Ok NYspeed plumbers school me. I’m looking to replace a 1/2" American Standard single arm shower valve. It leaks when off and doesn’t flow properly for hot or cold water. I’d like to add a rain head/overhead outlet and convert my existing shower head to a spray wand. I’ll still need to fill the tub from a tub faucet as well. Do an of the big manufacturers (Delta, Moen, Kohler, American Standard) make a single valve that would be able to control temp and flow to 3 different outlets? Or would it be better to look at a single valve for temp control and a separate diverter.
Ideally I would like to be able to have the rain head and spray wand active at the same time.
Pretty sure you’ll need to keep a valve on there for on/off and temp control and then add a diverter valve for selecting which outlet the water goes to.
If your valve is a decent unit I’m sure you could save a bunch by just taking it apart and rebuilding it. Ed Youngs is really good at finding all the different washers and packings if you can bring your old valve in.
i don’t know about 3 from a single valve, but most have the two H/C inputs, and then 1 down and 1 up and you would put a iverter valve off of the one up to the shower head. Pretty standard.
I need to make a friend with a nice rainfall shower head so I can try it out before I drop all the money on remodeling my shower to add one. Right now I have a pretty large shower head that I removed the US spec water restrictor from, making it pretty awesome 5+ GPM beast but the idea of having the water come straight down from a massive 1’x1’ ceiling mounted square is intriguing to me. And I do love a good shower.
OK, let me try to be of some help on this. When you say 1/2" single arm shower valve, are you referring to the shower head or the valve or control valve?
If you are looking for a variable function, large volume option, we just installed this one in our last bath project. Your existing shower arm would be replaced with a new one (still the traditional style) and you simply screw this one on and use your shower just like you normally would (http://www.deltafaucet.com/bath/details/58468.html) You would still be able to fill the tub or use the shower as I assume you are doing now. If you want a separate rain head, or to use two shower type fixtures at the same time, you need a control valve, which is separate and down line from the temperature mixing valve, to control multiple sources.
This is the Delta unit installed. The tub filler option gets capped off at the valve during installation on this type of setup.
Here’s another option with adjustable bar. More difficult to convert your existing to this because you use what’s called a “drop ell” to connect the handshower directly to the wall supply. You can use the standard “arm” but it doesn’t look as neat.
If you have an issue with the control valve, depending on the age of the shower valve unit you can purchase replacement “cartridges” which would solve any leaking issues when off. Each manufacturer uses a different valve design and for the most part, they are easy to replace but there is one (I think it’s a Moen) you would want to use a little plastic removal tool during replacement. Without that, it’s almost impossible to get that thing out, even with vise grips.
Pictures of the existing shower setup would be helpful. If it’s a valve / cartridge issue, pictures of the existing temperature trim and valve setup would also help. You can see the valve if you remove the trim ring from the temperature control. DO NOT remove the cartridge from the valve body with the water pressure on. You will be in for a rude awakening.
The rain head in the last picture was a Kohler I believe and I had to install a volume control valve at the rain head because the customer was just about drowning in the shower. If you’re planning on any kind of rain head, just bear in mind that you need to pay attention to possibility of freezing if the space above is unheated.
If you want to purchase any Moen, Kohler, Delta, Grohe product, let me know and I can order it for you at my cost from my local supplier at my cost. Not sure if this answers your question but not sure I fully understand your goals.
If you left the water restrictors in each shower head I’m sure the pressure at each one would be about the same as if there was just one. The real question is with those pulled how would it work?
This is almost as bad as when you came into my wheel thread asking if people knew that rotas have been found to break and then showed a picture of some random broken rota
Things to ask yourself:
Do you have any personal experience with pex tubing?
Do you personally know anyone who has had a failure with pex tubing?
things to know:
There are different kinds of pex tubing for different situations
most pex tubing has a warranty of 25years +
Pex tubing has been around since 1960 working effectively
things i can assume:
price for job would go up for use with copper because of labor and material costs
if a customer asked for copper to be used I am sure there would be no problem
failure of pex tubing was found where there was a high chlorine level in the water. there are ways of eliminating this if it is a problem in your area, and it would probably be SAFER for you and cheaper by using only pex tubing and filtering your water vs using copper and keeping all of the chemicals in your water
Mostly for cost but as a remodeler there are frequently situations where sweating pipes creates hazards around existing finishes most plumbers don’t encounter when being able to work on a home in the rough framing stage.
First off, what are you talking about? I asked you a question if your wheels were part of that Rota = Bad rap they seemed to have. Not once did I say anything bad about them and I certainly didn’t say your wheels were bad either. Here is my post if you want to read that again:
I realize a lot of people come in here and slam others for their ideas but I generally consider that a trend. Meaning, some person is an asshole 24/7 and never lets up. Similar to LZ and J and J.
Good information. That is what I was curious about. Not sure where the Rota Thread fell into play. I never once said “Pex is bad” and I never told 1QIKZ “he done fucked up using dat stuff.” He is a professional contractor. If he is choosing to use it even with the pletora of stuff floating around about it being bad I wanted to know why.
Similarly, if someone tells you that shouldn’t do something, say Fuck “that” bitch because shes got herp but then you see your best buddy chasing after that…wouldn’t you say “Hey, stay away from that.” Unless you knew someone that fucked her and lived; or else you did and your dick didn’t fall off, I doubt you would let it happen.
If you feel some angst from your wheel thread then I apologize for giving you/anyone else the wrong idea. Can we be friends now?
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Makes sense. Any feeling on Shark fittings when splicing into hardlines?
Based on the brief read I did on the “PEX Lawsuits” it seems as if the problems were related to the fittings themselves (and certain manufacturers / suppliers) being faulty possibly due to off shore and / or shotty production processes. I would not view this as a bad rap on the PEX industry as a whole. I would suspect this sort of manufacturing defect could be possible with any form of plumbing product, even copper, if stringent quality standards are not monitored. Shitty part is that it’s not like a faulty light bulb that’s easily accessible, and failure or replacement of such components are catastrophic and expensive. I typically purchase 95% of my fittings from a local reputable plumbing supplier and have not seen or heard anything along the lines of the failures described on various websites.
I know both copper and PEX have their benefits and drawbacks. Again, I simply use it for the ease of installation and the ability to install in areas and situations where a torch and flame may not be desirable or possible. I have used PEX (for about 6-7 years) wherever possible and have had not one call back on a failed hose, crimp clamp, or connection elbow. Some may agree or disagree but any experiences others have had is welcome.
I’ll keep this in mind. The last time I had to work on my hot water tank I damn near ignited a floor joist. It was smoldering. I threw a cup of water at it as soon as the solder set. :picard:
^ A spray water bottle + damp cloth work wonders when soldering near joists.
Another pro-tip I got from a plumber friend… Bread. If you’ve got a slight drip inside a pipe you’re trying to solder closed stuff some white bread in the pipe just before you solder it. The bread will keep the water away from your joint, then dissolve when you turn the water back on. Funniest thing was getting a little toast smoke out of the kitchen faucet when I first purged the system.
