Just managed to magically release my diverter with minimum effort. It is a lift type with hose entry on the top. I simply unscrewed the shower hose and poured in a capful of drain unblocker. After 10 minutes diverter worked like new. Certainly a path of least resistance and worth trying. Might even celebrate with a bath (rather than shower) tonight!

Simple remedy that worked like pure magic! Just unscrewed the hose from top entry its and poured in a capful of drain unblocking fluid. 10 minutes later it worked like new. Good luck with this one. Alan

Hi Alasn and welcome to The Plumbing Page on AMHD.
You piggybacked on a 3 year old dead thread so I gave you one of your own. Before you post look in the upper left hand corner for the date..
It just goes to show, you're never too old to learn. Thanks for a new solution. Hopefully this will help other people with the same problem. Cheers, Tom

Interesting fix there, Alan. I can only hope that you rinsed everything super well before using the tub/shower valve... ;)

I also wanted to pop in and mention that in some cases "drain unblocking gel" can be corrosive to some older metal finishes and some of the cheaper plastics they are making nowadays, so either test an area on the backside of the diverter or better yet, next time try spraying a little 25% ammonia solution (proper ventilation needed) to dissolve the soap scum and then a quick spray of silicone spray lubricant to keep things working well for the long run... safe on all finishes that I know of!

Check out some info. At this link:

About Soap Scum | eHow.com

Thanks for posting, Alan!

Mark