Home shower drip repair (how do I get the Delta faucet apart)?

Hi Big Jake, You were right on the money. On all counts! The Delta Monitor cartridge was $50 and the two rubber cups & springs under them were really all I needed to stop the leak.

I tried both the new cartridge and the repair kit and, guess what, they both worked fine - so I returned the $50 cartridges and opted for just replacing the two rubber cups and springs below them. I also replaced the two small washers on the hot/cold water nipples on the cartridge, and the large O-ring on the outside of the cartridge.

Overall, the job was easy once I removed the brass bonnet ring with a strap wrench! I did make a few mistakes though. For example, I turned on the water to test but I had forgotten to put the bonnet ring back on, and the cartridge shot out of the wall a quarter inch or so spewing water everywhere until I could shut off the main water supply.

Also, the hot became cold and the cold became hot, so, I had to reverse the way I put the cartridge in the wall. But, overall, once that bonnet ring was off, it was a piece of cake. The bonnet ring is deceptive because it looks like it's part of the main brass assembly, whereas, in reality, the bonnet ring is in addition to the main brass assembly. That's what threw me off.

To repeat, we did NOT have to take off the escutcheon. The only tools required to fix a leaking Delta Monitor single handle non tilt shower faucet were the 1/8 inch allen wrench to remove the grub screw holding the handle on and the strap wrench to remove the soft thin brass bonnet ring.

I'll post some pics so the next person benefits from our work! Donna

Hi Gordon, That would have worked, I'm sure, as with the strap wrench, the bonnet easily spun off (I couldn't budge it without the strap though).

Thanks everyone! Donna

Donna, thanks for getting back and letting us know the final outcome and for the details of your experience. I wish more posters would come back with the end result.

Hi John,

Thanks for the kind words.

I very much thank you and Big_Jake, Joseph Meehan, Caloo Clay, JoeSpareBedroom, hchickpea, and Gordon for your wonderful advice.

It's nice to know there's help out there when you need it! And, now, there's the answer so the next person has the benefit of what we've learned together!

Donna

My comments on the handyman article should you attempt this repair yourselves.

But the actual steps they took in that handyman article were wrong not only because they used pliars instead of a strap wrench but because they took apart parts that even they didn't use so they never needed to take apart those part in the first place. There was no need to pry off the o ring on the tip of the valve and to pry off the brass temperature limit valve either. They were just blindly taking things apart because they could not because they should.

Otherwise it was a good article and the pictures are excellent. Combined with this thread I would think someone could now do the job in about ten minutes. They even explained why there is a screw hole which isn't used in a handle shower faucet but which is used in a knob shower faucet.

wholzhueter had written this in response to

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