Tub slow to turn off

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Moby

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I replaced my valve stems, handles, trim rings, shower arm and head, and stub out and tub spout and now when I turn the handles off it takes a while for the water to stop coming out. It does stop completely and does not drip or leak, but the flow tapers off slowly.

The valve body is a Sayco from 1955. It is a two-handle style with a diverter spout.

Do I need to adjust the valve stems? I tightened the packing nut to what seemed to be a good resistance when I installed. What could be wrong?
 

Reach4

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If you replace stems or even washers, you should usually replace the seats.
 

Moby

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Good thinking, I did not realize there was a seat under there.

Time to take it all back apart again. Sigh.
 

Moby

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So I replaced the seats and the water still takes a long time to turn off. No improvement.

Also, the diverter on the tub spout is not working either. I can have water come out of the shower head AND spout simultaneously or just the shower head. No way to get it to come out of just the spout.

The spout is the kind with a pull-up diverter on it.

Any help would be much appreciated!
 

hj

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That is also the reason the faucet does not SEEM to shut off. The water is going up the shower riser and it takes a while for it to drain out after you turn the water off. You need a new spout.
 

Moby

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This IS a new spout. I suppose it could be defective, but examining it does not reveal what the defect could be.

Pulling up on the diverter moves a plastic piece into place to block the flow from the spout. This works fine.

Pushing the diverter down moves the plastic piece below the opening, allowing water to pass through. Here there is a possible problem: the piece does not move completely out of the way. The upper edge of the piece blocks the opening a bit--perhaps a quarter or a third of the hole.

None of the parts seem deformed, and if there is a missing part, I can't picture what it could be. It does seem as if flipping the plastic piece upside down could result in the hole not being covered--that is to say, perhaps it was misassembled--but I think that would result in the opposite problem.
 

Moby

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Here the knob is in the up position. The little white bit is the plastic piece partially blocking the hole.
image.jpg

image.jpg
 

Moby

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Just for the heck of it, I pulled out the plastic piece and flipped it. In the new position, it was able to move out of the way completely, but definitely would not move up into the closed position to divert to the shower head.
 

Moby

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And now I've screwed it back on without the diverter part installed at all. Should this result in only water coming from the tub spout? It does not.
 

Reach4

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I don't know how that faucet connects, but could you try running water out of the/a nipple without the spout even in place? If water still comes out of the shower head, you would know the problem is not the spout.
 

Moby

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Yes, the problem seems not to be the spout, IF water is not supposed to come the shower head when nothing directs it there. But what else can it be?
 

Moby

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Ugh, I fear I have figured out the problem. The original plumbing was galvanized and that was changed out for CPVC some years ago by a plumber, as the shower flow had become basically useless. We didn't want to touch the tile, so he worked through the top of the wall through the attic and through a cut-out in the back of the kitchen sink which is on the opposite side of the wall. We did say he could tear out the whole sink cabinet if need be, but he ended up not doing so. Having such restricted access, perhaps he decided to skip replacing the galvanized pipe leading from the shower valve to the tub spout and now its flow is restricted from the galvanized pipe continuing its descent into uselessness. With flow to the spout restricted, water is forced up the pipe to the shower when flow reaches a certain rate.

Does this sound plausible?

And if so, I should try to take out the offending piece of galvanized pipe and replace it, or it will ultimately close up completely, right?
 
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