Off topic: Identify this leaking shower body?

Unknown

Great if the drywall is on the other side and can replace the shower valve.
MOENTROL is a simple anti scald valve with the design been around for years. Its work the same as the old one, pull on, left hot, right cold... Same simple cartridge fits this valve and most other moen faucets. The Moen "posti- temp" are considered junk in my opinion, been replacing them after others destroy it while trying to get the one of the kind cartridge out. With "posti-temp" u have to go thru the cold water every times you turn on the valve which most people dislike. Can't find MOENTROL ? Get it from a true plumbing supply house as big boxes rarely carry them as its not high volume selling item to them.. Delta? For shower valve, one word, crap

D107

Delta? Moen?

This 40+ year old--I think-- unit has begun to drip from the shower head. Plumber came, and according to his notes, 'greased up packing nut at tee handle of A.S. shower body.' Suggested new shower body (and of course tiling) if that didn't fix it. Well it still drips. Online it seems there are cartridge replacement kits for these things, though I don't know if for this old. I know there's a tendency for old cartridges to be really tough to remove, even with the special tools they sell. Is 'A.S.' a brand name?

This is an old family house that we're not looking for any more projects with at the moment. Can this be saved?

Thanks,

David

Terry in NJ

could A.S. = American Standard?

amateur guess

singh

Maybe

American standard. But looks like Moen

Q: Do you pull out the handle then turn to temperature? That's a design of moen.




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Unknown

shower valve

That's a truly American Standard single handle shower valve... If not greased properly at the time of installation or repaired, its can be a real pain in trying to fix it... The stem is tapered and when using it, make contacts with the spring loaded thingys on rubber seats.
My advice is to replaced with Moen " MOENTROL" , not the junky moen posti-temp and even worst junky Delta faucet.
If the titles are in good shape, a good plumber can replace the valve without destroying the tiles. Not easy but I've done it. If drywall on other side, then that's the best way to do it..

D107

thanks, yes that's how it works

Most of the Moens I've seen online seem to have a circular handle, but as old as this is, who knows.

thanks,

David

D107

Thanks; so valve-only can be replaced

and rest of shower assembly can remain? Yes dry wall is on the other side; not sure why plumber didn't mention that possibility. Of course that would be a good time to put in an anti-scald assembly, but the way new owners gut the old houses these days, probably a waste of time. Already a taco 5000 mixing valve on indirect.

Thanks,

David

Paul Pollets

A/S

Repair kits for that shower valve are still available. It is an American Standard. Parts are still available for faucets and fittings made 50 years ago...or longer.

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bob young

1963 push-pull

that is an amer. -stand. push pull from the early sixties. guts are easy & available --springs & rubber seats. but.......unscrewing the two integral nuts may near impossible. i used to use a hammer & screwdriver.

Steamhead (in transit)

Those are pretty nice units

and tend to go a long time between repairs, as do the A-S Aquaseal 2-handle units. The matching lav faucet appears to be machined out of a block of solid brass. Never pulled a shower faucet out of the wall to see if it was the same though.

If you do replace it, I personally prefer Delta. This company uses the same basic seat/spring assembly on most of their units, so they're pretty easy to fix from a small stock of parts assuming the cartridge itself isn't scored.

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kpc_10

you have...

to cycle through the cold w/ a Symmons and many Grohe valves too...whats the problem.

bob young

symmons pre. bal.

ever use symmons, frank ? we love them. and great support team. all brass.

www.symmons.com/

mtfallsmikey

I'm surprised

That old A/S is still in use!..I grew up installing those. They are very smooth operating, I suppose you can still get rebuilds for these??

D107

sounds as if rebuilds are out there, but

finding a really skilled plumber to do the job might be difficult. Probably not something for just a mechanic. Not sure of the benefit of the lubrication the mechanic did. Perhaps when next I'm out there I should throw some vinegar or WD-12 in there to loosen things up for a future replacement.

Yeah it does look amazingly new for 45 years old. Maybe it was stainless steel; looks like it could have been put in yesterday.

Thanks,

David

Steamhead (in transit)

Symmons

doesn't seem to be that common around here, at least on residential jobs, and we don't do much commercial plumbing. We see mostly Delta and Moen, along with the cheap brand-of-the-month from Agent Orange that you can't ever get parts for.

I like Delta, since I can fix most of their units quickly with a rather small stock of parts. In and out in 20 minutes or so- can't beat it.

"Steamhead"

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D107

Update

speaking with a plumber on the phone--seemingly very knowledgeable and professional--says changing showerbody from sheetrocked wall behind bathroom is not always so easy, that 'there's always a 2x4 in there'. I'm not really knowledgeable enough to debate him, so I don't know how they'd get around a notched 2x4 or whatever he's talking about, so given it's the family house and not mine and I can't go running out there for this, looks like it's going to be a new Moentrol with a tile job. Maybe it's LI construction......

Thanks for all your comments.

David

lee_7

If there is a 2x4 in the wall that would be in the way from the drywall side, it would still be in the way from the tile side. Sounds like the plumber is trying to make job bigger then it has to be. Changed many a shower valve from the backside. yes, you might have to patch a bigger area of drywall, but still way cheaper then a full tile job.

ScottMP

David

Why not use a Symmonns S-92-2 with a jiffy plate ? The jiffy plate is a chrome escution that covers over the three holes of the old unit and allows room to solder in a new sinlge lever Symmonns shower valve. We do it all the time and it works just fine.

This is all done from the front with no need to bother the sheet rock.

Symmons actually pioneered the pressure balanced/anti-scauld mixing valve.

Scott

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bob young

symnonns

moen is a extra bad choice. plastic junk. symnnons is top quality all brass. moen was good at one time but now is simply living on legend. doing it from the rear is also a bad choice unless you are a do -it- yourselfer who has all week. it will turn a two hour job into a ten hour job & in the end you will be smashing the tile anyway. in any case good luck.

Jim_108

faucet repair

That A/S faucet is easy to rebuild I do repairs in a high rise that has hundreds of them. After rebuilding them I polish them. They are very heavy and can be made to look like new. The old kits work better than the new ones that came out a few years ago. I don't know where you are located but the kits are available at Noland Plumbing supply (D.C. Area)
Jim

D107

thanks for all your help

I greatly appreciate all the plumbing info--the wall is such that almost any question yields a variety of solutions, expertise and ideas.

Given all the considerations, it unfortunately looks like it will have to be done the expensive way. At least some tiles that are already a bit loose will be fixed in the process. 45 years ain't a bad run. It would probably take quite a search to find a plumber out there who is as conscientious as you wallies.

Many thanks,

David

Unknown

where are u?

Where are u located? As its best to get a real repair plumber that knows the trick of doing the job. I've repalced 2 handles faucet using the cover plate, some without opening the wall. Only thing plastic on the MOENTROL is the handle. Only resonable priced safety shower/tub valve where you can get parts readily availabe.

D107

western nassau county, LI, NY

I appreciate what you're saying. We will be using the moentrol based on the advice of this thread. So with the anti-scald in that valve plus the TACO mixing valve on the indirect, it's a good match.


thanks alot,

David