Our story, 'till now:
Sean has a leak in the master bedroom faucet that seems to be getting worse. He decides to try to replace the faucet all by himself. A valiant battle is fought, in which the faucet forces replacement of many parts, but refuses to be replaced itself. In the end, stalemate, with perhaps a slight victory going to the faucet, as the leak is now a larger steady steam than it had been.
So it's been two weeks since I last worked on the faucet. I've not been happy as what was once a slow drip has now turned into a steady stream. After reading some facts about just how much water was being wasted by a 1/8 inch steady stream of water, I decide I *must* do something about it. I just can't figure out what.
Finding myself in Loew's last night, I started looking through the how-to plumbing books. I finally figured it out. The system the faucet uses is something called a "cartridge" system. I'd never worked on one before -- guess we didn't have any in the houses I lived on for my Dad to teach me on.
It looked simple to replace, though. Take the U-clip off and yank, put the new one in. (Wait, didn't I say something like that about the faucet?)
My only real worry was that I wouldn't be able to find a replacement cartridge. That turned out to be the easy part.
So this morning I ate breakfast then went and turned the water off. Getting the cartridge out wasn't too hard, but did take some serious yanking. And buying the cartridge was simple as well, but when I found the one I wanted, I was again confused.
Here's what I found when I took the cartridge out. It looked extremely simple. The top four fifths is just a cylinder. At the bottom two sides... well, let me try to draw a side view:
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circular holes
The holes on the bottom matched two holes inside the faucet. Turn the handle one way, the holes match up and water flows. Turn them another, the holes are 90 degrees apart and (supposedly) water stops.
But the package with the new cartridge had two small rubber pieces and two small springs. I couldn't figure out what to do with them. I asked someone at the store, and while he tried, he wasn't able to explain it to me.
I bought it anyway.
When I got home, it all became obvious. The springs go into the holes in the faucet, the rubber pieces on them, and this prevents leaks. In my faucet, only one of the holes had the spring and rubber piece, and it was stuck in so tightly I doubt it was working properly.
Aha! I thought. Now I know why it was leaking!
I carefully put the spring and rubber pieces in, then tried to put in the cartridge. Remember I said it was difficult to take out? It would *not* go in. With close examination, I saw that it was actually getting stuck on an upper piece of the faucet. With great gentleness, I gingerly bent back the pieces it was getting stuck on. Didn't break a one.
Surprised you, didn't I?
Now the cartridge will go in. It's tight, but it works. I put the U-clip on and slide the handle over the top and go turn the water on.
Back in the bathroom I examine it. I'm still getting a drip. It's not as bad, but it's there. I pull the handle off and tap the top of the cartridge. Nothing. I tap the U-clip. Hmm. It leaks worse. Well, maybe the cartridge turned a bit. Put the handle back on and turn it...
And water sprays the entire room, coming out of the handle.
My first, rather silly, thought is to block the spray of water. But it's coming out from every part of the handle, and coming rather quickly. It takes me seconds to realize that I have to turn the water off. I run to the basement and turn the water supply valve until it stops. I run back upstairs and water it's *still* spraying everything. Well, maybe there's just still some water pressure left -- I turn the water on, as if that would help.
Sigh.
No, it didn't help. I must not have turned the water completely on the first time, and when I tried to turn it off, I just turned it on even harder.
Back to the basement, and this time I turn the water off.
And I won't tell you just how much water was on the bathroom floor.
Now, what went wrong. I had no idea. I took the cartridge out and looked at it. I had to reseat the spring and rubber pieces, but everything other wise looked okay. I put it all back together and went and turned the water on, making sure I turned it *completely* on, until the valve stopped.
Still a small leak. I put the handle on and turn it. The water comes on alright. Turn it off, there's a leak. I started to turn it again and it exploded.
Okay, it didn't explode, but it felt like it. The spray this time was even worse, but I managed to turn the water off more quickly and keep the damage to a minimum.
This time, I caught the problem.
When I got back upstairs the handle was already off. I don't remember taking it off, but it's possible. But what was obvious was that the U-clip was not holding the cartridge in as it was supposed to. At some point I had managed to do something that spread the jaws of the clip, and it simply wasn't holding anything. I bent the clip back -- carefully -- reinserted the cartridge (by now it was getting easy), and slid the U-clip on with my fingers.
It mostly worked. And works. Not completely, though.
In writing this, I finally figured out the advantage to the cartridge faucets (and how to tell which is which). Cartridge faucets have a limited span of travel in their handles, usually, I'd guess, ninety degrees. Compression faucets just turn a lot and you actually tighten them down to stop the water.
This faucet, when used properly, leaks a small stream of water. However, if I don't actually screw the handle on, and turn it just a tiny bit further than it is supposed to go, then I can change the stream to a slow drip. That's where it stands right now, and where it will stand for a while.
So I give up. I don't have another free weekend until January, and maybe by then I'll be ready to tackle putting in the new faucet again...
I've got some ideas that should make it easy...