DIY plumbing question

Red Marley

Red Marley

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I‘m embarrassed to ask this, but I seem to have exceeded the level of my competence. Common two-handle American Standard bathroom faucet recently started dripping. They are about 20 years old. OK, I can handle this. Get replacement cartridges from the Home Depot, shut off under-sink supply valves, replace cartridges, put it back together. When I open the under-sink supply valves, they begin dripping, and worse — there is no water at the faucet with the new cartridges. Twiddle the faucet handles, get a little bit, then nothing. WTF? The under-sink supply valves felt pretty crusty. Am I gonna have to have them replaced? Did I do something wrong with the faucet? Hard to see how.
 
Turn off the main.
Take the stem out of the shut off valve.
There should be a rubber washer on the end. It's a press fit unless the valve is really old (pre 1960) then there is a brass screw. Match the stem up to a replacement at HD (ask for help as there are many.

The issue is the rubber deteriorates. I've had one crumble in my hands after just 3 years. The pieces travel downstream and clog things up.
 
Thanks for all the replies. Sounds like I need to replace the shut-off valves and everything downstream. Not what I was hoping for, but what I was expecting :(. Dang. Had to do the same for the washing machine last year.
 
BlackGun said:
Is there no water on both hot and cold when the line valves are turned on? If so, then you have an issue with the cartridges. I doubt both supply line valves will not give you some water.
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Both hot and cold act the same. The cartridges look like the ones that came out, bit that was my thought too — something to do with cartridges. Doesn’t seem like they can be installed any other way. is there more than one style for American Standard two handle faucets? This was the only American Standard SKU the Home Depot had In stock.
 
Red Marley said:
Both hot and cold act the same. The cartridges look like the ones that came out, bit that was my thought too — something to do with cartridges. Doesn’t seem like they can be installed any other way. is there more than one style for American Standard two handle faucets? This was the only American Standard SKU the Home Depot had In stock.
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Cartridges for a direct match need to be bought at a plumbing supply house to be correct. I’ve never had luck with big box plumbing. I have not put any cartridges in for well over a year but I remember once putting in a cartridge wrong and having your same results. Wish I had more details but I work on so much different stuff my experiences fade pretty quickly.

One more thing- if you don’t set the cartridge turn before sticking it in then the water handle is reversed. Ex: clockwise is now off, not on.

I’m pretty sure there are more than one type of American Standard cartridge. Not doing plumbing daily I have a good supplier who knows the parts I need. I had a sink faucet with a lifetime warranty and it took the manufacturer three shipments to get cartridges that worked on mine. Damn nightmare that sink was.
 
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Red Marley said:
Both hot and cold act the same. The cartridges look like the ones that came out, bit that was my thought too — something to do with cartridges. Doesn’t seem like they can be installed any other way. is there more than one style for American Standard two handle faucets? This was the only American Standard SKU the Home Depot had In stock.
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Remove one cartridge, rotate it 180 deg. and then reinstall, will you get water out of the faucet?
 
Button Pusher said:
Remove one cartridge, rotate it 180 deg. and then reinstall, will you get water out of the faucet?
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Did that, no joy.

UPDATE: Pretty sure it’s not the cartridges now. I just compared the new ones to the old ones and they are visually identical. I put an old one back in and opened the supply valve: same result - no water coming out (no problem before I messed with the supply valves). So I am resigned to replacing the supply valves now 😖. They are 40+ years old… it’s time.
 
This is exactly how all my "easy" projects go. Should only take 15 minutes, end up wasting 3 days and having to replace a whole wing of the house.
 
Mirac said:
Did you pull the aerator, ?
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@Mirac, if we ever meet, I’m buying. I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me to do this, but I never thought the aerator could be so blocked that nothing would come out — but it was. Full of black debris from the supply shut-off valve washers, I mean FULL. Removed aerator, turned on water and was rewarded with a solid stream. The shut-off valves are still leaking, so I will have to replace them, but the faucets are OK.
 
Armed4defense said:
You probably DO NOT need to replace those shut offs -tighten the nut under the handle slightly -lots of times this will fix this but not always
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Correct, most, have a packing nut for the stem. Just tighten till leak stops.

Red Marley said:
@Mirac, if we ever meet, I’m buying. I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me to do this, but I never thought the aerator could be so blocked that nothing would come out — but it was. Full of black debris from the supply shut-off valve washers, I mean FULL. Removed aerator, turned on water and was rewarded with a solid stream. The shut-off valves are still leaking, so I will have to replace them, but the faucets are OK.
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No need to buy, But I would like to sail your RC or get to one of your club meets sometime.
 
Les White said:
This is exactly how all my "easy" projects go. Should only take 15 minutes, end up wasting 3 days and having to replace a whole wing of the house.
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Amen. Do we tell him that the new, robust, non-leaking cartridges on the faucet will create enough back-pressure on a different sink/shower somewhere else in the house and it will start leaking? Or is that just me? 😧
 
Ferrisfan said:
Amen. Do we tell him that the new, robust, non-leaking cartridges on the faucet will create enough back-pressure on a different sink/shower somewhere else in the house and it will start leaking? Or is that just me? 😧
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There is no doubt this will be the case. Look up “shipwright’s disease”. Best to replace the whole house with a new one.
 
You can replace the washers and the valve stem packing should you decide to leave the shutoff valves in place.
 
Button Pusher said:
You can replace the washers and the valve stem packing should you decide to leave the shutoff valves in place.
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I've done that before, with temporary results; had to replace the valves eventually anyway. If I gotta get on my knees under the sink I'm replacing those old valves with the best damn valves I can find :p. They are installed with compression fittings, should be easy to do (ha!). The hard part is getting at them in the cabinet space!
 
Red Marley said:
I've done that before, with temporary results; had to replace the valves eventually anyway. If I gotta get on my knees under the sink I'm replacing those old valves with the best damn valves I can find :p. They are installed with compression fittings, should be easy to do (ha!). The hard part is getting at them in the cabinet space!
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Wish I was closer- I'd do the change out no charge. Least I could do for you selling me that beautiful 336 Marlin. She's got a scope on her now and is a dream to shoot!
 
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