Leaking seat valves on my shower/tub controls...

[Scarpozzi]

My house was built in 1973 and has the 3 knob shower controls.....Hot/Cold and a diverter valve to switch the water from the tub to the shower... The diverter valve stopped working 100% a month ago. I'd turn on the shower and water would leak out the tub faucet...small stream...no matter how hard I turned the knob.

I noticed 3 weeks ago there was a constant drip, but I couldn't tell what side it was coming from since I have a tankless water heater. The leak was slow enough that it didn't cause my heater to fire. I reluctantly decided to fix it this weekend and want to share.

I turned the water off....I removed the knobs by taking the set screw off them. It took a lot of shaking and prying to get the knobs removed due to calcification. After I got those off and removed the standoffs, I took a 31/32 socket and slid it over the whole stem. I went to my local big-box store with my stems and they had a Danco guide. I used their sizing tools and found I had a 12" stem with a H sized knob which narrowed the manufacturer to Price-Pfister. I gave up on trying to find seat washers because it was a 40 year old faucet and decided just to replace the whole valve stems and diverter. By the time I priced that out, I found a Price-Pfister replacement kit for less money that came with new seats and everything. I grabbed that for $45 and took it home. 15 minutes later, I had it reassembled and the water back on.

If you ever get stuck in a situation like that, the full replacement was easier than even locating the proper seat gaskets and worrying if they were slightly mis-sized. I ended up with 3 new knobs, valves, and a new diverter vavle. No leaks now.

 

[boomerang]

You are lucky that a kit like that was still available. Danco makes a lot of retrofit components but there are so many manufacturers and different forms of hardware that there's no guarantee you can get what you need. But your course of action was a wise one and it's good that you shared your story so that everyone can learn from it.

So now my story for whatever entertainment value it may have...

We recently bought a second home and the shower control in the MB bath had a very slow drip at the handle. It's a single handle Delta. The condo was built in 1998. So I decided to tackle it. I was easily able to get the setscrew loosened and removed from the handle. But no matter what I tried I could not get the handle off. I tried several types of penetrants and even resorted to vinegar to try and loosen up the bond between the handle and the stem. We had wanted to change the trim over to brushed nickel from chrome and I had already bought a Danco trim kit. I was to find out later that although it did not have the type of internal cartridge I thought it had, the trim kit was universal across several different Delta models and it would work with what I had. At that point I didn't know how fortunate that was for me.

So over the course of several hours I'm letting it soak and reefing on the handle trying to muscle it off and I'm having no luck unless you count making the leak much, much worse. Having a trim kit, and not having to worry about damaging what I had in place, I started prying on the handle by jamming a screwdriver into a place you normally wouldn't want to have one to try and get it off with no luck.

So, I had to call a plumber.

He squirted some stuff in the setscrew hole and pulled, tugged and reefed on it. He pried with a screwdriver too. At this point I'm not feeling too bad because he is having the same results doing the same things I did. He ended up having to hack saw the handle off. Next he was presented with a large knurled brass nut holding the cartridge in that he could absolutely not budge. He ended up having to hacksaw that off too. Then, the cartridge came out in pieces as he pulled, tugged and twisted trying to get the whole thing out. He turned to me and said something along the lines of the process being nearly unbelievable.

All in all, I didn't consider it money poorly spent.

 

[Scarpozzi]

All in all, I didn't consider it money poorly spent.

Unless there's an active leak that I know I can't stop or my wife is on my case about water being turned off, I'm going to tackle the plumbing jobs where I can.

The shower in my bathroom is a 1 piece fiberglass alcove shower. When you walk into the bathroom, there's a 48" vanity and a 2x4 framed wall divides the vanity space from the shower. My fear was that I would need access to the plumbing beyond what I could get from inside the shower... This would require removing the vanity and opening the drywall to gain access.

 

[boomerang]

Unless there's an active leak that I know I can't stop or my wife is on my case about water being turned off, I'm going to tackle the plumbing jobs where I can.

The shower in my bathroom is a 1 piece fiberglass alcove shower. When you walk into the bathroom, there's a 48" vanity and a 2x4 framed wall divides the vanity space from the shower. My fear was that I would need access to the plumbing beyond what I could get from inside the shower... This would require removing the vanity and opening the drywall to gain access.

I hated having to call the plumber but after he was done I felt somewhat vindicated although with a lighter wallet. We were down there on our first trip after buying the condo and we had flown, so the only tools I had were bought while down there and of those I did buy, I already had two or even three back at our main residence. In other words I was trying to keep the tool purchases to a minimum knowing that we'd be driving down in January and that I could take whatever I felt I would need.

I hear you on the fiberglass shower. The MB bath backs up to a common wall with the kitchen. Cabinets with a granite top covering them...

The other bath has an access in the laundry area adjacent to the washer and essentially hidden from view.

 

[slashbinslashbash]

I'm right there with you OP. I have 2 of these 3-handle Price Pfister tub/showers in my house. I bought two complete kits for like $90 and had them both switched out in less than an hour. In my case, one of them was actually leaking in such a way that the water ended up behind/under the faucet and it soaked the carpet in the next room.

Those 3 handle Price Pfister valves were super common in the 70's. I didn't find the replacement kits at the big box stores, but my local plumbing supply store had them.