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[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

 


Today Dunbar Plumbing was called out to a service call in the Sherbourne Subdivision off of Richardson Road in Independence Kentucky. This is a Drees subdivision with the median house value of $200,000.00 and above.

Lakewood Subdivision is the name and Shirepeak Way is the street we worked on. http://bit.ly/bVVGWL

The service call involved a leaking shower faucet on the second floor of the home. Customer could not get the allen screw out of the handle to release from the brass end of the cartridge.

A few questions were asked in regards to how old the faucet was, had it ever been worked on before.

[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

It was determined that the shower faucet had not ever been worked on since the initial installation. This guarantees a cartridge replacement given the problems the older light green opaque cartridges had.

The water chemistry in this region caused issues with the plastic, affecting the operation of the balancing spool inside the cartridge.

Most if not always, the installing plumber of these products created conditions that cause issues for the repair of the product down the road.


In this case, no grease on the fine threads of the bonnet nut, moving parts, allen screw or handle screws. Not having this valuable product is what a simple water leak, years of corrosion buildup or just age can cause the inability to disassemble the faucet and make the necessary repairs.

 

[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

Since the faucet didn't have grease on the critical points of the faucet, this particular job involved no ability to remove the handle. The first attempts to remove the handle with an allen key stripped the machine cuts in the allen screw, thus preventing the removal.

Rarely as a plumber will we take the time to drill out this allen screw but for the reason of time, accuracy of being able to drill with the handle still attached and no guarantee of preventing damage to the very threads needed to reinstall a new allen screw.

The fast, simple repair in this manner is breaking off the handle from the brass stem on the cartridge. We've had to do this twice in the past month and simplifies the repair without considerable down time with no guarantee it will be a successful removal.

Once the handle is removed, full access to the cartridge is made. What is so important is applying a generous amount of food grade type silicone (non-hardening) grease to the bonnet nut of the valve body, the sides of the cartridge along with the outer ledge of the cartridge.

The use of silicone grease guarantees the ease of removal in the future when the faucet is in need of a repair or maintenance.


Once the shower faucet was reassembled, the water was turned back on and all fixtures were operated to remove the air in the water lines. As included in our time at the customer's home, we checked the water pressure.

[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

The incoming water pressure revealed 90 pounds pressure, pressure that was elevated and in need of correction. We advised the customer of this issue and gauged the seriousness at a 7 of a possible 10 in severity.

Referred them to the front page of www.DunbarPlumbing.com depicting such information about high water pressure cause and effect information.

High or "elevated" water pressure can be a hidden problem that is not realized as potentially harmful. Every single faucet in your home has a GPM (Gallons Per Minute) rating. <<< That number was derived with a pressure of 60 pounds of water pressure. Anything above this equation in relation to pressure is detrimental, will waste water and cause premature wear and tear on the innards of your faucets, fixtures and water fed appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers, humidifiers and icemakers on fridges.

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Tags: delta  delta faucet  delta shower faucet  shower faucet leak  delta faucet leak