I have a Grohe ladylux cafe faucet for our kitchen. It was leaking and I contacted the company, and they sent me a replacement cartridge. I replaced the cartridge, and it continued to leak. I opened it back up again, and tightened the screwes to the plate that has the hot/code feeds coming in (and the 3rd hole for flow out through the fuacet).

Replacing the cartridge, it seemed to do the trick. But now it has started leaking, and no amount of tightening seems to fix it.

Do I have some other issue? Is it a problem with the cartridge? Or am I just a @#$%&?

Thanks,
Mike

Where is it leaking? Out of the spout end or somewhere else?

Out of the spout.

Mike

i would remove the new cartridge, check for debris and flush the faucet with the cartridge removed.
lubricate the sealing set and any other visible rubber parts(see exploded view) and put everything back together.
#4 the guide ring also has a rubber 'O' ring. lubricate it as well.
[#$%&]

Then its the cartridge. Either defective or installed improperly.

There really is no way to improperly install these that I can see. Just screw it in.

There are 3 o-rings (1 each for hot/cold incoming), and 1 for combined outgoing. The water flows out the 2 incoming ones, through the cartridge, and then back out the bigger one.

From what I can tell, the leak should either be in the cartridge, or over the 2 sets of seals (which I think I would see a leak beneath the sink).

Are theses cartridges often defective? It worked fine for a few weeks, and then started a slow sleek (one drip every 15 seconds or so).

It also doesn't seem to matter whether I have the cold water feed or hot water feed turned off, or the faucet in the hot or cold position (open or closed).

I think I have a leak in the hot water feed valve, which means I get the leak whether hot is on or off (perhaps it is in the hot water side that the leak is happening.

Sounds like I should call them for another cartridge.

And if that doesn't fix it, I'm at calling a plumber, but I'm not sure what else they would do I feel like if I'm missing something it is small.

Mike

The only way it can leak out of the spout is that the cartridge is defective, or TWO of the "O" ring seals are bad, and that would also usually cause a leak from the faucet body or handle area.

If the faucet is more then 10 years old it may need to be replaced
the ports that the cartridge sits on may be worn out enough so that the water breaks through the sea. Possible it is also possible that the cartridge is defective but highly unlikely coming from Grohe. It is possible that the springs are not sitting right.
I have installed more Grohe products in 25 years then I can ever remember and one thing I know about there product is that dollar for dollar in the top 5 worldwide products.
I recommend them all the time. Call the company show a video take pics they are good and will help you

But if the ports on the faucet were worn out, shouldn't it leak under the sink It seems quite unlikely that it would leak through both o-rings, but not also leak under the sink.

I'm on hold with Grohe right now. I'll post an answer whenever I figure it out.

Thanks,
Mike

What would "wear" the ports out, since the cartridge sits firmly into them, and the water does NOT flow across those surfaces.

Did you ever get your leak resolved and what was the cause? I have the same issue with a 12 year old ladylux leaking hot side only. I've tried two new cartridges courtesy of Grohe warranty with no luck. They think it is within the body (I agree) Grohe wants me to go through the company I bought it from to warrant however that store has gone out of business. Will see what Grohe does. I'm thinking that my house had too high pressure 100PSI that may of caused it to fail (though it is rated to 150psi). I've since put a pressure regulator on my water line and dialed it down to 55psi and put in a new cartridge but it did not solve the issue.

Anyone have ideas how it is leaking out the spout with a good cartridge? I suspect it has a solid brass body that is either cracked or has a bad connection point to the hot supply and spout. Either way I doubt it would be repairable. Once I replace it, I'll tear into the brass body and post what I find.

I'm having no luck so far with Grohe replacing the valve. They have sent me 3 cartridges and have offered me 60% off MSRP on a new one. Below is the latest correspondence.
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A product that has been installed and functioning normally for over a decade would not be considered to have a manufacturing defect in material or workmanship. A manufacturing defect would be evident in the first couple years of operation.
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So, you are telling me the Grohe limited lifetime warranty is only good for the first couple of years of operation?
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What I’ve stated is that mechanically failed parts are covered for the life product as well as anything that would be considered to be a manufacturing. A problem with the brass part of the valve after over a decade would indicate that the failure is due to something other than a manufacturing defect.

I took apart the valve body and there was a pin hole between the hot and mixed water. Mystery solved. I believe the metal remaining after manufacturing the valve is too thin to handle years of service and corrosion. The valve is Stainless not brass so. Grohe no longer responds to my emails.

I just replaced the spray hose on my Ladylux faucet with a new grohe hose. The original exploded! Grohe would not replace it. But, since installing the new one the water flow, both hot and cold, has diminished significantly. I cleaned out the spray nozzle aerator and replaced the washers in both shutoff valves. I blew out the hot and cold water tubes.I have no leaks so far so I assume that the cartridge is not the fault. I suspect that the backflow preventer at the head of the hose may be the problem. Has anyone experienced a similar problem? Pleas advise.