Shower Faucet Replacement

[Seth]

Steve, <BR> <BR>after doing a search for information pertaining to the replacement of the shower and vanity faucets I was pleased to come across the information you posted in a previous thread. The details of your work with the photos were of great help. I'm currently in California while my boat is in Gautemala and I have two leaky faucets to replace. Your photos and comments have made it so easy to put my shopping list together, so I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to post it when you did. <BR> <BR>I do have a follow up question. While it appears that the installation for the vanity faucet was pretty straight forward there are a couple of things I don't remember reading about the shower faucet. <BR> <BR>Did you end up using an off the counter adapter for the 1" to 1/2" shower hose or did you have an adapter custom made? <BR> <BR>I looked the .pdf file for the Moen faucet you used, it appears to have the standard threaded tubes. How the heck did you end up connecting the pipes to the faucet? Was any modification required or was off the shelf parts used? <BR> <BR>I'm trying to make sure that I have all the parts needed before heading back to my boat, finding plumbing parts in the middle of the jungle can be quite impossible... <BR> <BR>Thanks again, you feedback is appreciated, <BR> <BR>Damon <BR>s/v Bruadair <BR>1984 HC33 #58

[Anonymous]

When I saw the post on the shower faucet it prompted me to mention a product that my wife recently found and I ordered but have yet to install and try. While in the middle of a major refit of my whole boat which has entailed major glass work both external and internal which in turn has gotten a lot of fiberglass dust throughout the boat I decided to take care of a project in the shower that I have wanted to do as well. The tile in my shower is starting to go bad with some tiles having come loose and quite a bit of black mould starting to grow in some of the cracks around others. This lead Janet and I to decide to just go ahead and remove all the tile and the teak on the seat and glass the whole inside of the shower to make it easier to keep clean. Being the optimist that I have a tendency to be, I reasoned that I could do this without much more effort than it would take to fix the tile. <BR>As part of this project I wanted to take care of a few other things about the shower that have been annoying to me. The main one is the constant changing of the temperature while showering that occurs with the cycling of the pump and thus the varying pressure. I have one of those Groco bladder type volume tanks in the system because I like to keep the pump cycling to a minimum but with that comes a long cycle between pump starts and stops and thus an exaggerated effect of the hot and cold water mixing. Janet did the research and was able to locate a

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that Mike. Is Sigmar, the people that supplied your calorifier the same Sigmar who makes the drip feed diesel cabin heaters? I was unaware that they made calorifiers much less a mixing valve. I guess since I have already paid about 300 US for the shower valve that I just bought plus my calorifier (which I have a 12V element in and for which I have added 2- 75 watt solar panels) is already in place I will give it a try. I would imagine that the Sigmar valve could be fitted to other calorifiers as well as the Sigmar and your testimony that it works makes that a good solution. To me this is annoying because a hot shower that is comfortable is one of the great luxuries that I really enjoy on a boat but have yet to fully attain on this one. By the way how did you make out with changing or repairing your forward stainless water tank? <BR>Chuck

[Anonymous]

Guys, <BR> <BR>Can we please keep the threads on topic and start new threads for new topics?

[Anonymous]

<b>Damon</b>, <BR> <BR>I'm certain I answered you but it seems my post was lost... <BR> <BR>I had to have an adapter fabricated to accomplish the same function as the one HC had used as my premise for the installation was the same as theirs, to adapt a sink faucet to the shower for the economy of space both in the shower and in the locker. <BR> <BR>I have tried to keep my improvments to the yacht as simple as possible and this is reflected in the choices for galley and sink faucet replacement as well... <BR> <BR>Off the shelf parts were used to attach the copper tubes. There are a couple ways to do it. It is difficult to describe, but if you take the faucet into a plumbing or hardware store (or just get another ne in your hands...) I think you will discover a couple options. <BR> <BR>The two challenges are to turn 90 degrees and to fit the pipe. <BR> <BR>You can thread on a 90 (though it will be a pipe to straight thread, I think that can be made water tight...) that will accept the 1/2 copper. <BR> <BR>I'll try and photo the two options I have. <BR> <BR>I have not installed it yet... <BR> <BR>Best, Steve

[Seth]

Steve, <BR> <BR>Thanks for reply. It is a bit more challenging when I don't have my boat and faucet right in front of me but the information you provided in this post and your original post are invaluable. If you get a chance to share the photos of your two option it would be appreciated. <BR> <BR>thanks again, <BR> <BR>damon

[Anonymous]

Damon, <BR> <BR>You can use a std. config. faucet from the store to test alternatives. Having the boat nearby really did benefit the project much. <BR> <BR>Photos coming...

[Anonymous]

Damon, <BR> <BR>Here's one solution: Adapt the back of the faucet from 1/2" to 3/8" using a "Reducing Coupling" (that will be a pipe thread going over a std. thread...) then use a 1/2" x 3/8" Elbow - Compression to MPT. This will require finding a way to make the straight thread to pipe thread water tight, but I've a feeling thread sealant and torque will do that. <BR> <BR>Refer to post: <a href="http://hanschristian.org/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=2&post=536#POST536" target="_blank">http://hanschristian.org/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=2&post=536#POST536</a> <BR> <BR>And these photos: <BR><img src="http://hanschristian.org/discus/messages/2/1319.jpg" alt="HC33T original shower faucet back"> <BR>This is the original installation that I am trying to duplicate. I question how the 90s were attached. Could it be that the interior of the faucet pipes were threaded? <BR> <BR><img src="http://hanschristian.org/discus/messages/2/1320.jpg" alt="HC33T Shower faucet adapters boxed"> <img src="http://hanschristian.org/discus/messages/2/1321.jpg" alt="HC33T Shower faucet adapters assy"> <BR>In this last photo the two adapters are assembled. In the lower left is the part that threads to the faucet. In the upper right is the part that accepts the existing copper tube. (Of course the part is oriented 90 from the installation angle for the purposes of the photo.) <BR> <BR>Another method might be to form the 90 from copper tube. Attach the 90 tube to the faucet as you would normally (as under the vanity or galley) and use a coupling to attach the bitter end of the 90 copper to the bitter end of the existing copper (which will have to be shortened). I have not investigated this. <BR> <BR>I hope this helps. <BR> <BR>Other's comments and suggestions are welcome. <BR> <BR>Best, Steve

[Anonymous]

Mike, <BR> <BR>In the last photo the joint is the same 3/8" thread. These two pieces were just temporarily assembled for the photo. <BR> <BR>The exposed end with the larger (1/2" thread) will thread up to the faucet but it's pipe and the faucet is not, though I think I can make it work... <BR> <BR>I'm looking for a better solution... <BR> <BR>Any ideas?

[Anonymous]

Mike, I was thinking of just that... The desired thread would be the pipe thread I think... in terms of preventing leaks... <BR> <BR>So I was thinking of running a pipe thread die (those must exist?) over the faucet's pipes so that the adapter fits better. <BR> <BR>Yes, the pitch of the threads appear to be identical. They thread up now...