Need help identifying old shower stems

[MScott]

Located in Texas, house was built in ‘94 and has original hardware. We currently have two showers that drip. One has a slow leak from the shower head when turned off and the other leaks when shower is on from the lower faucet. We can’t find replacement stems. We think they’re American Standard, but not 100% sure. I’ve attached a picture of the shower setup and of the diverter we removed. We found one online that looks similar by AS called Amarilis 3 11/16in and 18pts. Also, now that we’ve removed the diverter it won’t even catch on the threads in the wall to go back in, but since the gasket was disintegrated that may be why. We haven’t removed hot and cold stems because we have to shut off water to entire house and don’t know if the stems will break and then we’d be stuck finding replacements and no access to the shower.

Appreciate any help!

 

[Marlinman]

Your valve is American Standard Amarilis. Here's the parts.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[MScott]

Your valve is American Standard Amarilis. Here's the parts.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much!!!! Is there a good place to look to buy replacements?

 

[Marlinman]

Try TMS South. They have a Houston location.

TMS South | Resources & Tools for Plumbers, Facility Managers and Home Owners

Total Maintenance Solutions handles the plumbing supply and equipment needs of plumbers, plumbing companies and plumbing contractors. TMS South specializes in hard-to-find plumbing items and repair parts, but we supply all types of plumbing products for industrial, commercial and residential...

www.tmssouth.com

 

[No one special]

Menards has a decent selection of stems to match up to.
My home had some leakers when I bought it &
I couldn't locate all the stems locally so I bought a universal seal kit and two large o-ring kits.
Figured whats to lose, I'll use the o-rings elsewhere anyway if it fails to work. Got one o-ring kit in metric other in SAE.
I cleaned everything inside/out really good, installed the new soft parts & not a one ever leaked a drop since.
I used a little o-ring lube to ease in sliding them on but Im sure Vaseline works too. Its been almost 5yrs so far.

 

[MScott]

Thank you both! Will check this out.

 

[MScott]

Update: It's been rather frustrating locating and dealing with these old parts. We decided to go with replacing the seals first. Transfer valve seal kit was discontinued, but American Standard linked me to a replacement. Well, they were wrong. Upon getting the new seal kit it was evident it wasn't made for our valve. They admitted there is in fact NOT a replacement transfer seal kit. However, the cartridge seals looked fine. Ended up getting entirely new transfer valves and decided to go ahead and buy all new cartridges as well. Good thing we did because replacing the seals did not stop the leaking. So we went ahead and installed the new cartridges and leaking stopped, but the problem now is our old handles don't fit. The handles have a long brass stem that sticks out and the stem on the new cartridges are shorter. We bought cartridges without an adapter. Were they to retrofit old handles? I can't even see how these adapters would go on or how to take apart our old handles to retro fit onto these newer, smaller cartridge stems. So frustrating.

Anyone have any idea how we can attach the old handles or if the old handle comes apart and how the adapters would go on, if they do at all? Does the white plastic piece with the brass stem come out? Doesn’t appear that it does. Do we have buy new handles? Can we cut part of the brass handle stem off to make it fit? Trying to avoid having to rip everything out and cut into the wall for new hardware entirely.

I've attached a picture of the new cartridge vs old along with the stock photo of one with the two black adapters. Also included a picture of the handle and how there’s a gap with the new cartridge. Thanks.

 

[Marlinman]

It's obvious the original cartridge in longer. The extension still attached to the handle is removed by taking the center cap off the handle and remove the screw. (See the Tribune handle sheet). The original cartridge length with the adapter are shown below. The "Gap" should be hidden by the valve cover or sleeve.

 

[MScott]

It's obvious the original cartridge in longer. The extension still attached to the handle is removed by taking the center cap off the handle and remove the screw. (See the Tribune handle sheet). The original cartridge length with the adapter are shown below. The "Gap" should be hidden by the valve cover or sleeve.

Thanks, so are you saying we can modify the handle to fit the shorter cartridge? I don't see how even looking at the diagram. If we remove the little adapter in the handle there won't be anything to grip the cartridge. I didn't realize there was a different cartridge (part # 28628-0070A) for the right length that we have. It wasn't listed on the original sheet that was shared, but I just found it online. Wonder if it would be easier to just order those as we can't see how to modify the existing handle.

 

[Marlinman]

The 28628-0070A is the correct cartridge and comes with the extension you currently have installed in your handle. There's no need to modify. As to why American Standard doesn't show the alternate cartridge in the parts sheet? I wish I knew.

 

[MScott]

The 28628-0070A is the correct cartridge and comes with the extension you currently have installed in your handle. There's no need to modify. As to why American Standard doesn't show the alternate cartridge in the parts sheet? I wish I knew.

Thank you. We went ahead and ordered the right ones. Where did you find the right one in the picture above? I appreciate your help. We wouldn't have known what to look for otherwise.

 

[Marlinman]

I'm glad I could help.

 

[MScott]

The saga continues.....

So we finally got the new, correct sized h/c cartridges in today. Installed all 4 in the two showers, we put everything back together and they're dripping. It wasn't dripping with the smaller cartridge that has been in the wall temporarily while we waited for correct sized cartridge to come in. We loosened the cartridge a tad and it seems to go down to a very, very slow drip. We did some troubleshooting and installed one of the old cartridges and it still drips. The only one that doesn't seem to drip is the smaller, short cartridge, but our existing knobs don't work with it so that's why we can't use them.

What could be going on? Both handles turn the same way for off/on so we don't have to switch cartridge to fit H/C. We can't figure out what the problem is. Especially since that smaller cartridge doesn't leak.. Are we overtightening?

 

[MScott]

Now one of the new diverters we installed doesn't work. Water from showerhead barely comes out.

Update: Husband removed it and now the new seal looks slightly broken. Reinstalled with hand tightness and water finally diverted fully to the shower nozzle but when you switch it from bottom spout to showerhead there is a loud noise in the wall and water forcefully comes out for a second, then sprays fine. What in the world? We looked in the wall and don't see anything. What could be the problem?

We were trying to avoid paying $$$$ by not having our walls ripped out to replace the old hardware, but this is so defeating, not to mention incredibly frustrating. Do we need to clean sediment/build up in the lines? Are we wasting money? Should we call a plumber to help us? I'll take any help or suggestions.

 

[MScott]

No suggestions or ideas of what could be happening?

 

[Marlinman]

I've looked this over and over. The only thing I can see is the original transfer cartridge is missing the lower o-ring seal. Did you
ever remove it?