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Last week I had to replace a Kohler shower cartridge.
In the process there was water damage to kitchen ceiling.
No biggie, nothing major, cut out and have to put some new drywall up.
The problem is I have a very slow leak coming from the bathtub now
dripping onto the kitchen floor.
I check my O rings, checked everything was flush, and all looks good.
I ran the tub for a good 2-3 minutes, go to the kitchen, no leaks.
I then ran the shower for a good 2-3 minutes, go to kitchen and again no leaks.
Problem fixed or so I thought.
If I run the tub/shower I get zero leaks.
But when someone actually gets in to tub to shower, the slow drip drip begins.
So again I check the cartridge to make sure all is good and tightened.
I run the tub for a few minutes and then run the shower for a few minutes and zero leaks.
Not one drop.
There only leaking when someone is actually in the tub taking a shower.
I ran the tub for a good 2-3 minutes, go to the kitchen, no leaks.
I then ran the shower for a good 2-3 minutes, go to kitchen and again no leaks. Problem fixed or so I thought. If I run the tub/shower I get zero leaks. But when someone actually gets in to tub to shower, the slow drip drip begins.
Isolate: Is it the "drain" of the tube? (if there's no water running from the faucet then it can ONLY come from the drain - one would think).
What type of plumbing: copper, plastic, etc.? Is the bathtub a hard cast-iron or one made with tile & mortar? Did the cartridge remove easily or with force?
Try this “without” using directing the water to the shower-head. Turn the water on and fill the tub with water coming from the faucet not the shower head. Fill the bathtub with water and see if it leaks. If there’s no leak then stand in the bathtub to produce “weight” that might cause water to leak around the tub drain. This will isolate if there is a leak from the faucet or from the drain.
You have to find the weak joint first. Open up the area, wrap paper towels around joints, stand in shower, run water for 5 min, find leak. How you proceed from there varies. Sometimes re-do, sometimes new sections, sometimes shims. The past is the past. Don't worry about that.
I just went through this with a customer about 4 months ago.
The drain eschusion was leaking when someone would be standing in the tub. After replacing the rubber washer and using new plumber's putty, still had the same problem when someone was standing in tub- otherwise no leak.
My fix was using a rubber washer on both sides of the tub. Apparently, the Styrofoam that is attached to the bottom of the tub to support either degrades or compresses as the years go by; allowing the tub to flex abit more than it should. This and the plumbing being somewhat stationary don't work well together.
Try this “without” using directing the water to the shower-head. Turn the water on and fill the tub with water coming from the faucet not the shower head. Fill the bathtub with water and see if it leaks. If there’s no leak then stand in the bathtub to produce “weight” that might cause water to leak around the tub drain. This will isolate if there is a leak from the faucet or from the drain.
Filled the tub today using the faucet and had my daughter walk around the tub while I went to the kitchen to check for leaks.
Zero leaks coming from the drain.
I then turned the shower on and had her walk around again.
The slow drip started.
The dripping is starting from higher up.
What I'm not sure if it is coming from the cartridge housing or higher up.
I didn't have time today to really look for the leak but I wanted to try to isolate as best as I could and go from there.
Tomorrow I'll take off the shower lever cover that exposes the cartridge and see if I can see any leaking.
When I was in the kitchen looking up, I could see the drops coming from higher up.
I couldn't really tell from where or from how high up.
There is a small sheet metal covering the PVC pipe I need to unscrew that would expose and let me see more.
So the good news I think is that it's not the drain.
Now I work my up and go from there.
You isolated well; no tub and drain leaks. This leaves only the control valve that you replaced the cartridge in. It’s possible that the connection of the pipe going to the shower head is the problem area. If you don’t see a leak at the control valve connection then it will be up at where the shower head screws into the pipe. You should only have one of those two places to look for water.
My 10 yr old kid took a shower this morning and sure enough like clock work, here comes the drip.
I was able to isolate the leak I think, coming from a PVC connection under the cartridge housing.
This is my view from the kitchen. I can tell that it's not coming from higher up (shower head).
I get in the tub, remove the lever cover that exposes the cartridge and I think OK, let's see if my I didn't
tighten the cartridge enough. Turn water on, faucet and then shower and no leaks at cartridge.
Go to kitchen and no leaks or dripping from where I saw it drip a few minutes ago.
I get into the tub for weight and turn shower on.
Walk bath and forth to see if anything happens.
Not only are there no leaks in the cartridge , there are also no leaks dripping to the kitchen.
I install lever cover again only this time I don't tighten like before.
Not that it was super tight to begin with, I just leave it at snug thinking maybe I over tightened the cover the first time??
No leaks at cartridge.
No leaks/drips on kitchen floor.
So i say screw it, I'm going to shower in this tub and see what happens.
Take a shower and not one drip anywhere.
Never mind that it was dripping about 20 minutes earlier.
There are zero drips.
Suggestions or thoughts?
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