One of my shower faucets died. I needed to replace the stem. In the box
with the stem is a new valve seat. Quickly tried to get the old seat out
with an allen wrench. It's in there good and tight. It looks fine, isn't
dripping. So, any reason to change out the old seat?

Dave M.

David Martel wrote:

One of my shower faucets died. I needed to replace the stem. In the box
with the stem is a new valve seat. Quickly tried to get the old seat out
with an allen wrench. It's in there good and tight. It looks fine, isn't
dripping. So, any reason to change out the old seat?

Dave M.




Leave well enough alone...

FYI...Your typical faucet seat is not "allen wrenchable". g

Take a look at the seat wrenches shown here and you'll see that the
ends are either sloped or stepped square, not six sided like an allen
wrench.

http://images.google.com/images?svnu...&q=faucet+seat

If you want to replace the seat, you should use the correct tool. If
you don't, you risk damaging the seat which can damage your washers and
lead to leaks.

Often times, a worn or damaged seat causes the user to crank down on
the faucet to shut off the water. This causes early failure of the
washer which is what the user sees when he pulls the stem. Thinking the
washer is the root cause of the leak, he replaces the washer. This may
work for a while, but as the worn seat slowly damages the new washer,
it takes more and more pressure to turn of the faucet, further damaging
the washer. It's such a vicious cycle.

Replacing the seat at the same time as you replace the washer may give
you much more time between washer repalcements.

On Jan 24, 7:05 pm, "David Martel" wrote:
One of my shower faucets died. I needed to replace the stem. In the box
with the stem is a new valve seat. Quickly tried to get the old seat out
with an allen wrench. It's in there good and tight. It looks fine, isn't
dripping. So, any reason to change out the old seat?

Dave M.

DerbyDad03 wrote:

FYI...Your typical faucet seat is not "allen wrenchable". g



SNIP,SNIP


Nah.

Yes, there were some brands that used square drive recess seats.

But I would say the majority today do use hex drive.
OP said he had an allen wrench in there....

The stepped tools are built that way so that the tech only has
to carry one tool to service a range of seats.

The tapered tool is made so that it can be "driven" with force
into a seat recess that has been damaged. It's the tool
of last resort...

Jim

Leave well enough alone...


Thanks, that's pretty much what I thought.

Dave M.

Derby,

It's an American Standard 1K/1H. Find the replacement stem next time
you're in a hardware store. It should be in a clear plastic box. Look for
the threaded copper valve seat. The hole is hex shaped and fits an allen
wrench. This sort of valve seat is not uncommon.

Dave M.