water running through shower head and faucet...

[taiphoon]

i need a solution, please help! a lot of water is being wasted here. i turn on the water and it comes out only from the faucet (which is good), but when i switch it to the shower, half comes out the shower head, and other half comes out of the faucet. how can i fix this? thanks in advance...

[Terry]

It would help if you had a picture of the valve.
It's a diverting problem.

On some three handle valves, there was a loose washer on the center diverter that would force the water up to the shower head.
http://www.terrylove.com/pp_3.htm

In the picture below, it would be washer 950-040

[taiphoon]

It would help if you had a picture of the valve.
It's a diverting problem.

On some three handle valves, there was a loose washer on the center diverter that would force the water up to the shower head.
http://www.terrylove.com/pp_3.htm

In the picture below, it would be washer 950-040

Thank you so much Terry. Sorry, I didn't know a picture would help. I'm a handy girl, but I've never done any type of plumbing before (this will be the first, hope it goes well). Here's a picture:

[jimbo]

In your case, the diverter is the pull up lever on the tub spout. The only solution is to replace the tub spout.

[taiphoon]

In your case, the diverter is the pull up lever on the tub spout. The only solution is to replace the tub spout.

Thank you for your response. Do they sell tub spout separately? Is there a specific one I should buy? And how do I remove the existing one? Do I just twist it off? Sorry, I haven't tried taking it off yet...

[jimbo]

That one most likely unscrews. You will have to use a big pliers or wrench on it . Don't worry about the chrome because you are replacing it. The new one can be installed tight by hand.

There are different pipe sizes and different length of the pipe extending from the wall. Just take the old one with you. From the configuration, the one you have probably connects to a short stub of threaded pipe. Could be 1/2 or 3/4

[taiphoon]

That one most likely unscrews. You will have to use a big pliers or wrench on it . Don't worry about the chrome because you are replacing it. The new one can be installed tight by hand.

There are different pipe sizes and different length of the pipe extending from the wall. Just take the old one with you. From the configuration, the one you have probably connects to a short stub of threaded pipe. Could be 1/2 or 3/4

Thank you so much. I will let you know what happens!

[jadnashua]

Sometimes, it's easier to stick the handle of a screwdriver in the spout, and use it as a big lever to unscrew the spout. On the older ones, they usually unscrew. Newer ones either unscrew, or are just a push-on, and have a set screw (on the bottom) that is loosened, then the thing slides off. remember, to unscrew, it's counter-clockwise as you are looking at it from the front.

[Al Johnson]

There's just a loose screw somewhere. I used to worry about these things back in Toronto. Sometimes I just have to turn off the faucet first before switching to the shower for it to function properly. My poor common sense