Not sure of your description here.
There are basically two styles when you have the option of either taking a
shower or filling the tub.
One style has a stem you lift in the spout or fixture that diverts water from
filling the tub so it will run out of the shower head. The other has three
knobs or handles by the wall. One is for hot, one for cold and the third is
for sending the water to either the tub or shower head.
On the first kind described with the stem, you will need to remove the spout
with the stem in it and take it along to the store so they know what you need.
Don't assume because they work for Home Depot they know all about plumbing.
Not the case.
On the style with three handles, you have a bigger problem. Sometimes you can
remove the handle exposing the valve. That valve will unthread on some models
and you can try removing the junk that collects inside. That may allow the
valve to close tight enough to seal and divert the water to the shower head.
Most times however, you will have to replace the whole assembly because they
aren't made from the best metals on the market and the parts corrode over time.
Removing this will require finding or making an access point to the back side
of the wall where the shower is.
You'll have to see how the pipes are connected to the controls. Most times
there is a threaded part that is then soldered on to a copper pipe. I usually
cut the pipe at a point that leaves me room to work so I can splice the pipes
back together when I'm ready.
I'd recommend using something called Gator Bights or Shark Bights depending on
which store you go to. They will know the name and tell you which one they
sell. No soldering is required to make a water tight connection.
The other kind of connection is a union fitting. This is where a threaded
fitting puts pressure on a fitting soldered to the copper pipe compressing the
two parts together and making a seal. This is different from a "compression
fitting" where a piece of copper or brass slides over the pipe and is
compressed against the pipe when the fitting is tightened. The union can be
used again, the compression fitting can't.
Once you know which model you have we can give more details on how to replace
it.
----- Original Message -----
From: blake
To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2010 7:52 AM
Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] water pressure low in shower?
Hey all, ok so i got a new head and its not the head. The pressure remains
the same and most of the water is still coming out from the bottom. So what is
the valve that i need to change and how do i go about doing that? The place
where you turn on the shower is just a knob by itself that you have to turn.
Everything on my shower is separate. Thanks.
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