60 yr old A/S 'Colony' Two handle Tub fixture

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Carl399

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Hi, Just an FYI about me. I work maintenance in a Hi-rise, 25 yrs experience.

Now for the problem.....

The tubs all have A/S Colony 2 handle fixtures and we use a diverter rather than a control (3rd handle). The fixtures are original to the building (circa 1962).

My problem is this. If I adjust the water temp through the spout (filling the tub) and then close the diverter so that the shower is functioning, the water temp goes up by a good 20 deg.

I've found no blockage and the problem is occurring in more than a few apartments. I'm stumped and any suggestions are more than welcome
 
Your getting a spike because they are not pressure balanced valve. Code states multi dwelling units need to have pressure balanced valves
 
Everything in the building is grandfathered and all the piping is behind ceramic tile. owners wouldn't even think about changing out 218 fixtures. And, if it is a spike, why can I balance the temp when the tub is filling, but when I divert the flow to the shower head the temp goes up and If I open the diverter to fill the tub the temp goes back to a regulated temp? It's got me stumped.
 
I haven't ran into this particular problem, so just hypothesizing. But I would pull the diverter cartridge, and see what about it could cause it to be preferential to the input from the hot side when it is directing flow to the showerhead.
 
I'm assuming that the diverter that you mention is a spout diverter (pull-up knob on the spout). If this is happening on more than one unit and not happening in others, try to determine if the affected units share a common cold water supply pipe. As phish said, just hypothesizing.
Since the cold water pressure and volume is typically dominant in a large building, you may have a situation where a cold supply pipe isn't getting the job done. That's why you need to find the common link between the problem in the units. I think that by restricting the flow when diverting to the shower, you may have the hot water dominating the cold in the valve body.
If you can chase the main cold supply back towards its source, just before the affected units, you may find an old gate valve or other appurtenance that you could suspect as the culprit.
 

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