1930's Crane Shower Mixer

[Rich Hoon]

My wife and I purchased (stole) a beautiful old 1930's brick Colonial for $74K about 9 months ago and its been a blast to renovate as it was built soundly and maintained well. I recently rebuilt the plumbing of an American Standard pedestal sink with integrated spout for the price of several items at the local hardware store of this small town.

Now on to the shower mixer in the main bathroom. Every fixture in the house runs hot and cold water just fine, but the mixer will only give me luke (I am your father)... It is a 1930's Crane Concorde (no leaks). I pulled the innards from the body from the wall to see if there was any obstructions or missing pieces but everything appeared healthy and functional - including the bibb washers. I made minor adjustments to the hot and cold plungers but to no avail.

Is anyone out there familiar with this fixture? Could it be that the brass plungers and seat / screw can wear over time to cause this the lukewarm issue? I can find all the correct parts but don't want to go through the motion for it to have the same problem. I'd really prefer to not have to modernize and current showers from this bathroom are from a plastic connector to the spout.

 

[Terry]

Does this look close? The page says close is not good enough.

https://deabath.com/product/crane-concorde-single-handle-hot-plunger/

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Rich Hoon]

yes, I have that image from DEA and yes, it is the exact one - I've been pouring over that image and comparing to what I got.

 

[Rich Hoon]

in trouble shooting, I did go to the basement and shut off the cold valve, put it all together and ran it - hot water flows great. So when I turn the cold valve on again, its back to Luke. I'm thinking that maybe the cold plunger may be worn and cold water doesn't quite slow down.....

 

[Rich Hoon]

I just had a meeting with my water department guys and all 3 agree that since the only part that faces the most wear/tear is the bibb washer that seats to the valve body seat / screw, to start with that as they may have compressed and misshapenned over the years. DEA has two on the way for $2.30 a piece. If that don't work, I'll try something else. Before reinstalling with the new washers, I'll give it a good cleaning. I'll post update when all that is done.

 

[Marlinman]

2 primary reasons causing your problem would be the lack of completely opening and restricting the hot water from entering. Or the cold water seat/screw is worn allowing too much cold mixing with the hot. These seats wear at both the top surface and interior surface. It is best to replace them both at the same time. Below is a 3/4 Concord with thermometer, Transfer valve, and body sprays.

 

[Rich Hoon]

Thank you Marlinman - that will be the next step if the bushings don't solve it. I could not view the images for some reason.

 

[Marlinman]

Did the washers fix your problem?

 

[Maurerbrau]

My wife and I purchased (stole) a beautiful old 1930's brick Colonial for $74K about 9 months ago and its been a blast to renovate as it was built soundly and maintained well. I recently rebuilt the plumbing of an American Standard pedestal sink with integrated spout for the price of several items at the local hardware store of this small town.

Now on to the shower mixer in the main bathroom. Every fixture in the house runs hot and cold water just fine, but the mixer will only give me luke (I am your father)... It is a 1930's Crane Concorde (no leaks). I pulled the innards from the body from the wall to see if there was any obstructions or missing pieces but everything appeared healthy and functional - including the bibb washers. I made minor adjustments to the hot and cold plungers but to no avail.

Is anyone out there familiar with this fixture? Could it be that the brass plungers and seat / screw can wear over time to cause this the lukewarm issue? I can find all the correct parts but don't want to go through the motion for it to have the same problem. I'd really prefer to not have to modernize and current showers from this bathroom are from a plastic connector to the spout.

View attachment 68626

 

[Maurerbrau]

I think I have the identical mixing valve. How do you get it out to look at the conical disc screws (#8 in diagram)??