Sunday, October 04, 2015

Fixing a Hans Grohe Thermostatic Shower Valve

A couple years ago we had a Hans Grohe thermostatic shower valve and trim installed during a bathroom remodel. These valves are excellent at keeping temperature while in shower, even when other users in the house turn on hot or cold water.


Over time, however, the temperature handle started to loose friction and moved by itself, which turned an enjoyable shower experience into an annoyance. In early September I contacted Hans Grohe technical support for advice. After they got the exact part numbers from me (04226000 "thermostatic trim", and 01850181 "rough i-box") they sent out replacement parts no questions asked.

Today I finally installed the replacement parts. First I removed the handle and pulled off the trim. Yes, we have hard water...

The top of the thermostatic cartridge
Pulling off the trim should be easy, though for a little while I wasn't sure if I was doing this right. It's just pushed on top of the cartridge, but sat quite tight in the base trim. Nevertheless, with some care it came out with no problems.

Old and new trim pieces. Notice the extra ring in the new trim.
After turning off the water, I replaced the thermostatic cartridge, and installed the new trim.

Old and new cartridges
New cartridge and trim installed. There's an additional washer to provide more friction for the handle.
And everything put back together
Bottom-line: This was a pretty easy maintenance, and I'm very happy that Hans Grohe support was so easy to work with.

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