Installing Delta mixing valve and diverter

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ClutchFan

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Hi all, I'm not knowledgeable about plumbing and have a couple of questions on installing a mixing valve and diverter valve

I like the Delta R10000-IPWS valve. I see this has threaded connections everywhere. I'm converting from a three handle system, so I'm going to be cutting some copper pipe. So instead of soldering the pipe to the valve, I guess I'll have to get some connecting pieces (of some sort), solder those to the pipe and screw the piece into the valve?

Second, I'm going to have both a shower head and a regular faucet. If I understand it correctly, the diverter valve goes underneath the mixing valve, and has one copper pipe coming in, and one copper pipe going down to the faucet. Is that correct? So it might look something like this (pretend the dots are pipes)

shower head​
.​
(incoming hot) . . . . .
mixing valve​
. . . . . (incoming cold)
.​
(plugged) .
diverter​
. (plugged)
.​
faucet​

If I'm right about that, how does the diverter valve stop flow to the shower head?

Maybe I'm missing something, thanks in advance for any assistance
 

Jadnashua

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Is this a tub/shower? Not sure what you mean by faucet here, do you want to turn that off independent of the mixing valve (most have on/off flow built-in). If it's a tub spout, the easiest way is to use a tub spout with a built-in diverter.

That rough-in valve has male threads on it (I think). On the one I last installed, the inside of that hole was designed to accept a pipe OR to use a threaded female adapter, so you can just solder the pipe into that opening. A soldered connection is more rugged than a threaded one, and then you don't have to worry about a lousy, made in China female threaded adapter with torn or improperly cut threads. Just leave the cartridge out while doing the soldering.

If you use a tub spout with a diverter, you don't need anything to keep the water from going out the showerhead while using the spout...IF you follow the instructions - you cannot use pex to the spout, or you will have problems. Because there's less restriction for it to go out the spout, it doesn't back up and go out the showerhead until you block that outlet.
 

ClutchFan

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yes I meant a spout, sorry about that

I didn't think of a spout with a built-in diverter. That does sound good. I always seem to remember those getting kind of cruddy over time, to the point where you could barely activate the diverter. Is that still an issue?

And if I choose to go with a separate diverter, it would be set up just like the "diagram" I made then, right?
 

Ontario Plumber

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The valve stops water going to the shower head via a combination of two things. If you look at the actual shower valve, you will see that the opening for the bath spout is usually bigger that the opening for the shower head. This, along with gravity, forces the water down to the tub spout whenever you open the valve and allow water through it. The diverter acts as a blockage in the flow of water, forcing it to change its path and head up to the shower.

If you were looking to go with a separate diverter, then take a look at shower valves with the diverter built into the valve. Whatever option you go for, diverters need to be either replaced or removed and cleaned of calcium build up every 5-10 years.
 

Dj2

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Just get a spout with a diverter, don't worry about any crud. This way you will need only 3 holes in the tiles.
 

Jadnashua

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I've had good luck with Delta's pull-down diverter spout. Not only is their mounting system quite flexible, but the pull-down diverter seems to work better, longer than the pull up ones. Only issue I've had is guests don't know how to use them! So, a word before their first shower may save some fumbling and grumbling!
 

Gary Swart

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As far a the connections are concerned, consider sweating nipples onto female adapters. Then screw the adapters into the valve body then make the additions pipe connections. This will prevent applying too much heat to the valve body that could occur if you just sweat the nipples into the body. Pull down diverters will only confuse a guest briefly if at all.
 
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