Crane Dial-Ese Drips After Stem Replacement

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BlueLu

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I have had a slow hot water leak in my tub for a while. I have replaced the Crane Dial Ease stems in my bathtub fixture for the second time, with no better results. The hot water still drips -- probably a quart an hour. Otherwise the faucets work great. (Note I am a different user, with a different Dial Ease problem, than 'bbbluueyes') Is it possible to screw in the stems too tight, and warp the fixture, causing a leak?

The one thing that is different about this fixture from the others just like it in my house is that there is a pipe inside the fixture, about 4 inches long, that tends to unscrew and come out with the stem. When I replace the stem, I have taped the threads at the far end of that 4-inch pipe, and reseated it, before wrenching in the stem. I have not found an explanation for the purpose of this pipe, but I am starting to think that maybe it needs to seat against the bottom of the stem, and that a little space between this pipe and the stem is the source of the leak.

Can anybody comment on my situation and my theories?

-Lu
 

hj

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stem

That pipe is the Dial-Eze seat, and it should not come out. If it does come out, then it is either loose, or the part where it screws in is cracked so it will not tighten.
 

BlueLu

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Re: Dial Ease Drips After Stem Replacement

hj said:
That pipe is the Dial-Eze seat, and it should not come out. If it does come out, then it is either loose, or the part where it screws in is cracked so it will not tighten.

This is just what I am getting at. Is it your understanding that if the stem does not seat into the near-end of that pipe, that water could flow through the faucet, even when the faucet is fully closed, with a good seal in the stem?

Is this the sort of seat that could need to be dressed? Everybody I have ever talked to who knows about Dial-Eze fixtures, says: No, there is no seat to dress, because the Dial Eze stem contains the washer and the seat.
 

hj

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seat

The Dial-Eze stem should screw into the body far enough to make contact with the seat even under unusual conditions. There is no way, or any need to dress the seat, since the stem is under compression against it and there is no wear on it, unless you have had an unusual problem with it earlier. But if it cannot seal to the valve body, then it is going to leak at the seat's threads, and that is a different problem entirely.
 
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