Increase faucet friction

[LHaven]

I have a pretty common valve in my shower (image). The valve handles are so free wheeling that it's impossible to keep a constant temperature in the shower. You brush them, the hose brushes them, they'll happily spin one way or the other and burn or freeze you.

What's a good way to add some friction to these faucet handles? I was considering putting a compression spring in back of them, but it seems to be a meat-axe approach that would almost certainly cause further problems.

[hankpage]

I'm not sure on that faucet but there should be a packing nut that you can tighten after you remove the handles.

[bobbecky]

Most newer faucets use O-rings in the cartridges that can be replaced easily. I would remove the handles, see if the cartridge can be removed and take it to a Lowes or Home Depot or other store with replacement parts. That would fix the issue, but if parts are not available, replacing the faucet is a next option. You might even be able to disassemble the cartridge to just replace the O-rings.

[sourdough]

You could remove it and try to tighten them up from the back. I had the same problem on my last trailer. They weren't "floppy" loose but still would move when bumped. It had the neo angled shower and after studying on it a bit I decided the placement in the shower compared to the shape of the shower pretty much assured it was going to get bumped. I replaced with a single lever shower faucet and although a seemingly small change it reduced the number of unintentional "bumps" a lot.

[JRTJH]

Most OEM shower faucets are either Phoenix "junk" or Valterra "junk" plastic faucets with non-replaceable valve stems. When they fail, replace the entire faucet, not the valve stems. As an example, Delta valve stems are around $10 each, the entire replacement Valterra shower faucet is $16.95 on Amazon....

In the photo, there are two screws visible on the mounting plate. There are also 2 more on the bottom of that mounting plate. Pull the 4 screws, pry the sealant loose and pull the mount away from the shower wall. It will come out "just barely enough to access the plastic cone connectors on the faucet. Loosen the connectors, the mounting plate and faucet will then be free.

Replace the faucet with "your choice of standard 4" shower diverter faucets" (make sure you have the correct adapters or use another RV style faucet with the same connectors for the plumbing) clean up the old sealant, reattach the hot/cold water lines, apply a new bead of sealant and reinstall the 4 screws....

Why attach the water lines before putting the new bead of sealant on the shower wall ????? Sealant is difficult to get out of the hair on your forearm from connecting the water lines.... If you've got "fat arms like me" then you're guaranteed to smear the sealant trying to attach the water lines.... BTDT way too many times.

[Alpine Custom Upgrade]

Originally Posted by LHaven

I have a pretty common valve in my shower (image). The valve handles are so free wheeling that it's impossible to keep a constant temperature in the shower. You brush them, the hose brushes them, they'll happily spin one way or the other and burn or freeze you.

What's a good way to add some friction to these faucet handles? I was considering putting a compression spring in back of them, but it seems to be a meat-axe approach that would almost certainly cause further problems.

Dang if I wouldn't just lay a wet washrag across the back half of both of the valves to act as a brake. Quick, simple and FREE!

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by Alpine Custom Upgrade

Dang if I wouldn't just lay a wet washrag across the back half of both of the valves to act as a brake. Quick, simple and FREE!

This is especially funny, because in fact there is a wet wash rag there almost all the time, and it makes no difference whatsoever.

[Alpine Custom Upgrade]

Originally Posted by LHaven

This is especially funny, because in fact there is a wet wash rag there almost all the time, and it makes no difference whatsoever.

That is funny. Might be time to do the replacement that others mentioned. Good luck with it.

[LHaven]

I finally got a round tuit today, and made the trip to Ace. As far as innovative parts go, and a staff that knows what to recommend and where they keep it, our Ace is hard to stump.

Got a thinnish bronze thrust washer with a large hole, a smaller copper one, and a couple wide, weakish springs. Had to drill out the copper one just a scosh. Ended up using one spring, cut in half, when the assembly bottomed out with the valve still not closed. (Don't do this test with the shower head pointed out the open shower door, like I did!)

DW is very happy with the resulting friction. And I think the copper parts give the shower stall a bit of steampunk class!