Community Forums

andy29847 · 05-29-2020, 05:23 PM

I have been wanting to improve the water flow to my shower and get rid of the high pitched whine when the shower is running since I bought my 2001 38" FDDS. I replaced the shower head and removed the restrictor that was between the shower head hose and the shower plumbing. That helped some but the water flow is still anemic. My research indicated that there might be restrictors at the shower valve too. Today, I decided to look. I had to remove one of the mirrors to get access.

Then I removed the shower valve. I did not find any restrictors. :( I did find that the holes for water flow in the valve are very small.

I possibly can pull the guts out of the shower valve and increase the size of those holes, but I am skeered of screwing up the valve Has anybody on this board tried to enlarged the holes in the shower valve? Do any of you have a line on a like replacement?

Also, the passage for the water to back feed to the shower is small - see the small squared hole on the side. Perhaps, even if I make the holes for hot and cold in bigger, the shower flow will still be low.

Seeking ideas and consulatation. Please share your thoughts.

paul65k · 05-29-2020, 07:35 PM

Have you thought of replacing the valve completely??

It is 19 years old after all and you've gone through the complete PIA of taking it out........ Just sayin'

Fun Bus · 05-29-2020, 09:31 PM

As a retired plumber I can tell you this- Don't enlarge the passages in the valve body. Pull the cartridge out and inspect the ports for debris build-up and if necessary replace the cartridge with a new one. The brand of shower valve is MOEN. You will be able to find the cartridge at most hardware stores. You will not be able to buy the whole valve as they haven't been made in several years. You can replace it with a new MOEN pressure balanced valve with minor modifications. You run the risk of damaging the valve body if you drill out the ports. The material is pretty thin. Hope this helps.

__________________________________________________ _

Dana & Debi Marshall
Sandy, OR
2000 36FDS
2020 Colorado

Roy1 · 05-29-2020, 11:16 PM

Before you modify the valve Moen has a lifetime warranty on their valves. Call Moen and give them the model and year of the valve they will send you the parts . Might be better not to mention it is a Motorhome. In my case they didn’t ask. I replaced the cartridge they sent me but it turned there was another valve that was also stuck since it was obsolete they sent a new valve and charged me $20. A great deal for me.

AnotherMike · 05-30-2020, 01:27 AM

Before you close that wall back up you might want to look at this, and perhaps add a check valve on the hot water side...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpnNZWdlcfc

Maybe your Moen valve already has that, but I doubt it.

Mike

bcbowers · 05-30-2020, 08:28 AM

Have you checked the diffuser in the shower wand? Mine was partially restricted by calcium build-up. I ended up changing it to a different diffuser from Lowe’s which resulted in a better spray. I did the same thing with the bathroom sink.

whalepirot · 05-30-2020, 10:26 AM

With our hard water, periodic soaking of calcified faucet heads and screens in CLR works great!

andy29847 · 05-31-2020, 06:01 PM

Thanks to everyone for the help. I completed my project - almost. I removed the mirror, removed the shower valve, then put everything back together. I put a check valve on the hot in line as suggested above. I hadn't had the problems with the water going cold as described above, but I needed a straight coupling and I had the check valve.

I covered my holes in the wall with 3/16 lite plywood, screwed to the wall. I figure to paint the plywood and them put some wallpaper on it. I'm looking around for wallpaper that has a neat design. I'm thinking Jeeps, my wife is thinking bamboo. Thanks again for the advice.