We installed a new Moen shower head. New install on rebuilt plumbing. The
water was not coming out very hot. The man who installed it came back and
took it apart and made some adjustments. Now it is too hot to shower. The
HW heater puts out water at 123 to the tub in the same room. The shower in
an adjacent bathroom is fine.

How does one adjust the hot water mix on them? We're calling the supplier
in the morning, but thought I'd ask here first.

Steve

"SteveB" wrote in message
...
We installed a new Moen shower head. New install on rebuilt plumbing.
The water was not coming out very hot. The man who installed it came back
and took it apart and made some adjustments. Now it is too hot to shower.
The HW heater puts out water at 123 to the tub in the same room. The
shower in an adjacent bathroom is fine.

How does one adjust the hot water mix on them? We're calling the
supplier in the morning, but thought I'd ask here first.

Steve


Can't you adjust the temperature using the bathtub faucet, whether it be
single handle or double? And what model is the shower head?

The first phone call you should make tomorrow should be to Moen and nobody
else. They are extraordinarily helpful.

Steve,

We installed a new Moen shower head. New install on rebuilt plumbing.
The water was not coming out very hot. The man who installed it came
back and took it apart and made some adjustments. Now it is too hot
to shower. The HW heater puts out water at 123 to the tub in the same
room. The shower in an adjacent bathroom is fine.
How does one adjust the hot water mix on them? We're calling the
supplier in the morning, but thought I'd ask here first.

I assume you installed a complete Moen shower valve assembly, not just the
shower head?

Our Moen valves are a few years old, but inside there is a plunger than
slides back and forth to balance the pressure of the hot and cold supplies
(to prevent scalding if someone flushes a toilet). Like you, one of our
valves had a stuck plunger and only supplied cold water. Because of grit
and other debris from the new plumbing, the plunger didn't move properly. I
took the valve apart, cleaned everything well, and applied a thin coat of
silicone plumbing lubricant. Reassembled and it has worked perfectly since
then.

But, it's possible you have a faulty valve. In which case I received great
service when I contacted Moen about other issues. Give them a call and see
what they say.

Anthony

"HerHusband" wrote in message
...
Steve,

We installed a new Moen shower head. New install on rebuilt plumbing.
The water was not coming out very hot. The man who installed it came
back and took it apart and made some adjustments. Now it is too hot
to shower. The HW heater puts out water at 123 to the tub in the same
room. The shower in an adjacent bathroom is fine.
How does one adjust the hot water mix on them? We're calling the
supplier in the morning, but thought I'd ask here first.

I assume you installed a complete Moen shower valve assembly, not just the
shower head?

Our Moen valves are a few years old, but inside there is a plunger than
slides back and forth to balance the pressure of the hot and cold supplies
(to prevent scalding if someone flushes a toilet). Like you, one of our
valves had a stuck plunger and only supplied cold water. Because of grit
and other debris from the new plumbing, the plunger didn't move properly.
I
took the valve apart, cleaned everything well, and applied a thin coat of
silicone plumbing lubricant. Reassembled and it has worked perfectly since
then.

But, it's possible you have a faulty valve. In which case I received great
service when I contacted Moen about other issues. Give them a call and see
what they say.

Anthony


Anthony,

I too serviced a shower pressure balancing valve, in my case a Kohler
"Rite-Temp" valve which had the same symptoms as your Moen. The valve in my
case had a rubber diaphragm which allowed a floating valve to move back and
forth between cold and hot orifices. The rubber had torn / disintegrated
after a few years of daily use.

I am writing to ask you if the Moen valve also has some sort of flexible
diaphragm, and if so, did it seem at all deteriorated? I regret installing
these Kohler valves which were expensive, do not give very precise
temperature control, and seem to fail too quickly. I have considered putting
new pressure balancing valves in to replace the Kohlers, and wonder if Moen
or anybody else has a really superior design.

Thanks for any info,

Smarty

On May 31, 9:40*pm, "SteveB" wrote:
We installed a new Moen shower head. *New install on rebuilt plumbing. *The
water was not coming out very hot. *The man who installed it came back and
took it apart and made some adjustments. *Now it is too hot to shower. *The
HW heater puts out water at 123 to the tub in the same room. *The shower in
an adjacent bathroom is fine.

How does one adjust the hot water mix on them? * We're calling the supplier
in the morning, but thought I'd ask here first.

Steve

I assume this is a single handle. I poked around a little online, but
couldn't find the instructions on setting the temp limit stop. There
are two splined parts that can be adjusted to limit the high temp. If
you take it apart, you might be able to figure it out without the
instructions.

I am confused that you say it is "too hot to shower". You should
still be able to take a cold shower, or adjust the temp from cold up
to whatever the temp limit is set for. If your choice is off or too
hot, there is something wrong beyond a bad temp limit setting.

JK

I too serviced a shower pressure balancing valve, in my case a Kohler
"Rite-Temp" valve which had the same symptoms as your Moen. The valve
in my case had a rubber diaphragm which allowed a floating valve to
move back and forth between cold and hot orifices. The rubber had torn
/ disintegrated after a few years of daily use.
I am writing to ask you if the Moen valve also has some sort of
flexible diaphragm, and if so, did it seem at all deteriorated?

My 5 year old Moen "positemp" shower valves have a plastic cartridge that
fits inside the metal shower valve. After turning off the water and
removing the handle, you simply remove a retaining clip and pull the
cartridge out. There is a plunger inside (Moen calls it a "balance spool")
that normally slides back and forth inside the cartridge. If it doesn't
move freely, you can pull a cap off the back of the cartridge and take out
the plunger. Clean the plunger and the inside of the cartridge, apply a
little silicone lubricant, and reassemble. If that doesn't fix it, Moen
has a lifetime warranty for the original owner and will send you a new
cartridge free of charge.

There's no "diaphragm" in the Moen cartridge, only a few O-rings on the
outside of the cartridge. I installed three Moen shower valves in our
house, and except for the one stuck plunger immediately after installing,
we haven't had any problems in the last 5 years.

It's a pretty slick system overall, and the cartridge can even be turned
180 degrees to reverse the hot and cold connections if someone plumbed the
fixture wrong.

Anthony

"HerHusband" wrote in message
...
I too serviced a shower pressure balancing valve, in my case a Kohler
"Rite-Temp" valve which had the same symptoms as your Moen. The valve
in my case had a rubber diaphragm which allowed a floating valve to
move back and forth between cold and hot orifices. The rubber had torn
/ disintegrated after a few years of daily use.
I am writing to ask you if the Moen valve also has some sort of
flexible diaphragm, and if so, did it seem at all deteriorated?

My 5 year old Moen "positemp" shower valves have a plastic cartridge that
fits inside the metal shower valve. After turning off the water and
removing the handle, you simply remove a retaining clip and pull the
cartridge out. There is a plunger inside (Moen calls it a "balance spool")
that normally slides back and forth inside the cartridge. If it doesn't
move freely, you can pull a cap off the back of the cartridge and take out
the plunger. Clean the plunger and the inside of the cartridge, apply a
little silicone lubricant, and reassemble. If that doesn't fix it, Moen
has a lifetime warranty for the original owner and will send you a new
cartridge free of charge.

There's no "diaphragm" in the Moen cartridge, only a few O-rings on the
outside of the cartridge. I installed three Moen shower valves in our
house, and except for the one stuck plunger immediately after installing,
we haven't had any problems in the last 5 years.

It's a pretty slick system overall, and the cartridge can even be turned
180 degrees to reverse the hot and cold connections if someone plumbed the
fixture wrong.

Anthony


Thanks very much for your informative reply Anthony. No doubt the Moen is a
much easier installation / repair than the Kohler, since the Kohler
replacement process takes well over an hour, requires very careful alignment
and lubrication of the "PBV" (pressure balancing valve) with the surrounding
valve body to avoid leaks, and just does not hold up well in daily use.

For my larger PBV, used in the high flow are bathtub/spa, which has a 3/4"
set of inlet connections, the PBV costs $167, just for the replacement
piece. The entire valve including the PBV is now $377. I paid $240 a few
years ago.

Looks like my next "repair" is gonna be a Moen replacement, even if I had to
redo the sweat fittings and start over.

Thanks again,

Smarty