I have an Aqualisa thermostatic mixer valve shower (non-power). Not sure what the model number is but I posted a digital photo (6k) at
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has started dripping from the mixer - you can see the drips in the photo!
I've tried disassembling, cleaning and reassembling. The inside contains a metalic sort of corkscrew thing wrapped round and round the centre of the assembly which comes out when you unscrew the 4 screws round it. It seemed quite clean, though there was a fair amount of grit in the hole at the bottom inside the wall part of the assembly.
My question is, from this pathetic description, can anyone advise whether there is anything I can do to economically resolve this problem - as I see that these pieces of kit are horrendously expensive, and with due respect to plumbers who have a living to make, I would rather try to fix it myself, if this is possible!
Remove the knob at the front and the temperature control one as well.
The leak is likely to be coming from one of two places - the gasket sealing the cartridge to the valve body or the spindle. If it's the gasket you can buy a spare directly from Aqualisa.
Otherwise it;s a replacement cartridge from a plumber's merchant.
Cost is approx. £90.
The only other small replaceable parts are the O-rings at the back of the valve and holding the front knob on the spindle.
Anything in and around the cartridge equals new cartridge.
I fixed one of these recently, and I've got another to fix this coming week. Both were/are dripping.
The corkscrew assembly is known as a cartrdge. At the rear end of this is a small shaft that fits into a hole at the back of the wall mounting. Just inside that hole is a black rubber washer which probably costs about 10p.
Sadly in my experience you have to change the whole cartridge at a cost of somewhere in the region of £100. I'm not sure that washer is something that can be replaced on its own - on the one I did recently I couldn't get the darn washer out, but after changing the cartridge the leak stopped immediately.
cartridges. You could try changing the 'O' ring right at the back, but make sure you have a new one before you start as the old one will need to be picked out with a bent pin or similar (don't damage the seating). Aqualisa suggest a crochet hook but I don't have one of those in my tool box :-(
Original (dripping) poster here! Thanks for all the advice. I am struggling to relate some of the parts referred to in the advice with what I've got in my valve. Can't think I saw an O-ring when I disassembled this morning. I'll have another go in the morning and maybe put some more pictures on my website of the separate valve bits.
However, I did have one brainwave. Just don't know whether I have the balls to do this... what do you think? Bear in mind that I am several spanners short of a full tookbox when it comes to diy....
There is another, identical, shower in the ensuite (which does not leak). The brainwave is to disassemble this and try the cartridge in the dripping shower. If this worked then it would prove I simply need to save up for a replacement cartridge. If it didn't, I suppose it's a plumber?
But... is it safe to disassemble the working one? How likely am I to ruin it? I know that question invites all sorts of smartypants answers, but you know what I mean! How easy is it to damage these objects?
Advice on this high-risk strategy greatly appreciated! Thanks.
There should be one on the fluted spindle at the front of the cartridge which basically holds the flow control knob in place.
The second is in the back of the base in a projecting tube in the centre.
If you are careful it should be OK.
If you are unlucky or not careful then it will be two cartridges.
However, if you just look at the faulty one with the front flow control cap and the thermostatic control cap removed and see where the leak is coming from then it will be obvious.
It should either be coming from between the cartridge and the base, in which case it will need a new sealing O-ring there - they are a special shape - or from the spindle.
If it's the latter, then it is time for a new cartridge.
There should be no need to swap them between showers.
Maplin used to do a set of 'PCB' tools which had a selection of hooks and sharp probes. Seen them on Ebay too. They get a lot of use for things they were never designed for...
I've got a set of Dentist tools from an auto-jumble ! Wonderful hardened tools that must have cost a fortune new, now used for anything except dentistry.
"Spring Hooks" are what you need. They were sold in screw together kits of various lengths and shapes for putting springs in inaccessable places in typewriters. OK I'm showing my age, but I still have a set for changing tilt and rotate tapes on IBM '735' Selectric Golfball printers used as output devices on computers in the early 1970's
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. Much appreciated.
The info on O-rings got me thinking. I had not noticed an O-ring when I first removed the cartridge from the wall (I'm that good at d-i-y, see!). However, removing it again, I see that this is the flush rubber ring on the inside surface of the cartridge, which mates to the bit on the wall to form a, hopefully, waterproof seal.
The O-ring seemed pretty undamaged, so I thought maybe it was just a case of screwing the cartridge back, paying particular attention to tightening the side which appeared to be leaking, tight and first, and then tightening the other screws. I have put a couple more digital pictures on my website so you can see what I mean:
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- shows the cartridge. I've ringed the part of the o-ring where I think the leak was, in red. The hot (I think) water comes through this hole. I think this is quite a design fault - the outer edge of the hole needs to mate with the wall assembly to be watertight, but there isn't that much surface to mate with. (I know, it's not the size but how you use it!)
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- shows the wall assembly, with the leak area which mates with the area highlighted in the first picture, and the screw holes I tightened first.
Well, it seems to have stopped dripping! Obviously I don't know whether this will be a permanent solution, but if it is permanent it shows that leaping off down the (expensive) replacement cartridge route may not always be necessary. Hopefully have saved some money here!
Thanks again to everyone who contributed. I would never have started thinking thr problem through logically without it.
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