Moen, Moen, moan . . .

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utahtenorsax

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I just bought an 11-year-old house with two widely separated bathrooms. Both shower stalls have the exact same Moen valves and symptoms. Turning on the shower produces really hot water in the center position, but only warm water in either the extreme right or left positions. Cold water is sometimes available for a few seconds at start-up, but that is obviously attributable to standing water in the pipe overnight.

I have replaced many Moen cartridges in the past, have never seen one do this. I checked under the house for a tempering valve, but there are only supply lines. If there is a tempering valve, it would have to be hidden behind the shower wall and I can't imagine anyone burying one there.

Well, duh. Maybe I should just install new cartridges and be done with it. It seems odd that both cartridges would fail at the same time.

:confused:
 

Cass

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If you live in a hard water area try soaking them in vinegar. I have done that more than a few times with great success.
 

utahtenorsax

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Mysterious goings-on

Replaced cartridges, had no effect. These are not Posi-Temp cartridges (which wouldn't fit these valves anyway), so I sit here scratching my head. All of the other faucets in this house are Moen cartridge valves and they do not have the same problem, so that rules out a piping mistake. It's looking more and more like some inventive plumber installed tempering valves in an inaccessible location.

:mad:
 

Cass

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Did you try turning them 180 degrees to see what happens?
 

utahtenorsax

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A postscript on the last maneuver. I tried swapping the new cartridges with each other (getting desperate) and one of the showers actually produced COLD water in the center position, warm at either side. Turning that cartridge 180 duplicated the warm-hot-warm condition.

:confused:
 

Lancaster

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Are these Moentrol valves,where you pull the handle out to turn it on and increase the flow? If so,possibly the balancing spool needs to be renewed.
 

utahtenorsax

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Yes, they are Moentrol valves. I'm gonna try replacing the balancing spool if I can get at it. Sounds logical since the water here is hard as nails.

I would post a picture, but very little of the valve is actually visible.

I really do appreciate all the help! Thanks to all.
 

utahtenorsax

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Belay the last remark. These are standard Moen cartridge valves with no balancing spool. Also, I have determined that there is no tempering valve installed anywhere, either in the wall or under the house. I have a call in to the original builder of this nightmare, so hope to have this issue resolved soon.
 

Cass

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I am going to speculate, based on the findings so far, that you have 2 bad valves. A strange thing, but strange things happen.
 

utahtenorsax

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My wife said to me, "What a shame those valves don't work, especially after I put the new handles on." I said, "What new handles?" She replied, "The ones I got at the hardware store last week. I put them on because the old handles were all scuzzy."

Has a light come on out there?

Ordinarily I wouldn't tell one on myself, but I should have caught this much earlier. The valve handles looked like Moen, but the flats in the slot were 90 degrees out of sync, so they would never work right.

Duh. I pass this on for whatever it's worth. Thanks for the help.

:D
 

Terry

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Yeah, that makes sense, I was wondering at one point, if the valve body had been installed wrong,
Having the wrong handle makes sense.
 
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