When the water was draining after Abby's bath tonight, I heard, "Clink! Chunk!" Followed by Abby going, "Uh-oh...."
Looking down, I saw these parts at the bottom of the tub.
Uh-oh, indeed. The knob that you pull to redirect water up and into the shower head had been pulled off by Abby and the connecting parts had fallen out of the tub faucet.
I didn't even know what you called this assembly. Luckily, my dad was able to fit all the parts back together in a jiffy while I was getting Abby dressed.
Meanwhile, I felt compelled to get educated on what exactly this was, so that I would not have the "uh-oh" feeling again if it were to happen in the future. Google results taught me that what Abby had disassembled was called a tub shower diverter and the parts are put together like the figure below.
The trick is knowing which way to insert the black valve. The valve works by allowing water pressure to push against the hole, forcing it out slightly to stop the water from flowing. Therefore, the valve needs to be inserted so that water can get between it and the spout gate (the little plastic white cap connected to the stem).
Being an engineer, I of course took apart the diverter and played with it to make sure I could put it back together again properly....and I did.
Nice. I feel prepared now.
Looking down, I saw these parts at the bottom of the tub.
Uh-oh, indeed. The knob that you pull to redirect water up and into the shower head had been pulled off by Abby and the connecting parts had fallen out of the tub faucet. I didn't even know what you called this assembly. Luckily, my dad was able to fit all the parts back together in a jiffy while I was getting Abby dressed.
Meanwhile, I felt compelled to get educated on what exactly this was, so that I would not have the "uh-oh" feeling again if it were to happen in the future. Google results taught me that what Abby had disassembled was called a tub shower diverter and the parts are put together like the figure below.
The trick is knowing which way to insert the black valve. The valve works by allowing water pressure to push against the hole, forcing it out slightly to stop the water from flowing. Therefore, the valve needs to be inserted so that water can get between it and the spout gate (the little plastic white cap connected to the stem).
Being an engineer, I of course took apart the diverter and played with it to make sure I could put it back together again properly....and I did.
Nice. I feel prepared now.
Comments (3)
She disassembled a tub-shower diverter?! Nice. Make sure you keep record of this so she can mention it in her college application essay. "While other babies around me were drooling over themselves and figuring out how to put Elmer's Glue in their mouths, I was busy disassembling shower diverters and learning sign language". You know it'll be an engineering college application right? Just face that now.... :)
Hi! Found your post about the shower diverter. The exact same thing has happened to me (minus anyone who knows how to fix it! :). If you get this message, could you write me back a quick note just to clarify where the smaller black ring goes? I think I've got the rest of it fine. All the other sources I can find online just say to replace the whole tap, and I would really rather give reassembling it a try first. Many, many thanks!!
This just happened to me in my apartment. Luckily the assembly is toward the front of the faucet. I'm no engineer, but I fixed it in a matter of minutes. Problem was, when I pulled it up at normal pressure, the water pressure was extremely weak from the shower head. I gave it an extra hard tug and that's when it fell apart. Seems my assembly is missing the small rubber o-ring. Maybe this is the culprit...