Installing a new Moen 1200 cartridge

[TRH]

After getting some good information from this site, I removed the cartridge from my Moen shower valve and purchased a new 1225 cartridge. I tried to install it, but it would not go in the last 1/2 inch. In removing it I destroyed it. I now have a 1220 that is also short of all the way in by about 1/2 inch.

Before I put the 1220 in I checked the opening for obstructions, measured the depth of the opening, lubed the cartridge, and followed the instructions to the best of my ability. Any ideas about why it will not go all the way in or actions I should take?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Terry]

Here are the Moen instructions
https://solutions.moen.com/Article_Library/Removing_a_Stuck_1200_or_1225_Cartridge

I would be guessing that a part of the old cartridge is still in there.
They drill out the valve to take the entire cartridge, and it should push in. Are you using the plastic tool that is provided for that?
If you push on the stem and not the outer casing, it will prevent the casing from sliding in all the way.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[TRH]

the original cartrige looked like the 1225 and it looked like I got all of the pieces out. However, after the first cartridge would not go in all the way, I removed it and ran both hot and cold water through the valve. Then I checked for obstructions both visually and using a small screwdriver. I could not see or feel any obstruction. There was a very small amount of water near the back of the valve, but nothing else. When I measured with the screwdriver there seemed to be plenty of length.

I'm pushing on the small piece of plastic that came with the cartridge and covers the stem. It fits against the end of the cartridge. The end of the stem is about even with the outside end of the cartridge.

 

[hj]

Since I have never had that problem, with a 1225 stem, ( I am not sure what a 1220 stem looks like, since I have never seen or heard of one), so it is hard to tell why you are having the problem. I have had that happen with a 1200 brass stem when someone tried to take the valve apart with a pipe wrench and "squeezed" the body so it was no longer round.

 

[TRH]

HJ, you are right it is a 1200. I guess I was so frustrated I didn't think carefully about the number.

I didn't grab the valve with anything in removing the old stem, although it was very hard to pull out. I'm not sure what was done when the house was built in 1988, but I can't see any signs of abuse on the valve or the adjoining pipes. I've just taken the 1200 out and thoroughly examined the interior of the valve. I can't see anything on the wall or any debris inside. The 1200 slides in and out very smoothly, until it gets to the point where it stops and there it stops dead, no incrase in friction i would expect with a hole that was out of round, more like it hit a wall.

Moen 1200

 

[TRH]

I'm a little embarrassed to say the problem was operator error. I was not pushing hard enough.
As an electrical engineering student in the 60's I was working a summer job building prototype computers. One day I was to install some expensive capacitors using stainless hose clamps. I applied a little too much pressure to enough of them to surpass my monthly salary before I learned that snug was okay. Since then I have been leary of too much force. This time with a little extra push, it sucked in like it was made to be there.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Jadnashua]

The O-rings seal things, and need to be tight to do it...