Water coming out tub spout when supplied - whether on or off

[Billyh]

I just hooked up a moen shower/spout combo and as soon as I turn on the cold water supply to the faucet, it comes out the spout. If I turn the faucet all the way, both ways, it doesn't change the flow at all. It is a very slow flow.

There is a good chance I did something wrong (well duh) but I thought I followed the directions.

I crimped the pex supply lines to a 1/2" nipple that is threaded on the opposite side and screwed them in the back of the faucet.

I used a copper pipe piece to drop down to the spout, attached with sharkbites.

The piece going to the showerhead is pex and is well secured.


I do not have any hot water going to this faucet yet. Could that cause this problem? Or regardless of having hot water, water should still not flow out?

If it isn't getting enough pressure, should this happen?

Someone told me that I should have put a small length of copper at the end of the supply lines and attached this length of copper to the faucet. Is this true?


I'd like to know what I should check out first. I thought I had all the ducks in a row!! Thanks.

 

[hj]

A modern valve should not allow ANY water to flow if do not have both hot and cold going to the faucet, although you might get a dinky stream. You will ALWAYS have water flowing from the spout, UNTIL you activate the diverter to send it to the shower head. If you mean you cannot turn the flow off at all, then you either have something piped improperly or you have a bad internal unit.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Billyh]

Hey Hj,

As usual, thanks for the reply. Do you have some sort of paypal account that we can donate to so you can pick up a coffee or two to drink while you type these out?

I'm fairly certain everything is piped properly. I have the hot and cold coming in on the horizontal, copper dropping down to the spout and a sturdy run of pex going to the shower head.

The faucet rotates from full left to full right and nothing is affected, the water still trickles out.

Is there something I should check for improper piping or does it look like its a faulty faucet?

 

[Jadnashua]

Did you flush the lines before you installed the cartridge? It sounds like you have either a defective cartridge or valve body. There is another possibility, the cartridge may not be fully seated. If the cartridge doesn't have any silicon plumber's grease on it, it can be a real bear to insert it. If there was any debris in the lines, it could have scored the valve body or cartridge, or torn an o-ring. As noted, when the valve is off, there should not be any flow. Having only one supply turned on should prevent full flow (and may stop it altogether depending on the condition and model of the pressure balance spool), but should have no effect on the on/off ability of the valve.

 

[3m]

If you installed a pressure balancing valve and havent turned the hot water supply on the valve will shut off the flow of water completly. But they will sometimes allow a small amount of water thru. Or you may have a bad cartridge

 

[Billyh]

I pulled the cartridge and it looks fine (although I'm not certain of what to look for exactly). There was no debris on it and there was a little bit of grease.

I will wait until I can get hot water to it as well.

Maybe, somehow, having only cold water flow in is torquing the cartridge? I will report back when I finally have hot water!

 

[hj]

The fact that it has only cold water should have nothing to do with it shutting off completely. It would only affect how much, if any, water flows when you try to turn it on. You apparently have a damaged cartridge, possibly from heating it when you made the connections.

 

[Billyh]

I have now supplied it with hot water and it no longer leaks. I have no idea why it is designed this way... it seems to not make any sense.

I got my hot water to it now and it is fine. If I shut off the hot water again, it leaks!

Thank you very much everyone for the help.