A simple plumbing oops.

[Pelledan]

My wife was not happy with a fixed shower head in our 2006 Journey SE. So I went out and bought a hand held shower head and as I started removing the old head, the spout moved. I know, I know .... I should have backed up the spout before removing the head, but hindsight is always 20/20. So I tightened the spout back to where is was (it only moved 3 or 4 degrees) and tightened another 5 degrees just in case. So now I'm here wondering if it will leak as the hand held has an on/off control which in the off position will allow the spout connection to see full water pressure. I have no idea what the plumbing connection is on the wall behind the shower head. I'm sure Pex goes up to some kind of fitting, be it plastic or metal, and I have no idea of how it is affixed in place. I can cut away the sealant at the escutcheon plate and slide it off, but unsure if the fitting will drop when the spout is removed, or even if I have access to it, is it securely attached to something to where it won't rotate as the resealed spout is screwed back in. Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks, Dan

[bigb56]

I think the only way to know for sure is to cap off the shower arm and leave the pump on for awhile. If there is a leak, the pump will start for a second every once in awhile. I don't think you'll be able to do that with the hand held because they generally have a bleed off when you turn the valve off, they don't shut off completely. You could install a positive shower head shutoff for testing.

[UFO Pilot]

I have access to the back side of my shower valve thru the back of a cabinet. The pex is "terminated" in a brass fitting which is attached to a board. It is pretty secure.

Looks like this: https://www.amazon.com/Insert-Brass-.../dp/B0855JC651

2008 Winnebago

[Mudfrog]

Our Itasca (Winnebago) has a panel in our bedroom that has screws holding it on. This is the wall the shower plumbing runs up through. I've never opened it up but I'm sure it would allow me to get to anything needed inside that wall. I wouldn't be surprised if the OP's had a removable panel of some sort.

Otherwise, I like Bigb56's idea of running the pump with the hot/cold shower valves on and the shower head capped.

[Pelledan]

Thank you for all the replies. There is only one side of that corner shower that is covered by something. In our case the left side t is covered by two vertically stacked roll-out drawers that house kitchen spices and alike. I'm sure both of those drawers are removable. However they are relatively narrow, maybe 8 or 10 inches wide, but certainly enough to look/see where I need to. At worst, I may need a mirror, but I'm sure I'll see that connection.

Thanks again, Dan

[gregoryd73]

Or, remove it completely, tape the threads a couple turns with Teflon plumbers tape, screw it back in snug, and you should be fine. I wouldn't trust it as you've described currently. It likely won't leak much, but a shut-off style head (which is desirable to save water), would indeed put pressure on the threads connection.
PS: You can buy the inline shut-off valves at ACE, Home Depot, etc.
Good luck,

[dickb46]

I'd just use it and see if it leaks, then worry about it.
We've had several leaks (one was a sliced pex line under the shower) but none of them did any damage.
IMHO I'd say see if there is a problem first and then fix it.
dick

[dmctlc]

This is one of the reasons I bought a borescope that has a 16' semi-rigid cable that let's you been bend and twist to many different directions. You load an app on your phone that allows you to see in several means predicated on a simple small head change. In fact it recently allowed me to retrieve an object that was dropped into a very tight place. It has allowed me also recently to see what was causing my ongoing issue with our rear passenger slide. Doesn't cost to buy one on Amazon and you could have it in a day or two... JMO

[peggwn]

Dan, I'm in the process of replacing our shower valve because we can't find a matching replacement for the brittle "crystal" ball handle that shattered. There's a moulded soap dish inset panel directly below the shower head; the shower head is actually above our shower wall. I removed the inset panel (maybe 6 screws) to reveal the valve and the water lines etc. The top water line goes to the shower head. Because of the inset, the water line is pieced together to fit around the right side about 6", then upward past the inset, back to center, and then up to the piece you broke. I too broke that piece when removing the spout/pipe for the shower head; it too was brittle like the handle and just shattered into 4-5 pieces. Amazon does have that piece for about $16; search for Flair-it 16801. To get to that piece you must remove a rectangular piece (above the wall, 2 screws). There is a bracket "caulked" to the stud behind the wall that holds that piece. Remove the 2 screws holding the broken piece in place and it will free the piece and tubing. You can remove that whole assembly by detaching it at the bottom near the valve. Once that's done, just replace the broken with the new and slide it all back up in place and secure it back to the valve. It's easy-peasy after three days of running back and forth to Ace Hardware and also ordering from Amazon. I had to do that because I dropped one of the compression nuts from a water line AND because the new Delta shower valve compression fittings are all male, but the existing I wanted to replace fittings are female. Ace Hdwe didn't have everything I needed, so I used Amazon. Unfortunately, next day shipping is 3 days for those items; so much for next day Prime service.

Caution: If you remove any water line, slide the compression nut down the tube a little ways and tape it in place w/blue tape so it doesn't slide off and fall inside the wall. Likewise, don't drop any screws, or anything else for that matter, into the wall. There are so many pipes, tubes, wires, etc., and a false floor as well, that even if I could have found something with my scope (I did try) I could not possibly retrieve it.

I am now re-Teflon taping the fittings to eliminate the nagging drips here and there caused by all the on and off activity required to get to the various fittings. It's a whoopin'. Beers were consumed at the end of each frustrating day. I hope the celebrate later this week when the remaining fittings arrive and when they are in place and not dripping. Good luck.