Should I change aging but working shower valve?

[ancientgeek]

Wall is torn down to studs for total rebuild. My 40+ year old Moen shower valve still works flawlessly --but now is an opportunity to replace it. When I read reviews of new valves there is always somebody for whom the new valve failed (requiring a whole 'nother tear out). Should I leave the old one there and trust its proven quality --or take a chance on a possibly flawed new design (are new designs cheaply constructed compared to 40yr old ones?)

 

[mccmech]

I guess it depends on whether you want to update the trim for your fixture either now or in the future. i'm assuming, since your valve is 40 yrs old it has 2 screws which hold the finished plate onto the valve and both of these screws are located at the bottom of the finished plate. All newer Moen valves have the screws located at 2 o'clock & 7 o'clock. There will come a time, NOW, when you will find it difficult, if not impossible, to find special finish trim for a 40 yr -old valve. They just don't make the trim for older valves anymore. Also, it's been my experience that the replacement valve body doesn't usually fail ( it's just a forged piece of brass ). Typically it's the mechanical internal parts of any valve that fail. If you replace a faucet with let's say a new Moen and you register that faucet with Moen, I can assure you that the manufacturer will stand behind their Life-Time / Life-Shine Warranty on that product. I have seen Moen send out brand new complete faucets to satisfy homeowners.

Sooooo, very long story short, replace the valve-body if ya want to modernize. Keep the old valve body if ya want to remain status-quo.

 

[johnjh2o]

The main difference between the old faucet and a new is the new ones have both balance pressure and anti scald feathers. Which are required by code. The balance pressure will keep the temperature at the setting even when someone flushes a toilet or turns on a faucet. If you use Delta or Moen both have a life time warranty on parts a finish. Just my opinion but I prefer Delta.

John

 

[DFBonnett]

OP,
Another school of thought would be this... If it ain't broke don't fix it. My casual, non-professional observation is that the new products don't seem to be of as high a quality as the older ones.
FWIW
YMMV

 

[phishfood]

My thoughts are that if you change out to a new, well known brand of shower valve, parts will be readily available for some time to come. If you leave the old valve in there, will you be able to find parts for it 10 or 20 years down the road?