I have an old Kohler "Centura" single-handle bathtub faucet. Not surprising for a 23-year-old faucet with daily use, it is dripping. I found a repair kit for the thing, and installed it yesterday. The leak is no better. When I had the faucet apart, I did notice that the brass valve bore had chunks of scale in it. I don't know if a smooth bore is required for this faucet to not leak. I admit I have no idea how this faucet actually works.

We plan on renovating this bathroom in a few months, so I REALLY don't want to replace the faucet right now.

Here is a picture of the kit: http://doityourself.com/store/u176076.htm and page six of the following PDF has a full diagram of the faucet assembly: http://www.plumbingspecialties.com/downloads/Kohler.pdf

The part with the scale in it would be the core of the faucet (just below 22 on the diagram, with the supply lines that feed into it) doesn't even have a part number since that is pretty much the core of the faucet and not really replaceable as a field part.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

SirWired

 

I guess the most important question is: Is this rebuild kit an OEM rebuild kit straight from Kohler? If it isn't, this could be the problem.

The calcium buildup needs to be removed from the assembly; these particles can float around and cause problems if the debri gets into the workings of the faucet.

 

Unfortunately, Kohler no longer makes parts for this faucet, at least I can't find them in the current on-line parts catalog. The parts catalog at the store classified this as a "Bradley Group" faucet, but I honestly don't know where to find genuine Bradely/Briggs parts for this particular faucet either (it's a 23-year-old house). The kit I ended up using was a Home Depot special, from Danco.

Oh, and what would be a good way to clean out that scale? I was thinking a toothbrush and Lime-Away... I am afraid a brass wire brush would just scar up the valve bore and make it seal even worse.

SirWired

 

Well, I called Kohler and got a full parts list via fax. Turns out Kohler does carry the parts via their website, they just don't make them easy to find and the search is broken. Ordered, should be here in a week. Here's to hoping...

SirWired

 

Cool beans! I'm sure the new replacement parts will rectify the problem.

As for the issue of calcium buildup, I would use a small nylon parts brush with the use of lime-away to clean it.

 

Yup, the official Kohler parts did the trick. While I didn't pull the caliper out to test my theory, my guess is that the cam that came with the generic kit was manufactured to poor tolerances (the bottom and top half did not appear to line up, and there was a separation burr on part of it). I think this caused a poor seal between the flexible cam sleeve and the cartridge inner seals.

I just fished the old cam out of the trash (it did not appear to be worn, just coated in old rubber goo), and put the whole mess back together, with the new Kohler parts. (The Kohler repair kit did not come with a new cam.) Problem solved.

I have now learned two valuable lessons...

1) No generic plumbing repair parts.
2) Don't order anything from Homedepot.com While the prices on the genuine Kohler parts were fair, the online order status was useless, and hold times on the phone were over an hour just to find out if the things had shipped yet. Had I known what a PITA it was going to be, I would have just paid extra to order the parts direct from Kohler.

SirWired

 

SirWired - One thing I learned a long time ago - I deal directly with the manufacturer whenever I can. Going through a middleman (like HD) can be maddening.