unseen tub leak

My husband and I have been remodeling our bathroom for the past two weeks. We continue to have problems with the plumbing in the tub/shower. When we first started it we changed the copper piping to pex piping using crimper connections. After finding leaks at the income source we changed the connections to sharkbite however (with the exception of the hot on the manifold) everything else is still using crimp connections. We've used the shower once and there was a downpoor leak in the basement but we can't see where it's coming from. With the water on it doesn't leak, with the tub spout on it still doesn't leak, but when we turn the shower on it starts to poor. We thought it was a leak in the wall somewhere so we opened it up around the manifold but it's completely dry. The only sign of water is in the basement around the incoming pipes (not the drain). I have absolutely no idea where the leak could be coming from... any thoughts?
Ps. We have used Delta faucets and have a marble tile surround with cement board and vapour barrier behind it.

Depending if you have a toe tester. You may want to check the toe tester or your tubing going up to the shower ell. Another possibility is your shower arm

The other thing to check for, is around the tub where the tiles meet the tub. The corners of the shower enclosure. Tose areas need to be siliconed. Hopefully you taped the corners and joints with a mortar based compound. Thinset mortar works good for this

We have it all sealed properly so I don't think it would be that. I just had another look and it's dripping slightly when the tub spout is on so I felt around the connector there and it's a bit wet. I cut the silicone around the tub spout and water came pouring out so I think I've found the leak. Would the leak at the tub connection get stronger when the water is diverted to the shower?

TSAspinall said:

Would the leak at the tub connection get stronger when the water is diverted to the shower?

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This would be especially true if you have a diverter spout

We do have a diverter spout. I'm going to assume this is the problem for now and work on fixing this first. Hopefully the leak will disappear with a better connection.

Would the leak at the tub connection get stronger when the water is diverted to the shower?

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Many tub leaks are caused when the shower diverter is used, and the tub spout connection has a leak.

Tub spouts come in two general types: push-on or screw-on connections. If a push-on connection is installed on a pipe that has a burr on it or isn't nice and round, the burr can damage the o-ring, or it can't seal. If it is a screw-on version, you must install it with either pipe dope or teflon tape (doesn't hurt to use both, really). If the spout is screwed on, and has a defect, you could split it if it was tightened too tight. It's really hard to do with a quality spout (nearly impossible), but the cheaper, pot-medal or plastic ones can be split.

Thanks for all your help! We took out another tile around the tub spout and found out that the sharkbite was not fully engaged. Because of this the o-ring wasn't making a complete seal and causing water to spray everywhere. The leak is now fixed and we just have to wait for everything to dry out. Thanks again!

I would not have a shark bite fitting behind a wall.

John

diverter

Is this a Delta diverter? And if so, is it a "pull down" diverter? In any case WHY would you have used a Sharkbite on the diverter spout connection? Since it can rotate, how could you keep it from spinning when you tried to tighten the spout on, and if it were tight enough, how could you release the Sharkbite?