Trying to figure out what's wrong with our MBR shower which has almost no hot water at all. First thought it might be a bad balancing cartridge (we have a single lever that uses a Gerber 95-154), but the problem still exists after replacing with a new one. So I removed the escutcheon plate and saw I had separate hot and cold shutoff valves in each arm, so I shut both off and removed the new cartridge. Then I turned on the hot shutoff valve and got nothing but a tiny drip out of the hot opening. The cold side was fine by the way. We also have a garden tub located right next to the shower stall and it does have hot water. So it would seem I have a clog in my hot line to the shower stall. I see a large nut around the hot shutoff valve screw adjustment, can I remove the nut and open up the valve and check for a clog? I suppose the clog could even be after the shutoff, at the valve body itself, which has a plastic face with 3 holes that the cartridge mounts to, is there any way to remove that plastic piece from the valve body and see if it's clogged, or should I try sticking a wire into the port for the hot water? Below are pictures of the valve body with cartridge removed and the cartridge itself.

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Yep, agree with Harold. You clog is before the shut off. If you remove the bonnet you can pull the stem, make sure your main is closed before doing this. Put a big bucket or large diameter hose over the stem hole and have someone else turn on your main, this will flush it. This taes only seconds to flush so have some way to tell the helper to close the main

Thank you for the replies, especially the graphic hkstroud, couldn't ask for more!

What I did was turn on the hot shutoff valve, then pulled off the white plastic piece from the valve body, and water shot out (all over me, LOL). Then I knew the clog must be in the plastic piece, and sure enough I found the metal tube thing was frozen within it's metal frame (not sure what it's called, maybe a balancer? that apparently equal water pressure balances it at a midway point). Anyway, mine is really frozen in place from hard water deposits, so I guess I'll try soaking in CLR or maybe white vinegar to see if that loosens it up. If not, is there anywhere I can buy that plastic piece w/o the whole valve body? Or maybe just the metal insert as that appears to be the culprit in the whole thing.

Thanks again.

You could call Gerber and ask if this is covered by their life time warranty http://www.gerberonline.com/downloads/warrantypdf/Brass_Warranty_2010.pdf

I am a bit confused isn't the white piece part of the cartridge, when you removed it and the flow was good I suggest to replace the cartridge assembly see the image below, also follow Bob's instruction call Gerber they may send you new cartridge for free if covered by Warrant, Thanks.

John

I am a bit confused isn't the white piece part of the cartridge
It is the pressure balancing control.


Best price I found after a quick search. If CLR will dissolve mineral deposits be well worth the effort.
Call Gerber, you never know.

eBay (http://www.ebay.ca/sch/sis.html?_nkw=GERBER%20NEW%20PLUMBING%20PRESSURE%2 0BALANCE%20CARTRIDGE%2097%20014&_itemId=171510621759)

Thanks Harold.

John

Thank you all for your help, after soaking the "pressure balancing control" (white plastic part with metal cylinder inside) in white vinager, the metal piece was unstuck and moved back and forth freely. I reinstalled that and the outer cartridge and now have great hot water flow that is nice and hot! Couldn't have done it without everyone's help.

@afaroo, I didn't realize in my prior post that the shower cartridge had 2 pieces, the white plastic piece that plugs into the valve body, and the (in my case) green/orange colored piece that plugs into that, so when I said I replaced the shower cartridge, I had only in fact replaced the green/orange part, not the white inner one. Thanks to your question I now know the difference.

Thanks for the update We are glad that your issue is resolved the white vinegar work great, good luck.


John

Great. You deserve an "atta boy"