Shower runs after turning off but only after some time passes

[howaboutme]

Hi,

My master bath shower has a Moen faucet that I believe looks original (20+ years) or at least very old. After turning off the water, the shower runs for a few extra seconds but only after an hour or even more time goes by. It almost seems like it's getting the rest of the water out but that may not make too much sense since the only outlet is the shower (no tub).

Any thoughts?

Thank you in advance.

 

[johnjh2o]

Sounds like you have a sunflower type shower head. They take a long time to drain.

John

 

[howaboutme]

Yes! That's exactly right! The shower head is the "rain" style that looks like a sunflower. There's nothing that can be done other than replacing the head? Thanks.

 

[johnjh2o]

Why replace the head? Your not wasting any water, it's just the remaining water in the head that's draining out.

John

 

[howaboutme]

Not concerned about the water but more about the fact that it sounds broken when all of a sudden a big gush of water spills out of the head a few hours after the last shower.

Do you have any experience w/ these to know why it does this? I'm not married to it since the heads came w/ the house we bought but it does provide a nice stream.

Thanks.

 

[johnjh2o]

It's like holding your finger over a straw, the water can't escape until it pulls in air through the small holes in the upper part of the head. After turning the water off that is the only way for air to get into the head.

John

 

[howaboutme]

First of all, thanks for your insight.

Is this issue true for all "rainy" type or sunflower shaped shower heads?

 

[johnjh2o]

I would say any head that can hold water after turning off the shower would do the same thing. With the exception that if it was on a tub /shower in that case after turning the water off air would be allowed in through the tub spout. Provided you didn't have a three valve tub and shower faucet.

John

 

[howaboutme]

Okay. Thank you for your help.

 

[swarr]

Mine was doing the same thing i thought it was a leak... thanks for this discription