How To Repair American Standard Shower Spout

If your bathtub has a showerhead, your shower valve redirects water from the showerhead to the tub faucet. When it'due south not working, h2o simultaneously pours from both outlets. It's easy to fix, so let's learn how. Shower valves have 2 parts:

A tub spout for filling the tub.
A diverter gate – the fiddling knob you twist, turn, or pull to directly your water.

The most common diverter types are:

Tee-valve – a single faucet with a pull-upwards knob
Two-valve – 1 faucet with a knob that turns water hot or cold
Three-valve – ii faucets, one for hot h2o and i for cold

Option 1 – Clean your spout

Sometimes, the diverter gate gets stuck. When you effort to turn it or pull it up, it refuses to budge or makes squeaky, grating noises. If you lot do manage to pull it up, it may stick at the top and turn down to push dorsum down. This is probably due to accumulated dirt, grease, and limescale.

Step i : Mix a batch of white vinegar. Information technology has to be enough to completely cover the spout.
Footstep 2: Cascade your vinegar into a plastic handbag. If y'all like, you lot can mix the vinegar with water.
Step 3: Wrap the plastic bag around your spout, submerging the spout.
Footstep 4: Hold the pocketbook in place using a rubber band, string, or shoe-lace.
Pace 5: Leave the faucet submerged for three or four days, checking it once a day.
Pace 6: Once the spout looks clean and shiny again, pull the diverter gate to run across if information technology works.

Cleaning your spout with vinegar is expert for the surroundings, considering vinegar is organic and not-toxic, unlike harsh bathroom cleaners. Information technology also saves yous the cost of buying replacement parts, so it'south a pocket-friendly mode to fix your shower leak.

Option ii – Loosen your diverter with cooking spray

If your diverter gate stays stubborn after your vinegar soak, try using a lubricant to make information technology work better. Any cooking spray volition practice, and you probably accept some in the kitchen.

Step i: Pull the diverter knob up and down a few times to loosen it.
Step ii: Apply some cooking spray to lubricate the knob.
Step 3: Effort pulling it up and down again. Spray a few more times if you need to.
Step 4: Wipe away any excess spray and wash the oil off the bathtub.

Always utilize cooking spray instead of pilus spray or wax. The latter two products have ingredients that could be corrosive and might damage the metallic and plastic parts of your shower.

Pick iii – Soak the whole spout

Your vinegar launder will but clean the visible parts of your spout. When yous desire to stop your handheld showerhead from leaking, y'all need to clean the inner parts of your diverter gate.

Step ane: Plow off your water supply from the main spigot. This prevents flooding.
Footstep 2: Inspect your spout to see how it's fastened to the wall. In that location are iii mutual styles:
- A single screw nether the spout
- A threaded pipe that screws onto the wall
- A pop-in pipage that slides onto the wall and locks in identify.
Step 3: Remove the spout according to its type:
- If information technology'southward a spiral-on, remove the screw then pull out the spout.
- If it's threaded, turn it anticlockwise until it comes off.
- If information technology's a pop-on, use a screwdriver or palette knife to gently pry it off the wall.
Step 4: Expect inside the spout and use a rasp or sandpaper to scrape off any visible dirt or stains. You tin can also scrape off the clay using a paste of vinegar and baking soda. Apply the paste onto the dingy parts of the spout, let it sit down for one-half an hour, then rinse information technology off.
Step 5: Fill up a metallic dish with vinegar and water. Information technology should be plenty to completely cover your spout, right up to its base.
Step 6: Put the spout inside your vinegar mixture and leave it for iii to four days. Once a day, remove the spout and check it, using a rag or old toothbrush to scrape off loose dirt.
Step 7: In one case information technology'south spotless, dry out it with a make clean rag and add some Teflon tape to the tip.
Step viii: Put your spout back onto its copper pipe.
Pace nine: Reconnect your water supply and run your h2o to run into if you've fixed the leak.

At this point, y'all have a shower spout that looks make new, so if it's notwithstanding not working, you may have to throw it out and buy some other shower diverter kit.

Pick four – Replace the valve gate

If you're still having issues, it's probably time to visit the hardware store. Cheap replacements are easily bachelor and rarely price more than $50. If you just want the gate, it's fifty-fifty cheaper.

Step one: Plough off your water using your master bathroom spigot.
Step two: Encompass the drain with duct record. This prevents pocket-sized faucet $.25 and screws from going downwardly the drain and getting lost.
Stride three: Remove your shower spout from the wall and acquit it to the hardware store.
Step 4: Ask for a replacement gate valve that fits your shower model.
Step 5: Take your replacement valve domicile and carefully read the instructions.
Stride 6: Fix your spout back on the wall. This anchors your spout, making it easier to repair.
Step 7: Twist the spout so that it faces upward, but don't remove it from the wall.
Stride 8: Pry the plastic prongs apart then pull the white bits out of the spout.
Stride ix: Remove the metal knob from the meridian of your spout.
Stride 10: Slip the new shower diverter knob into the elevation of the spout.
Pace 11: Beingness careful non to drop annihilation, insert the underside portion of the diverter valve. Start with the leap, followed by the black washer.
Step 12: Slip the white plastic peg and snap it into place, belongings everything together.
Step xiii: Turn the spout right side up.
Step fourteen: Reconnect your h2o, and test the diverter.

This option is cheaper than replacing your entire shower spout, but information technology'south also more complicated. Many people who effort this at habitation withal end up with a leaking diverter, so if you want to practice it this way, consider having a plumber do it for you.

Option v – Supercede the whole spout

This seems drastic, but it'south easier than you recollect and is the most effective solution. Shower spouts aren't that expensive. You can get a replacement for as depression every bit $20. Decide whether you want to buy the same model you take or replace it with a universal spout.

Step 1: Close off your water supply and remove your spout from the wall.
Step two: Take it to the hardware store and purchase a suitable replacement.
Step 3: Bring your new spout domicile and read the instructions.
Step 4: Employ vinegar and a soft brush to clean any debris off the copper pipe on the bathroom wall. This prevents leakage when you put in your new spout.
Step 5: Dry the pipe and put some Teflon tape on its edge. This reduces any potential friction and lowers the chances of leakage.
Stride half dozen: Fix the spout onto the wall co-ordinate to its type. You can push it in, screw it in, or hold information technology in position and insert the nether-spout screw.
Step 7: Reconnect your water supply and run the tap to see if it's still leaking.

Consider any variations

When you lot noticed your shower diverter wasn't working as it should, you probably ran to Google and YouTube. And as you may have noticed, most online tutorials use tee-valve diverters in their demos. This is partly because tee-valves are more common than the other ii types.

But once in a while, you lot might find yourself dealing with two-valve or three-valve bathroom spouts, particularly in older houses. Luckily, they're only as easy to fix as a tee-valve shower diverter. You can still soak, lubricate, and supersede your ii-valve or 3-valve.

The main deviation is in the pipage mechanism. When you remove a tee-valve from the wall, y'all find a single copper pipe. With two-valves and three-valves, y'all'll discover the corresponding number of copper pipes. If your shower diverter is a two-valve, focus on the temperature punch.

This is because it often doubles as a shower diverter gate. It controls hot and cold, merely it also controls upwards (to the showerhead) or down (to the spout). On the other hand, if the shower has a 3-valve diverter, focus on the middle pipe. That'south where the valve is located.

Repair your shower the easy way

Information technology's annoying when you're trying to have a shower but your bathtub keeps dripping. Or when you're filling the tub and the pelting shower head keeps wetting your back. With a few basic tools, you tin can fix information technology!

Soak your faucet in vinegar to get rid of dirt and hard water residue.
Spray the diverter knob with cooking spray to lubricate its sticky bits.
Replace the shower diverter gate using a store-bought repair kit.
Supplant the whole spout with a newer model from the hardware shop.

Is your shower diverter giving you grief? Tell us all about information technology in the comments!