American Std shower stem - stuck sleeve/barrel in valve

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Tom JZ

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We have an old shower assembly in our bathroom that fits an American Standard shower stem as a replacement (Kissler 723-0030). We've had frequent leaks from the hot water side, maybe for a few reasons.

The main one could be that I can't get the old barrel out of the valve. I've replaced the stem assembly twice in the last decade (we have a lot of corrosion problems), but have had to screw it into the old barrel each time because it is absolutely stuck to the valve. I've tried all kinds of ways to pull it out with wrenches and hooks (though never with a great grip), have tried tapping it to dislodge it, and tried getting WD 40 and vinegar back there, but so far it hasn't budged. Is there any good way to remove a calcified barrel/sleeve from a valve? I'm trying to think of some tool that could hook in past the back of the barrel and then pressure it out (like a wine corkscrew). Or something that can force the barrel to turn within the valve to free it up. Any ideas? (I saw a video of some guy who used a tap to put threads into a stuck Moen cartridge, and then a hardened steel bolt to "screw" it out, but that might not work here because this barrel already has threads for the stem).

We have two leaking problems. Occasionally there is a drip from the shower or handle when the water is off. That's the one I can usually fix by tightening the whole assembly (or so it seems). That makes me think that the old barrel might not be the source of that leak at least.

The other big leaking issue is when the water is on -- water comes shooting out of the shower handle, and sometimes out of the edge of the escutcheon, dripping down the wall. (One other leak developed yesterday - water is dripping inside the wall behind the tile, down to the next floor, but I think it's overflow coming out of the same drip/flow problem). This is the leak I'm not sure about -- do I maybe not have the shower handle on the stem end snug enough? Is the escutcheon nipple/escutcheon knob not tight enough? Can some of these items be too tight? Or is this all from a bad barrel? For now, everything I'm using is new -- stem, handle, nipple, etc. -- except for the old barrel, an old washer, and obviously the valve. Thanks for reading - any suggestions are welcome.
 
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Ames07

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Check out this youtube video ("American standard barrel removal trick"). It's for a sink, but worked like a charm on my ancient shower.
 
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