I have a Price Pfister Hanover tub/shower combo.



The tub spout has a knob that you pull up for the flow to be diverted to the shower.

Problem is the knob, when pulled up, would not stay up.

I turned the spout counterclockwise and removed it and examined the parts. As far as I can tell, the parts are all there. Nothing is broken, nothing is cracked.







For now, I put a 1/2" threaded cap over the copper male adapter so my tenant can take a shower.

But looking at this spout close up I don't see what is wrong. Is this just "wear and tear"?

Price Pfister's web site says "Pfister Pforever Warranty® covers finish and function for life" so does it mean I just call them and get a new spout is it that simple?

yes

the plastic 'flapper/gate' wears out

call and get new parts

==============================================

"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

The tile looks great too by the way.

I don't have the receipt for this anymore. I'll call and see what they say.

Thanks.

Actually now that I am looking at the tub spout closely, the connection from the wall is a copper pipe with a male adapter at the end. I remember doing that several years ago, I had to make an exact length piece taking into account the depth of the female fitting plus how much the recessed connection is into the spout.

This entire spout is plastic. The connection from the wall is copper-male adapter. The inside of the spout is a female threaded connection. I understand it's a bad idea to tighten a plastic female fitting over a metal male fitting so this is a cracked spout waiting to happen?

buy one - the shipping will be more than the part - the gate, not the whole spout

ps. the posts 'crossed'

==============================================

"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638



Edited 1 times.

they don't sell parts anymore. Not individually. The whole spout is one part.

I'll call them when they open and see what they say.

if they can't send me parts I may go get myself a better spout locally that's brass. The only down side is I have to redo the pipe coming out of the wall to extend or cut back that male adapter to fit the recessed depth of the new spout.



Edited 1 times.

sum
Try the sponsor or amazon (where else) search divertor repair

the parts for $3 bucks
specific part for pfister $5
pfister washer $1
hard for plbg supply to stock little parts.

even have little divertor for kitchen faucets

It may not be worth your time to fix as a spout only sells for 60-100 bucks online and more at local plbg supply. Your time to drive and get one doesn't cost anything. If you hire someone to replace then you can count that cost too.

Oil is down to $70 bucks a barrel today. You could get two barrels of oil for the money to get a new spout put on your bathtub.



Edited 1 times.

Are you turning the water on before you pull the knob up, because I cannot see anything wrong with the mechanism which would keep it from working properly. Yes, call 1-800-PFAUCET and they will replace it, but first make sure it is being operated proper, otherwise a new one will do the same thing.

quote; I understand it's a bad idea to tighten a plastic female fitting over a metal male fitting so this is a cracked spout waiting to happen?

Not likely, and how else could you attach it?

quote; (where else) search divertor repair

I have NEVER wasted my time doing a "diverter repair".

I called pfister and they are sending me a new spout.

They also said it could be the cartridge needing replacement because if it's has dirt or debris in it then the water pressure will be uneven and that could cause the diverter gate to drop down intermittently.

one way would be to cut the male adapter off, and solder on a female adapter. Then use a short piece of sch80 nipple to go into both female connections. So that would have eliminated the plastic female onto metal male issue.

I am not going to do that because it's too much hassle but theoretically everyone has been saying plastic female onto metal male threads is a bad idea and a tub spout is one that you have to turn until it faces down so the chance of over tightening it is quite high.

Steel male threads into plastic is a bad idea because corrosion will create pressure on the plastic female thread. Copper, or brass, do not have that problem.

quote; hat could cause the diverter gate to drop down intermittently

VERY, unlikely because it doesn't take much pressure to keep the gate closed, which is why it usually does NOT drop immediately when the water is turned off.

While I wait for Pfister to send me a new spout, I made a "temp" spout.

That is worse than using PEX between the valve and the spout. An elbow would have been a better choice.

If I used an elbow there is no diverting to the shower. The whole purpose is to close off that branch so that they can use the shower above. I was going to use a 1/2" cap but I happen to have this valve on hand so that's what I used and if they open that valve there is no diverting if they close it they use the shower.



Edited 2 times.

If opening that little port stops the diverting, your valve is NOT flowing much water and that may be why the diverter does not work. Maybe you need a new cartridge instead of a new spout.



Edited 1 times.

hj, the 1/2" copper pipe and male adapter is/was where the spout threads onto. I removed the spout, and thread on this angle valve. With the valve closed, all the water is now going to the overhead shower so the tenant can now take a shower, which is what they do 99% of the time. They really never used the spout except when they take a bath which is very rare.

I don't know if I open the valve up whether there will be 30% of the water coming out of that valve and 70% head up to the shower, or 50/50, or 60/40. The point is in the mean time they can take a shower with adequate pressure without losing water via the spout, and if they have a rare need to fill a bucket or fill the tub they can open that valve and do it slow, until I get the replacement spout from PP. I am not following you when you say PEX and putting an elbow there...I don't see how that solves any problem.

...'ya done good, sum ...


what hj means is that the angle valve will provide back pressure sufficient to make shower flow even if fully opened

as a temp fix for your tenant it is ok 'as is' since they take showers 99%

ps. it does look like ka-ka



==============================================

"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

I am saying that if PEX were used for the drop to the spout, the shower would operate while filling the tub, and that valve is many times smaller than the openng in PEX, so I do not know how IT would keep the shower from spraying even when it was open, IF you had the proper flow through the valve.

The piping behind the wall is copper. I know because I remember having to measure the distance of that drop ear 90 from the finished wall, and the recessed of that female connection inside the spout to come up with the exact length of pipe I need to solder the two male adapters on.

As to whether the shower was spraying or not while the spout was on, I didn't pay much attention to that. It was probably spraying, but not at a pressure to the liking of the one taking the shower. I only tested the diverter lever pulled up and dropped down part, I didn't spend time looking overhead too much as I didn't want to get wet. Once the lever dropped down that was enough for me to take the spout apart and look. I was expecting a broken or cracked piece but didn't see one. The phone rep said it could happen if it's "worn" too.

I did NOT say YOU had PEX, I was making an analogy between what you did AND a PEX pipe.

Ok.

But why even use that diverter gate thing? Why don't they put a quarter turn ball valve assembly inside a tub spout so the flow can be controlled with a more reliable mechanism?

Because they want it to "fail safe" and open after every use. Even when people used a three valve diverter, which would do what you describe, many manufacturers had valves that used the pull up diverter so the next user did not get hit with a blast of cold water when he turned the valve on.

I received a new spout from Price Pfister yesterday and replaced it.

The new one works fine.

The old one diverter knob doesn't stay put.

I took apart the new one and compared to the old one, same parts, nothing broken.

I don't get it.

May be just a slight worn over time would do this?

Just wear and tear