I have an issue with my shower valve.........the hot water works fine, but the cold is a trickle.

I KNOW what the issue is..........it is debris from the installation of saw cut plastic pipe in the house.....blocking or otherwise screwing up the valve.

So I figure I'll fix it. The handle came off easily (this is a one handle type unit).

Underneath is a semi-spherical piece that appears as if it "screws" on or off.........holding in the valve cartridge. It is knurled at the base; a further indication that this thing screws on/off.

BUT..........it won't budge.....even under a pretty good attempt with channel locks.

I heated it as much as I dare with a torch.........no dice.

Anyone have any experience with this type of piece of crap?

http://ncane.com/2tx 

hard to tell without looking at it... but if it's been there several years it may just be stuck... get a bigger wrench... hopefully the valve was mounted on a 2x4....

Andy...I'd bet it's a left-handed thread. Lefty loosy, righty tighty. Trying cranking it the other way.

If that doesn't do it, I'd look to buy some Break Free and see if that will loosen it.

BTW, if I'm correct, and you haven't tried that, still may take a bit of elbow grease to loosen it, as you may have tightened it up quite a bit.

Oh, and for a moment, I thought the thread title said Peeless Shower Faucet. Prolly 'cause you posted it.

:)P~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Try a large hammer. X

pacman.........sprayed it with blaster, heated it, AND tried both directions.

Lots of minerals in my water.......prolly oxidized past repair.

Anyway.......I put a lot of torque on it......more than I am comfortable with when working with plumbing; any more and it would break the mounting screws.

I might just upgrade to a new setup. This one is pretty old (15+ years).

if it's just stopped up and not leaking, you might try blasting air thru the showerhead. (if you can take it off) open the closest outside faucet and open the cold water only on the shower valve...

#7 Well damn. I'd still try some Break Free if you have some or can get some easily, but it may just be that the hard PA water has caused minerals to fuse the metal parts together, at least to the point where something else might break first.

With that age, and what you've tried, Andy, I'd see about maybe just replacing the entire valve. Mrs. Pacman and I live in a place with really hard water. It was only 7 years old when we moved in, but I still had to replace about half of the fixtures and rebuild about half of the rest. We installed a large (designed for 6 adults, and it's just the 2 of us living here) water softener, which has helped maintain the fixtures in much better condition. Still pretty high Ph, but the mineral content is noticeably lower.

Andy

email me: ml.brown.mba @ gmail . com

When you email me I will try to talk you through it.

^ the telephone might be easier...

Andy,

Your solution is simple...

Landmines.

(this post brought to you by the HockeyDad TV network)

I plan to have andy call my cell phone once he emails me. Thanks for the idea, Drafter.

Try pulling your pants down so half your ass shows.

That's what most plumbers do...

^dammit............now I gotta go find some pants.

Andy, sorry I wasn't more help.

^ no prob man.........I look at it this way.......

first of all, if I COULD get the thing apart I would probably need new washers, seals, etc.

the store would have them and would have to special order

my wife would freak since it is our only shower

I'd have to go buy a new faucet

So..........I'm gonna buy a new faucet.

^Yeah?

Well, newsflash, Mr. Fixit... in order to install the new one, you're gonna first hafta remove the old one... so you're still kinda effed.

^I will have NO prob removing the old one.

The problem I have is removing it so it can be put back together.

Gotcha. Just don't break anything you still need.

Like valves and pipes and such.

(I'm not a plumber, but I was a boiler tech for 8 years, and that's pretty close)