Symmons Diverter Still Leaking
Recently I replaced a diverter "Symmons Tub & Shower Spindle TA-25A, White". My symptoms were when water was diverted to the shower head there was some still flowing to the tub spout. Removing the old diverter would have been tough without a bit extractor. I was prepared. After removal I cleaned it out with 400 grit sandpaper on a mandrel. The water was extremely brown from all the iron in the water.
Installed the new part and the issue remained the same.
Any suggestions?
Comments
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The symmons valve is designed to leak water in an effort to balance out the pressure between the hot and cold water supply to the shower valve. If your Hot water has a large pressure drop, lets say from the hot water dielectric nipple or partially closed valve, then it relieves the excess pressure into the tub. This was on the older 96-2X. They have been redesigned so i not sure if they still do the same. its been a while.
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Thanks for the info on that. I have notice on the same designed Symmons shower it does not leak from the diverter.
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You have two Symmons valve to compare from? How old are they? Is one older that the other?
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I already threw the old one away. The one that I remove was around 14 years old. What do you mean is one older? "Is one older that the other?"
This is different house with the same exact shower hardware. That is what I was talking bout.
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Symmons has changed some of there repair parts as well as the tools they offer for said repairs.
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I did see some variations. These are two shower heads are the same. Just my diverter leaks the entire time.
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"My symptoms were when water was diverted to the shower head there was some still flowing to the tub spout."
That's the way they're supposed to work. According to Symmons, they say a "pencil width" stream is considered normal. I describe it as something more than a dribble.
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It is about a pencil width. I find it still strange that the other one with exactly the same hardware does not have any dribble. That is what still confounds me.
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I've never seen one that doesn't have some stream from the tub when in shower mode - honestly I think the one that doesn't show that is the aberration. Every one I've seen has been on a water saver shower head which will increase back pressure - maybe that one has a full flow shower head on it?
I haven't worked on any new ones, so maybe they redesigned it.
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I got some data so you can see. This is an example of the water flow at the bottom. As you can see the water flow is distinctly limited when the diverter is turned toward the shower head. Mine diverter does not direct all the water to the shower head.
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The video link you provided is "private".
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It is public now.
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That is actually less dripping than I've typically seen from a Symmons tub/shower valve when in the shower position. According to Symmons, the stream should be no more than a pencil thickness.
They're designed that way - if there's a particular reason for it, I don't know what that would be, but that's normal for that valve.
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The one I am repairing has low pressure on the shower side because it has a pencil thick water flow at the bottom. I need all the water to be diverted to the shower to get the maximum amount of pressure possible. There is something else going on that I am missing. Either way I wanted to share with empirical evidence. The one in the video has the exact hardware as the one I am trying repair.
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Remove the tub spout and block the pipe and retest. Variations of these valves have service stops. If yours is so equipped, make sure they're both all the way out.
Are the two valves you're comparing using the same exact shower heads?
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Hi, What GPM is the showerhead? I'd suggest putting in a 1.5 GPM if it's more than that. This replacement could fix the problem of a weak shower.
Yours, Larry
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Both shower heads are the same. Neither valves have any service stops. I will remove the tube spout and test again with the blocking that you suggested.
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