutting it off will work if carefully done". He was surprised that I didn't bend it beyond repair when I tried the channels the first time.
Thanks for the input and have a good day.
John
i don't what a guy could say about faucets to get deleted,man the moderators are getting tough. larryif a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
I did it and is was my mistake I'm new at this - I deleted it. Sorry alwaysoverbudget.
Racestreet
Edited 3/11/2008 9:55 pm ET by RaceStreet
I had Delta basin faucet (similar construction) with the same problem.
I put some PB Blaster on it to where it could get into the threads.
Tapped on it lightly with a hammer around the edges.
Heated it with a torch. Not enough to try and expand it, but rather to get some movement to crack the corrosion.
Repeated that a couple of time over a week.
And it came off just using my fingertips.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Thanks Bill. I haven't heard of BP Blaster. Is it similar to WD40? One guy suggested hairspray!
PB Blaster is a rust and corrosion release. More like Liquid Wrench than WD 40..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.