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 May 03, 2011, 12:18:41 AM
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Dunbar Plumbing was called out to an emergency service call to repair a leaking delta shower faucet. This house was located on Landview Drive (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=landview+drive+covington+kentucky&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=29.854268,77.871094&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Landview+Dr,+Covington,+Kenton,+Kentucky+41017&ll=38.990748,-84.522454&spn=0,0.001188&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=38.990744,-84.522572&panoid=UGo7RgmoOIOmmqtOrAk0bA&cbp=12,148.97,,0,-1.9) in South Covington Kentucky. Landview Drive is off the Hands Pike Subdivision that is the major road that serves both Ridgeport Subdivision and Crystal Lake Subdivision. Hands Pike to Tamarack Drive, to Evergreen Drive to Hawks Ridge to Landview Drive. Homes in this subdivision are over 12 years or newer in construction. Most common faucet brand in this subdivision is Delta Faucet Company.
This leaking tub and shower faucet was leaking and was attempted to be repaired by a friend of the family. Our first concern was whether the faucet had been damaged beyond repair but that did not seem to be the case. Here is a picture of the type of faucet we worked on to stop the leaking.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/DUNBAR/delta_tub_faucet.jpg)
After speaking with the owner of the home, I was able to find out that the faucet had never been worked on in regards to replacement of the cartridge inside of the faucet. In the Northern Kentucky area, Delta Faucets had an issue with their pressure balanced cartridges that are designed for the monitor series faucets. The single handle tub and or tub and shower or shower only faucets. A problem with the plastic housing where the balancing spool was that could cause interference in how the balancing spool effectively slides back and forth when there are pressure fluctuations. Delta came out with a better and improved cartridge that solved this problem, providing the cure to the ongoing issues.
Here is a picture of the NEW type pressure balanced cartridge that Dunbar Plumbing installs to correct the issues of the older ones.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/DUNBAR/delta_faucet_cartridge.jpg)
I'll return to this post and show how we remove the cartridge on these faucets and give some more information as to why these cartridges fail over time, regardless of replacing the internals inside the cartridge.