A little while back, I was experiencing signs of a worn out valve in my main floor tub/shower. The knob was getting difficult to turn and soon I started noticing evidence of a small leak that was damaging the ceiling of the basement below the valve.
I opened up as much of the plumbing as I could get to through the access panels and confirmed that the valve, not the pipes were leaking. It turns out that the Moen shower valve in the main floor bath uses an easily replacable cartridge insert
Here’s how it was done:
Start by turning off the water supply to the tub. Pry the decorative cover from the end of the knob with a straight screwdriver, then unscrew the knob and remove it. With the knob gone, it should now be possible to remove the large trim ring against the wall by pulling a couple more screws.
Using a small pliars, pull out the small retaining clip protruding from a slot in the valve body near where the knob attaches. (As an aside, check out the weird blue fiberboard on the back side of the wall. It was soaking up the leaking water like a sponge. I don’t believe this is a code-compliant building material for a wet area…)
Once the clip is removed, reattach the knob and pull straight out until you have removed the valve cartridge.
Then remove the knob from the old cartridge, attach the knob to the new cartridge, and reverse the removal steps to finish the installation.
Before reinstalling the trim ring, I replaced the gasket around the edge because the old one was worn out. Adhesive foam weatherstripping was just the right thing for the job.
Finished:
With the new cartridge, the tub and shower valve work like new. I finished this repair six months ago and I’ve had no evidence of leaks or trouble throughout that time.
I'm Josh and since 2005 I have shared home improvement stories and ideas from my family's Arts & Crafts bungalow in Minneapolis, MN. I'm trying to combine the best of 1923 with the best of the 21st century-- and I hope it won't take another 88 years to do it.
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Thanks a bunch. This was just what I needed. No fuss – no muss.
Here’s my problem. We installed a Moen 2 handle tub faucet with a handle in the middle to turn on for the shower about 4 years ago. This is a tub that is not used often and now I can’t get the shower knob to turn. I’ve tried W D 40 now what? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
bathroom shower and tub fixture:i am to the point of removing the brass clip. with clip removed the stem will not come out so i bought a puller tool from home depot ,the puller pulled stem was pulled out about 1/16 and is locked ,will not retrack .NOW WHAT DO I DO ? thanks charie
That exact thing happened to us and we ended up paying a plumber on a Sat. 400.00 to fix it! What I learned? Check the internet first!
My Moen controller was for an “old” shower. As in the picture, it had two screw holes side by side on the outer flange, when I went to Home Depot for a replacement, they said I could only get such an “old” flange directly from Moen. They only sold the outer decorative piece with screw holes at opposite angles. Not true. Went to Barton Plumbing Supply. Though the decorative flange was about $20 and the “clear knob” was $20. Barton did not give me the correct clear knob, obviously there are several different styles, so bring your old knob to compare. Moreover, my cartridge did NOT match the one pictured, AND to get the cartridge out I had to remove a clip that was not easy to get out without losing it down the back of the wall. So I tied a piece of wire to it in case it dropped. I got the cartridge replaced at Home Depot, again about $20 and it HAS to go in straight up and down so that the clip not only holds the cartridge in place, but also prevents the cartridge from moving in and out. That was not the “tough” part. Aligning the screws through the new decorative cover through some sort of plastic yellow “template” and finally into the screw holes for the connection to the pipes behind the yellow piece was nearly impossible! I had to get a 5″ screw that was close to the same width of the screws to be used to hold all the parts together, had my wife pull the whole assembly out so I could get the regular sized screw through the other hole and get it started. Then unscrewed the too long screw, put the normal sized screw in, and tightened it evenly, not OVERLY tight! With going back and forth to all the different stores, blew through at least 3 hrs.
my pullout moen faucet doen’t stop on either hot or cold, it does a complete 360, is this normal.
GREAT QUESTION………..mind also rotates 360! I was wondering myself and probably trying to ignore the fact that I may have a problem. Actually, I did notice a leak coming from the stem and will look to replacing it soon…. I believe it takes a 1225B (?) valve……I will check at Loews. Bottom line, is it normal for the handle to rotate 360 or is it defective? Thanks and have a wonderful day!
If it rotates 360 that means you have the wrong knob on there. Mine stopped properly at each end until I put a new knob on it, then it started spinning all the way around. A plumber was over for a different issue and when checking the water supply noticed the issue. He replaced it with the proper knob and all is back to normal.
When pulling out the defective cartridge, the stem assembly came out separating from the outer part which is still stuck in the valve. So any suggestions on how to remove the remaining cartridge from the valve?
I’m not getting any hot water in the shower. All other fixtures in house are working properly. Do you think it’s a bad cartridge?
I can’t get my cartridge out. I got the retaining clip out and put the handle back on but it won’t budge. What am I missing?
There is a gasket on the back side of the trim ring, which should press against something firm (usually the plaster ground) to create
a good seal. My 20 year old shower valve started leaking just recently, and I discovered that no plaster guard had not been installed. Perhaps the accumulation of calcium deposits finally channeled enough water past the gasket to cause the moisture problem under the tub.
https://picasaweb.google.com/112617336178819672374/Estero_stack?authkey=Gv1sRgCMi4iNqCq9rjPg#5798197636960841794
One possible reason knob can turn 360 degrees is if you forgot to put the stop tube back on.
Here is a site you can see what the stop looks like. http://www.chicagofaucetshoppe.com/Moen_96987_Posi_Temp_Stop_Tube_Kit_p/MOE-96987.htm
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Moen, Kohler/Bradley Type Shower Faucet …
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I had to replace the stem assembly on the valve which you pull out to turn on and push in to turn off. I was able to get the retainer clip out but couln’t pull the assembly out. When I bought the new assembly it comes with a small plastic tool that fits into the assembly so you can rotate the old one to loosen it. I had the old one out in seconds!
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