In my retirement I've been taking on deferred home maintenance. So last week I decided to re-caulk the tub and remove the mildew. That was successful and I then noticed a tiny drip from the tub faucet and thought- I'll fix the drip.... famous last words.
We have a 90 year old house. Tub/shower plumbing is at least 50 years old but was working fine save a very small drip. I thought I'd just replace the seats and stems, but it has turned into an odyssey!
This is a sears fixture, and I found the model number 3302048 on the escutcheon - with info on an alternate part on the sears website and took that info to my local plumbing shop. They said these were made by Bradley and are an unusual design.
Stem and seats are attached, no locking nut just a cap with a notch on the stem and a slot on the pipe to hold the stem in place. After a lot of work just to get the old stuff detached (including a lot of pb blaster and my husbands muscles, I cleaned out the pipes with citric acid and a wire brush). Last night I was able to use the shower but the stems still spun - they weren't locking in the slot.
Today I went back to plumbing shop and tried to see if there was anything I was missing. They said the notch must go into the slot. (Since I can't get it in, do I try to sand down brass on the top of the stem??) But now today I put it all together and used a screwdriver to hold the stem in as much as possible (while it was cranked open) and screwed the cap on and thought it was all working.... as in the valves seemed to open and close when I turned the handles. but then I turned on the water now no water comes out of the tub faucet. there's plenty of water pressure elsewhere. I packed plumbers putty into the wall gaps around the pipes... that wouldn't cause a problem would it?
When I turn off the water and disassemble there is water pressure built up in whichever stem I loosen first. I appreciate any advice! Thanks