Anyone know how to fix this leak?

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alank2

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Hi Everyone,

My father in law has a shower fixture that is leaking in two places. It is a Moen brand, likely 25-30 years old.

[Broken External Image]

It is leaking through the front of it and I suspect some new gaskets would do wonders, but how would this be taken apart? It looks like it has some sort of brass ring with a cut in the top and bottom being held in be the part you can see sticking out at the top. I could tap downward on this, but I don't see how it works on the inside and am not sure this is the best plan.

Also, on the right side where the copper enters it, there is a very tiny leak and a lot of corrosion. Could this leak be fixed by clearing away some of the corrosion and using JB weld or something similar?

Thanks,

Alan
 

Trevor73402

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Is there a reason your wanting to attempt to repair this particular fixture instead of replacing it? You've already went into the wall, which is the real pain in the a**, so why not just put it a new one. Cut those copper lines, get new fixture and be done.
 

nobuttbrian

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the stem is held in place by a snap ring inside the hole that the stem goes into.Moen makes a replacement stem but there are different sizes so you'll need the old one or model #.
As for the supply line leak, you can seal it with a torch and a brazing rod.Just be sure water is off and the stem is out so the steam doesn't ruin the new stem.
 

Shoot Summ

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Hate to make more work for you, at this point I would pull the drywall behind the faucet and replace it with a new one, resolving the leak at the copper connection.

Those leaks are an absolute nightmare to fix once there is water in the system, it cools the copper and keeps the solder from sticking.....
 

tyromeo55

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Replace the entire valve..... SS is right. Water in the copper makes it a real pain. You'll have to partially drain the system to sweat new fittings onto the copper. Id sweat Pex fittings onto the copper and then Pex to the valve if it was me. Makes it so easy a caveman could do it.

What's on the other side of the drywall?
 

alank2

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Hi Everyone,

The other side of the drywall is a room, so it is accessible. My FIL always likes to take the easy route so I suspect he was hoping to fix it through the hole in the tiles.

How would you drain it? Cut it and then try to blow some air in there to clear out the water a bit?

Define "sweat"?

Pex like something on this page:

http://www.pexsupply.com/PEX-Fittings-37000

Thanks,

Alan
 

plumbntz

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If that is all that is wrong, you can fix it up from the front. The hard part is getting the stem out. First turn the water off, then remove the brass keeper by using a pair of needle nose pliers. It comes out by pulling up. Then there is a snap ring on top of the stem, take it off you can destroy it, the new stem has it on it. Then pull the stem out. Now the hard part, you need a moen cartridge puller to remove the rest of the cartridge. After that the water in the pipes will drain and you can clean the pipe leaking and repair by sweating it. I have fixed a ton of those in BA.
 

plumbntz

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To drain the water down low enough to sweat or soldier the pipe see if you can find a fixture that is lower than that shower fixture. Then open the Fac. to let the water drain out. Water takes to the lowest point.
 

Shoot Summ

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Hi Everyone,

The other side of the drywall is a room, so it is accessible. My FIL always likes to take the easy route so I suspect he was hoping to fix it through the hole in the tiles.

How would you drain it? Cut it and then try to blow some air in there to clear out the water a bit?

Define "sweat"?

Pex like something on this page:

http://www.pexsupply.com/PEX-Fittings-37000

Thanks,

Alan

Sweat is the highly technical term for soldering copper pipe/fittings.....

Yes, pex like on that page, so it would be copper to pex transition, then pex to the valve.

You will need to remove the valve/fittings anyway most likely to fix the small copper leak unless you are really lucky and can get it to seal up. It's iffy, the only way to be certain is to pull it apart, clean it really well, and sweat it again.

Or hire Plumbntz, he seems to have the skillz on this one...
 

Danny

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As a matter of fact, I just now got done fixing a leak at the faucet for the washing machine. It was a pain in the butt, but nothing that looks like that. I doubt you'd even find the parts to fix that thing. I agree with everyone else. Replace the whole thing.
 

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