Kohler PBV and mixer

[Kbayashi]

Hi everyone. This is my first post. I thought I would probe a forum to see what kind of opinions I get.

I own 2 condos in San Jose CA. One is on the 1st floor and the other is on the 4th (top) floor. The 300 condo complex was built in 2007. Each unit has two bathrooms with each master having a separate shower and shower/tub. The valves consistently fail which makes it impossible to modulate the water tempura the during a shower or bath. I have had 3 kohler PBV and mixers replaced professionally (at $200/invoice) and I have replaced 3 myself between the 2 units. I have notified the HOA but they keep saying its the owners responsibility. I believe there may be some sort of sediment that keeps clogging the valve.

If it's of any importance, they HOA has recently installed a water softener for the complex. I also noticed the valves tend to fail if the valve is not used as often.

My questions are:
1 Is this a common problem and should I expect to replace it often?
2 Could it just be the quality of water?
3 Is it really my responsibility or should HOA have some sort of filter?
4 Could this be a warranty issue with kohler?

Any comment or suggestions and are greatly appreciated.

Kevin

 

[Mr_David]

Talk to the neighbors.
If they are all having similar problems then the HOA should take some sort of action.
I don't fix a lot of Kohler PBV .
Either because they don't fail that often or they are not as commonly used as Moen an Delta in this area.
Hard water can lock up the balance spool. It is a cylinder that slide back and forth to balance the pressure when it fluctuates.
I commonly see Moen Positemps balance spools stick when that valve gets infrequent use.

Water softener maybe remedy that problem. Time will tell.