Stuck Moen Cartridge

[jimbo]

The one problem with the tool you mention, which probably all of us DO own and HAVE used....if you use it after the center spool is out, then it is a COMMITTMENT! Once you insert it down and lock the pin, it ain't coming out! IF the cartridge is still stuck then so are you! I have come close to that situation! When the water is pretty hard, and the cartridge has been in place 10+ years, that baby is tight! SO, many folks prefer some of the other methods, of which there are many. The #6 easy out, and the tap, are among them.

[Basement_Lurker]

I don't buy Moen anymore.

Wow. Moen makes excellent products, and the new plastic cartridges are great to work with. Most of these older brass cartridges that people are having trouble with probably haven't been serviced in 30 years and so can be expected to be somewhat "fused" into place...as we say in the plumbing business....shit happens. You shouldn't rule Moen out completely!

[Patsy M]

But we just replaced the Moen cartridge a year ago so why does it go bad? Do all shower faucets have a cartridge?

[Redwood]

Yes most that I know of do.

The inactivity is detrimental to most of them.

[HomeRepairGuy]

Does this Moen stuck cartridge problem only happen to single lever designs? Or does it also happen to separate hot and cold faucet designs?

[Furd]

I agree with Basement_Lurker, Moen DOES make good products, I'll take a Moen over a Delta every time. BUT, the Moen single-lever cartridge does NOT play well with hard water. If you have hard water you need to pull these cartridges at least yearly, clean them up (soaking in vinegar or CLR) re-grease them with plumber's grease and re-install. If you don't the cartridge WILL seize in the faucet body, no doubt about it. If you have very hard water you may need to do the maintenance more than once a year.

[hj]

If you had called a plumber BEFORE you broke the stem he would have been able to remove it in about 30 seconds. Now he has to remove that broken stem BEFORE he can remove the rest of it in 30 seconds. Keep digging at the faucet and you will eventually get to the point where you will have to replace the entire faucet. I have had MANY customers do that, even after I tell them to stop about 2 minutes before they reach their level of incompetence.


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[chatemjr]

Refer to my #47 post on another thread:

http://www.terrylove.com/forums/show...-Tool&p=291567

[alwayssilver]

I had the main brass section of the cartridge break off inside the body. Luckily, I had the Moen 1222 plastic case cartridge. Not having to have done this previously, it was a daunting task. The solution shown in the photo worked like a charm! You do have to drill in to the metal core to get a bite. Don't forget to use wood as a support when you are pulling out the cartridge; without the wood to spread the load, you will crack any tile around the opening. I used a small breaker bar with the wood as the fulcrum point. Had to reposition a couple times to keep the core coming out straight, but this really worked.
This solution is only for the dire instance where the stem breaks off and you can not get to it with a puller (if you have one) but could be used in place of the puller although I never have tried this.
Good luck and good plumbing.

[alwayssilver]

Sorry, pushed the wrong button.
By the way, don't forget to lubricate the new cartridge as you put it in the valve.

[hj]

Comments about how to remove a 1200/1224 stem, and the tools to do it, are IRRELEVENT when the question is about at 1222 stem. They are completely DIFFERENt animals.

[ineltek]

If you had called a plumber BEFORE you broke the stem he would have been able to remove it in about 30 seconds. Now he has to remove that broken stem BEFORE he can remove the rest of it in 30 seconds. Keep digging at the faucet and you will eventually get to the point where you will have to replace the entire faucet. I have had MANY customers do that, even after I tell them to stop about 2 minutes before they reach their level of incompetence.


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I know the first two all too well. What is shown in the third picture?? Looks interesting. Does it help with the Posi Temp valves??

[hj]

Plumberjim; Apparently you do NOT repair many Moen Positemp valves, because those tools and ANY information relative to a 1200/1225 core is completely irrelevent. I removed a broken 1222 core the other day and when it is done "correctly" it takes about 2 minutes. If not done correctly it can take hours and maybe result in a new valve being installed. You CANNOT rotate the cartridge because it has tabs on top and bottom to PREVENT rotation, and now that you have broken the stem, you do not have anything to grab onto.I have tried to SHOW plumbers how to remove a 1222 with a broken stem and they cannot understand it so I do not think it would help to try to describe it with any success. The Positemp valve does NOT come apart so nothing that has to access the inside, such as the last photo, will work. As to WHY it goes bad in a year, the pressure balancer is a "shuttle" that moves back and forth, but if you do NOT use the water periodically, it will get stuck in one spot. IF you remove the cartridge without damaging it, you can tap the cartridge on the floor a couple of times until you feel the spool moving when you shake it, then put the cartridge back in, making sure you have the "hot and cold" sides properly aligned for you installation.

[Twin]

I recently found my Moen kitchen sink faucet had been leaking, allowing water to soak through the floor and into the basement ceiling. After some study of Moen products online I determined the faucet has the 1225 cartridge and I found that, for $25, a local hardware would hand me a brand new cartridge of MOEN manufacture. All I had to do then was remove the old cartridge and install the new.

The lime crusts were thick and so I soaked the mess with some acid designed to clean lime buildup on toilet bowls. That gave me opportuntity to give a try to removing the old cartridge. The instructions (a series of cartoons) did show the removal of a staple like retainer. It was located on the back side of the cartridge and I had little room to work. But, with a lot of prying the retainer did come out and the cartridge then came up easily.

After cleaning the cartridge holder, and carefully following the cartoon instructions, I put the new cartridge in place and then tried to lock it with the retaining staple. Remember that the staple was difficult to remove and impossible for me to get it all back from whence it came. Eventually I got about half the legs in place, jammed solid. The part of the staple hanging out prevented the installation of the faucet handle so I used a file and filed off the protruding part of the staple, installed the handle and turned the water on. The handle would move the cartridge left, right, up and down. The water flow remained a slow flow of warm water which made no reponse to handle position, open or closed. I turned off the water supply once more.

The next day I went to a different hardware and bought a new faucet (definitely not a MOEN!), installed it and all is good.

I think Moen should provide better instructions plus, a replacment staple retainer as the old one just wouldn't stand up to being put back in place. For my part, I'll avoid Moen. At this point Delta is my favorite as it is easy to replace the wearing parts and they don't cost much. Good luck to all that have Moen.

[hj]

quote; The handle would move the cartridge left, right, up and down. The water flow remained a slow flow of warm water which made no reponse to handle position, open or closed

That makes no sense at all since the handle controls the position of the stem openings. The clip could have been installed from the front, and since Moen does not know WHICH faucet you will install the stem in, they do NOT know which clip you would need. Plumbers do NOT have the problems you had.