Leaking shower valve

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sctclimbs

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Have a leaking shower valve in a rental property. It is probably 30+ yrs old and made by Central. I pulled out the cartridge and saw the washer was bad but also that there was a small crack in the seat. My local hardware store didnt have a replacement cartridge so I just replaced the washer. That worked for about 4 days when they called me that it was leaking again. This time I pulled out the cartridge and the washer and seat were destroyed. I looked deep inside and saw the culprit, a random screw lying in there. Went to a differnet hardware store which a replacement cartridge except that the new one was a bit longer than the old one. Everything fit/screwed together correctly except that the trim piece that it supposed to screw into the valve and get held firmly against the wall of the shower, would not screw in. I figured that was no big deal though, just caulked it in place. The valve didnt leak when I left. Now they are calling me that it is leaking again.
Could there be more damage to other things deep inside there or is the extras long valve cartridge a problem? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 

Redwood

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Its hard to say without being there to inspect the parts but Central has a really nice kit that has all new parts, seats, stems, escutchions and handles...
Properly installed it will look and act like new!

Otherwise you need to replace the seats and washers, and inspect the stems to make sure they are okay.
 

Jimbo

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Just "caulking in place" a trim is not a good idea, but that is not the issue with the leak. We don't know for sure that the OTHER END of the stem assembly is correct at all. Now, P/P used several stems in old 2 and 3 handle tubs that differed only on the trim end, and not on the "business end". So you maybe oK on that. What has probably happened is that the seat inside the valve body has been damaged by that wayward screw. I hope it is a replaceable seat.

It would help if you could post a picture of the stem you are working with.
 
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