How to fix a dripping Moen shower faucet?

[jadnashua]

Some styles of toilet filler valves can cause chattering. This is often a random thing accompanied by a slow leak with the flapper valve so the tank refills at odd times. Try turning the supply off to the toilets, verify that the tanks remain full, and see if that correlates to anything. You might want to check the water pressure as well. If you have high pressure, again, some toilet filer valves can't handle it and will make some noise. Fixing a leaking valve may mean that there's now no outlet for that pressure (spike?), and you now have more static pressure than you had before.

[krow]

Just to add to jadnashua's reply, another thing to look at is a 2 handle faucet. What you described in your last post may also happen with a bad spindle (most cases the hot side, but it can happen to the cold side too). It could be coming from any number of places, ...........

But I'm leaning towards a bad ballcock somewhere if its only your unit.

[northeast_chileman]

The MOEN I have was exactly like some of the pictures (The one with the two brass blades visibile-retaing clip.), Home Depot had OEM, the included tool easily moved the original valve, the original valve came out easily, replacement slid in easily and the drip is gone. The one thing I would add is there was (2) two brass and (1) plastic MOEN valves in stock.
Thanks again, Krow!

[Lgbpop]

Every forum has a thread that won't die, I guess this one is it and am I ever happy I found it! As several others have had, I've got a shower fixture that went from tight, to a drip, to a trickle. I cleaned off the mineral deposit beneath the collar sticking out of the wall plate and it's a Moen. Looks to be an easy fix, thanks to you all. I'll be sure to let you know how I make out.

For what it's worth, I've spent some time in property maintenance in commercial and medical buildings and a couple of plumbers I've helped while replacing hot-water heaters insist on soldering in a vertical length of pipe on the heater intake line, just before the line is attached to the heater. They claim air in the water pipes will cause that pipe chatter, and that the vertical pipe allows the air to be trapped before it gets into the wall plumbing and out to the faucets. I'm skeptical about it still, but I never heard pipe vibration in a system when that piece was added. Anyone care to confirm (or laugh at) this?

[jimbo]

Well, since the thread has come back from the dead...why not! I am sure folks in places that have smooooooth soft water naturally find moens easy to fix. Down here in the southwest, that is FAR from the case. Any moen stem which has been in place several years of more ( which is usually the case, since they are reliable from the get-go) will NOT give up without a fight. hj has mentioned about 7 or 8 different methods and special tools. I have used some of them. The white plastic tool is a joke. The Moen brand puller works on maybe an under-f year valve, but if not on ones that are in there for 10+. The generic tool with the skinny rod is useful, but also a "last ditch tool" since if it fails, it fails stuck in the wall! Hence the other variations that hj and others have engineered.

YUP...we like Moen, but it is NOT an easy repair in this neck of the woods.

[jadnashua]

A simple air column as a hammer arrester is a waste of time and materials. If you need or want one, it needs to be as close to the offending valve as possible, and at the water source is not the place for even a true, engineered hammer arrester. A hammer arrester is needed at quick closing valves - some toilet valves, a few shower valves, and solonoid controlled valves like washing machines, ice makers, etc. The typical valve does not need one. What can cause water hammer on a 'normal' valve is a loose washer - it can chatter on its seat which creates the start/stop required to initiate water hammer. The fix there is fix the valve, not mask it with a hammer arrester. The air in a length of piping used as a hammer arrester gets absorbed fairly quickly, and the thing quickly loses its effectivness. Plus, it's a trap for stagnet water and rarely drains well to 'recharge' it like a soda straw with your finger over the end...once it's full of water, it tends to stay that way.

[Lgbpop]

I always wondered how/why that would work in the first place. Simple physics and common sense tell me air is compressible only as much as the amount of pressure put upon it, and once that limit is reached things go back to the way they were. I just never waited long enough for that to happen. Thanks for confirming I'm not as stupid as those experts made me out to feel.

[Lgbpop]

I can't believe it's been a month already, just wanted to say thanks to all for the tips that have been posted here. I did get that cartridge out, in two pieces. The 1/2" tap and bolt solution worked a treat. Even after spraying vinegar into the cartridge shell after the core pulled out, years of deposits still took a while to break loose but slow-and-easy did it. Just used the hex-head end of the Moen removal tool instead of a deep-well socket. I wound up repeating the experience in the other bathroom shower, so the money I spent on the tools definitely paid for itself. Cheers -

[jhansman]

Hello all-Found this site when I went searching for an answer on how to replace the cartridge in my Moen Dialcet that's been in the house since before I bought it (35 yrs. ago). The info here really helped me understand what to do and how to do it. Bought both the new, plastic cart and the removal tool from Moen. Unlike some you, I did not get the cart free from Moen, because I was not the original owner (could have said I was, but...). No biggie ($15), but the removal tool, which I needed to extract the cart (that plastic thing they enclose with it is a joke) was twice as much, and I'll likely never use it again. The job went fairly easy; the toughest part was getting the retaining clip out, as my hard water had built up a lot of calcification around it (Lime Away to the rescue). If anyone is interested in buying my barely used extraction tool, please email or PM me and we'll work something out. Anyway, just a thanks to all for the good info.