SOLVED - Shower faucet problems
Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 3:59 am
We have 2 bathrooms--a shower in one, shower/tub in the other.
The hot water in the shower/tub lost pressure until it was a trickle, so I hired a handyman to fix it. He didn't turn off the water, so scalding water was spraying everywhere for several minutes, until he shut off the water to the whole house.
Despite this, the fix worked...for a while. Figuring I couldn't do any worse, I shut off the water and took off the knob to see what was beneath. He stripped the nut pretty badly, but with a vice-grip covered in duct tape, I was able to get the stem out.
I drove 30 miles to the 2 nearest hardware stores, neither of which had a stem like ours. The guy at Ace put new washers and an O-ring on the stem for me, so I prayed it would work. At home, I carefully screwed it back in...still no water coming out!
I noticed that it didn't even sound like water was trying to come out, so I wondered if it was the stem or something else causing the problem. I slowly started unscrewing the stem--while the water was still on! But even when I removed it, no water came out.
So it has to be more than just the stem...maybe some sort of blockage? It only affects that hot water faucet, so far.
I say "so far" because I can feel that the hot water knob on the shower in the other bathroom is starting to feel funny when I turn it off. It's looser and spongy, and sometimes the water pressure gets lower.
I took off that knob, and there was a lot of gunk that I carefully cleaned off. It's working for now, but I know I'm showering on borrowed time. Unlike the shower/bath, I know it's the faucet itself, not any blockage or whatever, that's the problem on the shower-only shower.
Here's my problem--that shower has the same kind of stem as the shower/bath, so I can't replace it before it gets worse!
I've attached a picture of it. The left side is the part that goes into the hole, and the right side is the nut that you use to screw it tight.
Some quick bullet points....
* Our MH was built in 1975, manufacturer unknown.
* The hot water works fine everywhere else in the house, the cold water is OK, too.
* Is this type of stem common in MH's?
* The guy at Ace measured it--it's size G, 5-inch (but its actual size is less)
* Why is it considered a 5-inch style, when it doesn't measure 5 inches long?
* Does anybody know where I can get replacement stems like this?
* If replacements aren't available, can a plumber put a new style in...and is it costly?
I want some input before I call a plumber out here, because I don't want them messing around with it unless they can finish the job the same day. The showers don't have separate shut-offs, and we can't go without water if a plumber has to special-order these stems.
Thanks in advance for any help!
The hot water in the shower/tub lost pressure until it was a trickle, so I hired a handyman to fix it. He didn't turn off the water, so scalding water was spraying everywhere for several minutes, until he shut off the water to the whole house.
Despite this, the fix worked...for a while. Figuring I couldn't do any worse, I shut off the water and took off the knob to see what was beneath. He stripped the nut pretty badly, but with a vice-grip covered in duct tape, I was able to get the stem out.
I drove 30 miles to the 2 nearest hardware stores, neither of which had a stem like ours. The guy at Ace put new washers and an O-ring on the stem for me, so I prayed it would work. At home, I carefully screwed it back in...still no water coming out!
I noticed that it didn't even sound like water was trying to come out, so I wondered if it was the stem or something else causing the problem. I slowly started unscrewing the stem--while the water was still on! But even when I removed it, no water came out.
So it has to be more than just the stem...maybe some sort of blockage? It only affects that hot water faucet, so far.
I say "so far" because I can feel that the hot water knob on the shower in the other bathroom is starting to feel funny when I turn it off. It's looser and spongy, and sometimes the water pressure gets lower.
I took off that knob, and there was a lot of gunk that I carefully cleaned off. It's working for now, but I know I'm showering on borrowed time. Unlike the shower/bath, I know it's the faucet itself, not any blockage or whatever, that's the problem on the shower-only shower.
Here's my problem--that shower has the same kind of stem as the shower/bath, so I can't replace it before it gets worse!
I've attached a picture of it. The left side is the part that goes into the hole, and the right side is the nut that you use to screw it tight.
Some quick bullet points....
* Our MH was built in 1975, manufacturer unknown.
* The hot water works fine everywhere else in the house, the cold water is OK, too.
* Is this type of stem common in MH's?
* The guy at Ace measured it--it's size G, 5-inch (but its actual size is less)
* Why is it considered a 5-inch style, when it doesn't measure 5 inches long?
* Does anybody know where I can get replacement stems like this?
* If replacements aren't available, can a plumber put a new style in...and is it costly?
I want some input before I call a plumber out here, because I don't want them messing around with it unless they can finish the job the same day. The showers don't have separate shut-offs, and we can't go without water if a plumber has to special-order these stems.
Thanks in advance for any help!