Dunbar Plumbing Forums - Northern Kentucky's 1st DIY Plumbing Forum
PLUMBING ANSWERS - SPECIFIC TO FIXTURE => Faucets: Kitchen | Bath | Laundry | Outdoor => Topic started by: DUNBAR PLUMBING on January 18, 2010, 08:53:57 PM
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This was a question asked from facebook regarding a plumbing issue
Steve,
A question if you want to take a stab at it.
I have a leaking Delta bath faucet. It’s a model 1300/1400 series. http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/plumbing/bathtub/faucet1/deltarot/replseal.html
I replaced the seats, springs and o-rings. The leak is still the same.
Now the screwy part. When I had the main water valve turned off and the faucet apart there was still a leak out of the top left hole back in the chamber. There was also a lot of corrosion back in that side as well. No other faucets put out a drop of water when the main valve was off except for this spot and it was about the same flow that is coming out of the faucet when assembled with the water on.
Where would that water come from?
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On those Delta tub/shower Monitor faucets:
If you have a cartridge that you removed that has a light green assembly, almost a translucent/light green...those cartridges were defective due to the certain chemicals in the water in this area, and the new style cartridges (blue and white) address this issue inside the the cartridge.
The reason why it was bad/defective was the water would damage the internal housing and cause the balancing spools to stop moving inside the cartridge.
If your cartridge isn't new, or isn't blue on the backside, if you take your cartridge apart you'll see a guide plate which is stainless steel. This is the mating surface of the assembly where the rubber seats mate with the guide plate to seal and distribute the water.
What happens in the older ones is the plastic tabs that hold that guide plate in position start to lose their ability to hold the plate in position, and the plate from turning the valve on and off thousands of times causes those tabs to widen, allowing the guide plate to have motion. <<< There is where the leak can recreate even with new seat cups and springs.
There is no fix for that issue other than replacement of the cartridge. The cartridge is around $47 from Lowes or Home Depot or any supply house.
Top left hole would be the hot water side, and that water coming out was thermal expansion created from the heating of water...which is normal.
You can heat a tank of water in a water heater, cut the water lines off right at the top and water will slowly leave that tank for hours, without a source of water. Same principle of heating water on a stove...turn the heat up the water will expand and try to push the lid off the pot.
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Here is the new style cartridge that replaces the older light green ones that had problems in this region.