My problem with what I refer to as Foo-Foo is that it is designer stuff...
Is that all too often I get sent to a customers house to fix a malfunctioning shower mixer. Here is what I find...
Do you see a name anywhere? I don't!
No matter... Lets just pull it apart and see what is needed... Take the cartridge to a supply house and see if they can match it up... A common way of dealling with these...
Hmmm the handle is off... The nut under the handle that looks like it holds the faceplate on is off... Yet the face plate won't budge... Looking for a set screw or locking clip I find nothing... I'm clueless how to get this apart... All I know is it probably costs more than I make in a week! I better not get too crazy and break something! I'm going to have to come back after I find out more about this valve.
I go home that night and look on line I go to a bunch of sites looking at their products... Finally I find a couple that look close. I think it is either a Lefroy Brooks, Waterworks, or, Herbeau Creations. There is a Foo-Foo dealer about an hour and 15minutes away from here one-way that carries most of those and I send off an E-Mail with the picture I took before I left asking them If they know what it is, parts and possibly a parts break down so I know how it comes apart...
A couple of days later I get the reply that it is a Harrington Brassworks Thermostatic Mixer. The cartridge if I remember right was about $450. They also sent a crude drawing of the valve and the parts... It looked like someone freehanded it with a ballpoint pen and made copies!
At this point I already had about 5 hours into this job and I had yet to go back to fix it or drive to get the part!
Go to the Harrington Brassworks website below and see if you can find any info on how to work on this valve, parts breakdown etc. You've got it easier than I did... At least you know it's a Harrington Brassworks mixer... Thats a lot more than I had to go on!
http://www.harringtonbrassworks.com/indexF.html
Yea, Put it in! It will break at some point. The one I had worked on had been fixed once before and was about 5 years old when I worked on it. There is nothing really special about it that will make it so it never breaks. Just don't complain about how much it costs to fix! It's not the plumbers fault you bought Foo-Foo Designer Crap!