Plumbing Filter: Temperature changes in shower with new cartridge
September 14, 2016 6:02 PM Subscribe
I recently replaced the cartridge in a Moen shower faucet. Since then, we've been getting weird water temperature issues. In the morning, you have to crank the temperature way down or the water is way too hot. In the evening, you have to crank it way up or the shower is freezing. I am not a plumber.
Our shower was dripping a bit and after some research I learned that the cartridge inside the faucet likely needed to be replaced. It seemed like a simple enough job. I got a replacement MOEN (I think 1225) cartridge from Home Depot (it said it was universal). Everything came apart fine, but I couldn't get the new one in far enough. Did some more research and found this is a common problem and find recommendations to get a OEM cartridge from Lowe's. Okay. Did that. It looked a wee bit shorter to me and the included instructions showed a sink faucet rather than a shower one but it was otherwise the same. It also had the same number on the part itself. It went in just fine and no more drip. Great!
But my pride was short-lived: that evening there was no hot water in the shower. It was too late to do much, but the next morning I tried it again. It seemed fine, except that I've had to turn the temperature way down to get something tolerable. At night, though, it's the opposite: you have to crank it way up to get a hot shower.
Every other water source in the house works just fine much as they always have.
I'm utterly confused. I think it must be the cartridge, but none of this makes sense to me. Did I install the wrong part? Is it faulty? Did I just mess up somehow? Help!
Our shower was dripping a bit and after some research I learned that the cartridge inside the faucet likely needed to be replaced. It seemed like a simple enough job. I got a replacement MOEN (I think 1225) cartridge from Home Depot (it said it was universal). Everything came apart fine, but I couldn't get the new one in far enough. Did some more research and found this is a common problem and find recommendations to get a OEM cartridge from Lowe's. Okay. Did that. It looked a wee bit shorter to me and the included instructions showed a sink faucet rather than a shower one but it was otherwise the same. It also had the same number on the part itself. It went in just fine and no more drip. Great!
But my pride was short-lived: that evening there was no hot water in the shower. It was too late to do much, but the next morning I tried it again. It seemed fine, except that I've had to turn the temperature way down to get something tolerable. At night, though, it's the opposite: you have to crank it way up to get a hot shower.
Every other water source in the house works just fine much as they always have.
I'm utterly confused. I think it must be the cartridge, but none of this makes sense to me. Did I install the wrong part? Is it faulty? Did I just mess up somehow? Help!
Maybe you bought a cartridge for a different type of faucet, like a single lever as opposed to two handle and the mixing valve isn't properly aligned? Or maybe it's the right cartridge but misaligned.
posted by unreasonable at 6:17 PM on September 14, 2016
posted by unreasonable at 6:17 PM on September 14, 2016
Yeah, it's the wrong cartridge, or the cartridge is defective. It's unlikely that you installed it incorrectly, IMHO, because they are designed to go in only one way. When we bought our current house, the shower knob was completely nonsensical (off in the exact middle, cold to the left, hot with increasing coldness to the right but only to a certain point) because the previous owner had put in the wrong cartridge. It fit but didn't work correctly.
It recently started to drip and we thought about replacing the cartridge, but replacing it with the same exact one would leave it in the same mixed-up state it was already in. We also had a longstanding leak in a hose bib and decided to kill two birds with one stone by calling a plumber.
If you can't find a new cartridge that is exactly the same as your old one, including the size, bite the bullet and call a plumber.
posted by kindall at 7:18 PM on September 14, 2016
It recently started to drip and we thought about replacing the cartridge, but replacing it with the same exact one would leave it in the same mixed-up state it was already in. We also had a longstanding leak in a hose bib and decided to kill two birds with one stone by calling a plumber.
If you can't find a new cartridge that is exactly the same as your old one, including the size, bite the bullet and call a plumber.
posted by kindall at 7:18 PM on September 14, 2016
From the Canadian Moen site, but possibly of interest: Lifetime Limited Warranty
I'd call Moen before calling a plumber. Or e-mail -- they were responsive to e-mail when I had a problem with a Moen kitchen tap.
posted by kmennie at 11:33 PM on September 14, 2016
I'd call Moen before calling a plumber. Or e-mail -- they were responsive to e-mail when I had a problem with a Moen kitchen tap.
posted by kmennie at 11:33 PM on September 14, 2016
2nding to call Moen. Their customer service is actually pretty good. I got solid advice about a kitchen faucet cartridge a couple years ago.
posted by walkinginsunshine at 3:32 AM on September 15, 2016
posted by walkinginsunshine at 3:32 AM on September 15, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
You should compare the new part to the replaced part visually. Make sure that it's oriented correctly in the faucet. There are often small O-rings involved here. Did you maybe not replace one correctly. What happens when you replace the original part?
posted by humboldt32 at 6:08 PM on September 14, 2016