AboutDana Bostick Expertise Pretty much any residential plumbing questions. Note: I live and work in Southern California. We do not as a rule use boilers, hot water or steam heating systems or wells so my knowledge in those areas is limited. There are others here that can probably answer those questions better.
"We all is city folk" out here! What is a "well" LOL
Experience Licensed General Contractor with Plumbing, HVAC and Electrical sub-licenses
Question I have a showerhead that will start dripping on its own for no 'apparent' reason. The dripping will start slowly, and then speed up to 2 drops/second. Eventually (after a few minutes or so) the dripping will stop. The problem has existed for about 1 year, but only recently has the frequency increased to the point where I now want to try to address it. The bathroom is in the basement and has a toilet and sink. The hot water heater is just on the other side of the wall from the shower and sink. There is very limited access to the shower value from behind the shower wall.
The problem seems partially related to pressure buildup b/c if I turn on the water (cold and hot, both) in the sink and leave them running for about 5 seconds, then shut them off, the shower head stops leaking. I have not tried flushing the toilet to see if that would stop the dripping yet.
All hardware is Delta and is < 2 years old. The rough in was performed by a licensed plumber and I did the finish work, including moving the shower valve over to center it better on the shower wall. It was the first time I worked with a shower valve.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Answer Hi David,
First, all the parts to repair or rebuild the shower valve are accessible from the front, no need to access the back of the valve.
This "pressure build up" is probably caused by the expansion of water as it is heated in the water heater. The additional pressure is causing the shower valve to leak. It can also cause problems with other plumbing fixtures if not handled.
The cure it to have an expansion tank installed on the cold side of the water heater piping to absorb the excess expansion and eliminate the over pressure in the system.
