dripping single handle shower faucet

**pkbertram** · 09-08-2004, 12:43 PM

I have a single handled shower that keeps dripping from the shower head. My house was built in '65, I can't find any make/model on the handle. There is no lower faucet, just the handle and the shower head. It is the kind where the water starts off cold as you turn the handle and then gets hotter as you turn further. The water comes out at a steady rate - no adjustment for this. I took pieces to ACE hardware and the man there could not find anything similar in a Danco catalogue. I have sketched out a cross section of what I can get at with the handle assembly. Can I fax it to anyone in the hopes of getting some advice?
Thank you - Peter.

**e-plumber** · 09-08-2004, 12:51 PM

Please post a digital picture of it here. Someone in this forum will most definitely be able to identify the brand.
If not, bring the pieces to a plumbing supply house in your area, you may have better luck than finding replacement parts in a hardware store.

**jimbo** · 09-08-2004, 12:55 PM

In most cases, if you take just the handle to a good plumbing supply house, the counter man could recognize the brand. If you take the cartridge too, so much the better. If you have a digital camera, you can post pictures here using photobucket.com.

**pkbertram** · 09-08-2004, 02:17 PM

I don't have a digital camera but may be able to borrow one. For now, I scanned the sketch that I made and put it into photobucket per suggestion - the url is below. I am also not sure if we have any plumbing supply places in town but will try to find one of those as well.
Please let me know if the sketch is useful.
Thanks again - Peter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ram/Plumb1.bmp

**e-plumber** · 09-08-2004, 05:11 PM

It's hard to decipher the exact brand from the sketch.
You do not need photobucket.com when you do borrow a dig cam, there is the option to post it directly to the forum, use the tools above where the text goes.

**Deb** · 09-08-2004, 06:19 PM

The picture isn't too clear, but it could be a Price Pfister--the handle and the stem look a bit Price-Pfisterish to me. Might start there.
Deb
The Pipewench

**pkbertram** · 09-09-2004, 09:53 AM

I managed to borrow a digital camera so I can display some pictures. Hopefully I attached them the right way and you can see them. Thanks to everyone so far. Please let me know if these pictures make the shower faucet I have recognizable and if anyone has an idea of how to fix the drip.

Thank you - Peter.

**jimbo** · 09-09-2004, 12:47 PM

Thank you so much for being persistent and posting these excellent pictures. I see know why you are having trouble. I do not recognize this at all; but I am confident that someone on this forum will. Hang on just a little longer.

**LonnythePlumber** · 09-09-2004, 10:01 PM

Looks very familiar but I can't remember the customer. My first guess is a Universal Rundle sold by Sears or an American Standard. Pic 3 throws me. Isn't this just a turn handle and not a pull-out and push-in?

**pkbertram** · 09-10-2004, 07:16 AM

Yes, this is just a turn type handle. (No push-pull action) When you turn the handle counter clockwise to open the water you are unscrewing the piece that the handle connects to and this I think begins to release a spring loaded plunger type piece inside the wall plumbing. The further you turn the more it begins to mix in the hot water.
Pic 3 is what it looks like when you just remove the handle and the cover plate. At the Pic 3 stage there is a stopper type piece that can be removed, then a spacer to keep the handle extended out from the cover plate, and then you unscrew a piece that acts like a retainer for holding the main part that the handle turns into the wall plumbing. You can then unthread the main piece and it comes out with a brass/copper? washer and two paper washers on its OD. The last picture is what you see inside the wall after this piece has been removed. There is a brass looking rod in there that you can push/pull freely for about a quarter inch. Once you push in the quarter inch it gets springy to push in a bit more. This piece does not seem to be able to come out of the hole. It looks like it is attached or part of a piece with a larger OD inside the hole that prevents it from coming out.

Any suggestions where to look if this is a UR or AS type?

Thank you - Peter.

**pkbertram** · 09-10-2004, 12:12 PM

I have an update for my quest. I took a closer look in my home's other bathroom and realized that even though the set-up is different because there is a tub (so there is a lower spout where water can fill the tub) the handle part is the same. The cover plate has a black stick-on piece that shows temperatures and says Crane. The lower spout for tub filling also says Crane and the shower head in this bathroom I think may still be the original and it says Crane Criterion on it. The only part number I can find on anything is on the inside metal piece of the handle and it says 14369-J.
Does any of this extra information help with suggestions for how to fix the dripping shower head?

Thank you - Peter.

**LonnythePlumber** · 09-10-2004, 06:57 PM

I don't have a clue what kind of faucet this is I am just guessing. Because I have worked on this faucet and I just can't remember it. Your description of the insides weirded me out but that was common to the Sears Universal Rundle faucets. Weird insides that they kept changing every five years. Can you see a name on the faucet body? I need to get some sleep tonight and I can't remember this faucet.

**e-plumber** · 09-10-2004, 07:35 PM

Contact this company in NY. http://dinapoli.com/
You'll be able to e-mail or fax the pictures that you have, one of their knowledgeable staff will definitely recognize it.

**LonnythePlumber** · 09-11-2004, 05:14 AM

Thank you, Thank you.

A Crane faucet

. Did not have too many in Kansas but the l960's were good for them here

. I still call the supply house Crane even though it has been Hajaco for over a decade

.

**pkbertram** · 09-13-2004, 06:23 AM

Thanks everyone. Now that we know it is a crane from the 60s any thoughts on fixing the drip? I have been scanning aroung the internet for parts and diagrams but can't find much for crane and nothing that seems to match what I have. Is there a good resource somewhere or does anyone on the forum know how to fix these?
Thank you - Peter.