So we developed a dripping shower head in the master bath (yeah I know.... racist) about a week ago. Nothing crazy, but a drip about every 5 or 10 seconds. I knew it had to fixed fairly quickly.
This is the first time this has ever happened to me, so off to YouTube I go. Turns out the issue is always a mixing valve/cartridge that’s inside the handle. You can buy just that valve. But the wife wanted the handles switched out, so I bought a whole new setup. Delta did not have the same model from 10 years ago, but I picked up the closest thing at Lowes. Since we have 2 shower head/handles, I will go ahead and swap both sets.
I get a little concerned when I open the box. There is a lot of shiit in there. Since the old one was a Delta, and the new one is a Delta, I am praying that I simply swap the cartridge and handle and can throw away 90% of the box contents.
I disassemble the dripping handle and get to the cartridge. All the water is off of course. That cartridge wont come out. I wonder if it is screwed in somewhere I cant see. The last thing I want to do is damage or break something. When I get a little movement on it, water is going everywhere. I am so confused as to the source. It turns out it’s the water remaining from the shower head to the handle. Very, very carefully and slowly I work the cartridge out. The seals were just tight from being 10 years old.
Place the new one in. Put on new handle. Turn on water. Works perfectly.
With my new found confidence, I turn to the second handle. This one is done in just a few minutes as I know what to expect. Button it all up. And now I have no hot water out of that shower head.
Apparently, you can install the cartridge upside down. Fuch. Take it apart, flip it around, put it back together, done.
I am really thankful Delta makes their internal pieces fixable.