Tub Faucet Handle Rising

[richblue2]

Greetings from NC,

Plumbing & electrical work, in my mind, fall in the category of diy @ your own risk, so I tend to take real baby steps when working with those two areas of my home. This may or may not be an unusual problem, but it's the first time I've seen it. I'd love to fix it on my own, but I don't want to end up with the proverbial water spraying from the faucet across the room. So, before I call a licensed professional, can somebody let me know if this is fixable by a rank amateur?



A. This is my tub setup, so there's no way that I can see to access underneath the faucet itself.

B. This is the hot water handle. Note, this is how the handle is supposed to look.

C. This is the cold water handle. The column the handle is connected to is about 3/4" above the "ball" portion.

D. The black knob held the handle and turns the actual valve, this much I know.

E. There is a white collar inside the "ball" that screws down into a metal pipe. I've unscrewed it a little for viewing.

Here are my questions:
Can I unscrew the "ball" & white collar all the way out without resulting in a glorious fountain?

If I can, would that reveal why the handle itself is protruding so much?

Would the fix be as simple as pushing the handle column back down then screwing the collar back in?

If not, does it require cutting/soldering/welding and the like which would require a licensed professional?

Thanks,
Richard
P.S. And thank you all for being a website that deals with more than "How to fix a leaky faucet." I was about to scream before I stumbled across this site. You'd think the only plumbing people wondered about was leaky faucets.

[jimbo]

This is apparently a Moen Monticello, and your handle is BROKEN.

The large ball below the lever unscrews, to remove the handle from the valve. There is an infamous plastic adapter connecting the ball to the lever part, and that is what is broken. Moen might send it to you under warranty. 1-800-buy-moen


This diagram may help>> http://www.moen.com/shared/pdf/T952pt.pdf