Help request - Kohler shower valve

[JHZR2]

Hello,

We have kohler shower and sink faucets, both of which are from some time in the 1970s. The shower does not put out hot water. Ive tested, and the hot water pipe gets good and hot, while the outlet pipe is only semi-warm. Its very difficult to get the water hot. We want hot water for a shower, we've dealt with this for 2 years, but it has just gotten worse and worse.

So we took it all apart (see pics below), and then flushed out the water by opening the main (we have a ball valve on the main, so it is easy to pulse it and whatnot). Pressures were equal for the hot and cold legs when flushing, and full hot water came out of the hot side... great.

So we have what is below. THere is no marking of a part number for this Kohler stuff. There is a kohler marking though, not that it helps.

Is this a common item? what will we want to replace so that we get hot water in the shower? The grey plastic part in the cartridge may have that taper at the end by design. I pulled the sink valve open, and it looked identical, but it works 100% all the time.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated... Thanks for your help!

 

[Shup1]

Contact Kohler with this question, I had issues with Price Pfister on similar issue and they replaced everything for free and also sent extra washers for tub bypass that was wearing too quickly. Most of these companies warranty stuff fro life

 

[Al]

Call me lame. Replace the entire unit...Life is just too short.

 

[doitmyself]

Here is my go to plumbing site when I want expert help:

http://www.plbg.com/forum/list.php?1



Beware, this site is staffed by professionals and they can tend to sometimes have an attitude towards amateur plumbing work.

"If you want it done right, hire an $80/hour plumber"

If everything else about this fixture is good, it is often very economical to just replace the parts or cartridge. Otherwise, your looking into opening up the wall to solder in a new fixture.

In my town, the professional plumbing supply houses are somewhat friendly to the general public. Look in your yellow pages.

Maybe $25 to $50 to replace the parts. Over $200 to have a plumber install a new unit.

 

[JHZR2]

So it turns out they had the kit at lowes. Not at HD though... go figure.

$9.05

I cleaned the gasket face in the vale body (what is soldered to the pipes), but have been having a hard time keeping a very minor leak from coming through. There is a rubber face gasket that is the only real separation between dryness and massive leakage. At the thinnest points (near the water passages) it is thinner/smaller than a typical o-ring, and so I dont think it is the best design. Then again, the old one didnt leak. Hopefully as the rubber gives more and mates with both surfaces, the super-slow drip will stop.

Anyway, that is that... Thanks for the help!

 

[doitmyself]

Coat those rubber parts with plumbers grease, silglyde, or a similar product and maybe those leaks will stop. The plumbers grease is designed for this use and they sell small tubes at any hardware or big box store.

 

[H2GURU]

I had the same go-around as you did with 1970s plumbing and after several attempts I determined that the shower valve wasn't the correct size for my situation. The solution was to install a BALL VALVE to assist in regulating cold flow to the mixing valve as I wanted to keep my TEMPTROL valve as its been bullet-proof. I closed the flow to about half and its been flawless and I was able to turn DOWN my water temp. which will save me a few sheckles. These mixing valves have ANTI-SCALD features, but they need specific flow rates to function properly or else your discharge will be too cool. Good Luck!

 

[JHZR2]

I used krytox on the actual little grey item that slides into the black rubber piece.

We will be disassembling the cover so that we can look into the wall and check if more wetness exists. Last night it was so slow that a paper towel was ll that was necesary for peace of mind, as I couldnt regularly detect more than a tiny, tiny drip on 5 minute intervals.

Anyway, would krytox be OK instead of plumbers grease? If need be, Ill pull it apart and apply the right stuff, or its equivalent (or superior ).

BTW, we got a VERY hot shower last night, So I can turn down the hot water heater now - full hot was not bearable because of the heat, whereas before it was not bearable because it was lukewarm.

Thanks!

JMH

 

[Pablo]

Yeah I've found exotic (read old, lousy and rare) valve bits at some of the older traditional hardware places as well. Glad you found it at a box store.

I think the purpose of the lube here is to allow the parts to slip on and not bind the o-ring, no?

Also - I want to add with those photos, I'm glad the topic isn't Bill's surgery.