Leaking symmons shower valve

[Andertrack]

Hi all. Have a 30 year old symmons shower valve that has started to leak. Seems like the leak is coming from the bottom of the valve, not the cartridge. I'm thinking best bet is a plumber at this point but curious if there is sunny to try before that, It's not clear how I could replace the cartridge

 

[Andertrack]

Looks like a temptrol valve so I've been reading through the faqs here Support - Symmons

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

Symmons Temptrol are very high quality, well built shower valves. After 30 years of use, my guess is some parts are worn out. Follow their guidelines and also check YouTube for some videos on removal of the wear parts. Do a good thorough cleaning of everything after you remove the internals. I believe they have most of the parts available. Hopefully you may get another 30 years out of it.

 

[Andertrack]

Yeah, I think the issue now is with the original plumber who installed them. I see blue around the cap (T-12A), which I think may be thread sealant. I cannot get it loose with a decent sized crescent wrench and I'm worried if I try to force it I'll damage something else (since the valve is not mounted, just loose). So, even though I really want to be able to fix this myself I know that I don't want to flood the entire house so time to call in someone who actually knows what they're doing

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

Before you give up, see if you can call Symmons tech support and ask for a bit of guidance. 1-800-SYMMONS. They are in Braintree. If worse comes to worse, it's just one phone call before you call a plumber in...

BTW, if you have access to the BACK of this (such as through a closet or other similar somewhat hidden space) you may consider mounting this to a bracket or whatever Symmons recommends. If it's an exposed finish wall, probably not worth making the mess for.

(as a home inspector recently in a pre-drywall inspection, I called out the plumber for NOT using the mounting points on a Delta shower valve; they just "hung" the *&^% thing by the PEX tubing, flopping in the breeze. Jeez. Read the mounting instructions! Real smart...NOT. Like most shower valve bodies, they are provided with integral mounting points designed to be screwed to a support bracket as shown in their mounting guide.)

 

[Geofd]

Looks like a temptrol valve so I've been reading through the faqs here Support - Symmons

If it's leaking from were the diverter lever is you can buy a new cartridge at home Depot or lowes it's either white(tub/shower) or black(shower only), I also don't see a packing nut over the stem,if it is the diverter you don't need a plumber, it's plastic,just use a wood lag or wood screw into the plastic and it will come right out

 

[Andertrack]

If it's leaking from were the diverter lever is you can buy a new cartridge at home Depot or lowes it's either white(tub/shower) or black(shower only), I also don't see a packing nut over the stem,if it is the diverter you don't need a plumber, it's plastic,just use a wood lag or wood screw into the plastic and it will come right out

Yeah, looking closely it is just leaking from where the diverter lever goes. In the previous picture I had removed the packing nut (thats before I read instructions that it should stay on). The only problem with getting a new cartridge in is that I can't remove the cap, it is on there really tight and won't budge.

 

[Geofd]

Are you using an Allen wrench,you can also try
If you have a4 in1screw driver use the small flat head push it in till you hit the chrome part of the screw driver that fits perfectly in to that Allen wrench
Opening, then grab the handle of the screw driver with pliers ,that should give you plenty of leverage

 

[Andertrack]

You're saying to put an allen wrench in the diverter lever hole? I think our valve is just too old that it doesn't have a good way of coming apart

 

[Geofd]

You're saying to put an allen wrench in the diverter lever hole? I think our valve is just too old that it doesn't have a good way of coming apart

Have you removed the round brass cover???,with an Allen wrench??? If not that's what you need
You can also use a 4 in 1 screwdriver, the small flat head end body fits perfectly in the brass cover, grab the screw driver with pliers and back it out

 

[Andertrack]

Have you removed the round brass cover???,with an Allen wrench??? If not that's what you need
You can also use a 4 in 1 screwdriver, the small flat head end body fits perfectly in the brass cover, grab the screw driver with pliers and back it out

Hey Geofd. Thank you for trying to help with this. I think there was miscommunication due to the valve we had being more than 30 years old. I thought I had to remove the large brass cover, and the diverter cover was not obvious that it could be removed with an allen wrench.

Anyway... as I mentioned before I was starting to feel out of my depth so called a plumber. They removed the diverter cover, which on the older model we have is not brass. In any case, they gave me the option of replacing the diverter spindle but did advise me that there was significant corrosion on the inside, so I made the call for them to replace the whole valve, which obviously was expensive, but when it comes to things that can destroy the home if they fail I tend to be pretty cautious. Thanks to ppl here and this experience I can maybe address future issues in other valves with a more incremental approach but at the end of the day valves have a lifetime, and we are good for another 30 years

 

[Geofd]

Hey Geofd. Thank you for trying to help with this. I think there was miscommunication due to the valve we had being more than 30 years old. I thought I had to remove the large brass cover, and the diverter cover was not obvious that it could be removed with an allen wrench.

Anyway... as I mentioned before I was starting to feel out of my depth so called a plumber. They removed the diverter cover, which on the older model we have is not brass. In any case, they gave me the option of replacing the diverter spindle but did advise me that there was significant corrosion on the inside, so I made the call for them to replace the whole valve, which obviously was expensive, but when it comes to things that can destroy the home if they fail I tend to be pretty cautious. Thanks to ppl here and this experience I can maybe address future issues in other valves with a more incremental approach but at the end of the day valves have a lifetime, and we are good for another 30 years

In the end, as long as your happy and your plumbing is working that's all that counts