First off, thanks so much for this forum!
I should just call in a professional plumber, but I suspect that might get expensive. I will likely still end up doing that but, being curious and moderately handy myself, I much prefer to at first get a full understanding of the process in order to decide whether it's something I could risk tackling myself.
We recently purchased this house which has this fancy shower, (see photos below). It has three separate valves, and a temperature control dial. The three valves individually turn on either the bathtub faucet, the side jets, or the overhead shower nozzle, or any combination of the three.
The issue is, all three outlets drip constantly. Also the temperature control dial cannot be turned at all. Push/pull, turn/twist, it can't be budged. I don't want to force it for fear of breaking something.
The shower does work. The temperature is locked at a comfortable setting, but it cannot be adjusted. However none of the three valves close completely, so it always drips.
The problem was caused, I'm pretty sure, because the previous owners had the water softener system programmed incorrectly. It was set to regenerate every three days, regardless of how much (if any) water was being used. As a result there were salt stalactites growing from all of the faucets. That situation has been corrected. The softener now regenerates only after 800 gallons of water usage. But I'd really like to fix the shower.
The problem is, I can't figure out how to start. Obviously I would have to pull the valve stems out. But, first off, there are no shutoff valves to be found anywhere. I'd have to shut off the water to the entire house.
Next problem, there are no obvious set-screws holding on the triangular-shaped valve handles. The bezels behind the handles spin freely, but cannot be removed without first removing the handles. How do these handles come off??
Next, the temperature control dial has a large bezel plate behind it, held on by two screws. Once those screws are removed I can see what's behind the bezel (see photos), but it won't slide off completely without further disassembling the temp mixing control.
As I would first need to shut off the water to the entire house, that pretty much eliminates any opportunity for experimentation because, once disassembled (or broken), I'm committed to fixing it before the water can be turned back on.
There are no identifying marks that I could find on any of the plumbing fixtures, so I can't go searching online for a user manual. There is a label on the shower door glass, but I suspect that's just for the tub insert and has nothing to do with the plumbing itself.
Any suggestions?
Ya, ya, I know. Don't be cheap, call a professional...
I should just call in a professional plumber, but I suspect that might get expensive. I will likely still end up doing that but, being curious and moderately handy myself, I much prefer to at first get a full understanding of the process in order to decide whether it's something I could risk tackling myself.
We recently purchased this house which has this fancy shower, (see photos below). It has three separate valves, and a temperature control dial. The three valves individually turn on either the bathtub faucet, the side jets, or the overhead shower nozzle, or any combination of the three.
The issue is, all three outlets drip constantly. Also the temperature control dial cannot be turned at all. Push/pull, turn/twist, it can't be budged. I don't want to force it for fear of breaking something.
The shower does work. The temperature is locked at a comfortable setting, but it cannot be adjusted. However none of the three valves close completely, so it always drips.
The problem was caused, I'm pretty sure, because the previous owners had the water softener system programmed incorrectly. It was set to regenerate every three days, regardless of how much (if any) water was being used. As a result there were salt stalactites growing from all of the faucets. That situation has been corrected. The softener now regenerates only after 800 gallons of water usage. But I'd really like to fix the shower.
The problem is, I can't figure out how to start. Obviously I would have to pull the valve stems out. But, first off, there are no shutoff valves to be found anywhere. I'd have to shut off the water to the entire house.
Next problem, there are no obvious set-screws holding on the triangular-shaped valve handles. The bezels behind the handles spin freely, but cannot be removed without first removing the handles. How do these handles come off??
Next, the temperature control dial has a large bezel plate behind it, held on by two screws. Once those screws are removed I can see what's behind the bezel (see photos), but it won't slide off completely without further disassembling the temp mixing control.
As I would first need to shut off the water to the entire house, that pretty much eliminates any opportunity for experimentation because, once disassembled (or broken), I'm committed to fixing it before the water can be turned back on.
There are no identifying marks that I could find on any of the plumbing fixtures, so I can't go searching online for a user manual. There is a label on the shower door glass, but I suspect that's just for the tub insert and has nothing to do with the plumbing itself.
Any suggestions?
Ya, ya, I know. Don't be cheap, call a professional...