Can tub diverter valve be removed? (two tap style)

[AcidWater]

circa 1966 Elger tub, with hot & cold taps and shower diverter in the center.

There is a piece of junk from the corroded bibb seat rattling around in there; it blocks flow. Which might be lived with except sometimes it blocks only the hot or only the cold; making it impossible to set a temperature.

If I pull the handle... what next? Can I get the thing out and look around for the piece of junk?

Handle really on tight after 50 years of hard, acid water & soap scum...so is it worth the effort?

[hj]

You take it out the same way you removed the stems. It also has a seat so you may have to remove it to allow room for the piece to slip out.

[AcidWater]

Thanks; I'll give it a try after the hurricane is over...

[hj]

Maybe the hurricane will blow the house down, then you won't have to worry about it or the seat that gave you the problem originally.

[AcidWater]

I can't get the damn handle off. Using a puller tool; but the L jaws keep slipping off.

However, when I tapped it outwards a little, something gave way. It seems to have come out 1/8" or so, and now it all rattles inside, and I can spin the handle 360 degrees around. What's busted?

[AcidWater]

When I turn on the water, pressure pushes the handle outwards & it flows from the shower. Pushing it inwards causes flow from the spout. In both cases significant leakage from behind the handle.

So I gotta get this handle off... I could cut it off with a grinder...

I'd really like to see a schematic diagram of how this valve assembly works. No luck searching on the Net.

[hj]

without a model number you will not get a schematic, but the "Regatta" and "Luxura" models' diverter is just a variation of the hot and cold stems and comes out the same way. From your description we cannot tell what you might had done, or broken, in the diverter.

[AcidWater]

Any hints on getting the handle off? I'm concerned that using the puller I might be 1) expanding the stem diameter and thus swaging it to the handle and 2) yanking on the diverter and doing worse damage to it such that I might not be able to remove the diverter or 3) damage the valve body itself so even a new diverter would still leak.

I hate to cut the handle off; they don't make nice chrome like that anymore.

Maybe try to drill out the stem ???

Don't know if its "just" 50 years of crud or if when installed they torqued it down & swaged it onto the stem... There was no screw holding the handle; just friction with the stem.

I see two Eljer diverters in the Kissler catalog (pg 85)
http://www.kissler.com/Downloads/Faucet%20Stems_B.pdf

Any special tools required?

[AcidWater]

Well, gotta get moving... hope I can drill this out. The threads on the handle seem to go quite far back before the stem begins...

[AcidWater]

Went all the way up to a 1/8" bit, 6" long, fully inserted... still can't get the damn handle off.

Next step: torch. Maybe the handle will heat up faster than the piece of stem and loosen up.

Isn't there some professional handle puller that won't slip off when the rear bezel is large diameter?

[AcidWater]

Melted the pot metal handle.

Now to the cutoff wheel ...

This is a real bitch.

[AcidWater]

Cut into handle until I could get to the stem... cut off stem... removed bonnet... whole thing just turns... yanked... and the outer pipe "casing" is eroded & brittle & broken in half (where the two sideways holes are). Can't remove the stem without removing the casing. Can't reach remaining casing several inches in...

So I suppose there is no way to remove this -- time to replace the whole valve set ???

Could maybe try packing it with epoxy and sticking a smaller diameter piece of pipe inside it, so I have something to put a wrench on...

but I'm not seeing this casing portion in the Kissler catalog; only the stem.

[Towers Plumbing]

I would consider replacing the valve. You can still get the price pfister 3 handle tub and shower valve that should slip into place without having to mess up the tile in the shower.

http://www.pfisterfaucets.com/Bath/C...ndles=.3handle

[AcidWater]

Another thing I've been told is that the bezels are not a standard diameter, so I need to make sure the valve body does not have a larger diameter than my existing bezels; otherwise I need to buy an entire setup instead of just the valve body ?

[hj]

I am not sure if a good plumber would have had all the problems you did with this valve, but I'll bet by now you wish you had called one before going DIY on it. You were probably at your "level of incompetence" when you started working on the hot water seat, and then you exceeded it.