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Liberty Grohe 34436 Shower Valve Leak
A couple trips ago I noticed a couple slow drips of water from a hole in the floor above the street side water bay. I feared a shower pan leak, or some plumbing leak behind the shower that would require tearing up the trim behind the shower wall. I temporarily just made a habit of turning off pump when not using it until I found time to diagnose and fix.
Fast foward to the present, while here in arid Arizona I decide to look behind the shower valve cover plate to see if leak was coming from the valve. Indeed it was, and the water was running down the back side of the shower wall to the floor and dripping into the bay.
I contacted Liberty was advised it is a Grohe 34436 model valve. I ordered a new “washer” kit and cartridge on Amazon. Links below as well as image of what this particular valve looks like. It seems many coaches of my vintage have this same valve.
Incidentally on my floor plan the mirror in the alcove of the “make-up” table is held on with two Southco latches like the ones on cabinet drawers and will pull off with a suction cup or some strong tape. Gives open access to the back side of the shower valve if you have to take it out for repair or replacement.
Valve cartridge:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/
product/B002ZLPTYY/ref=ppx_yo_ dt_b_search_asin_title?ie= UTF8&psc=1 “Washer kit” – actually appears to be mostly o-rings:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/
product/B00ET5E3XC/ref=ppx_yo_ dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie= UTF8&psc=1 Will install the parts when get back home and find some time.
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4 Replies
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Great info! Thank you for sharing! Happy Thanksgiving!
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While you’re behind the walls digging into the plumbing, take a minute and give each of the plastic fittings a modest turn. I found a number of ours had very, very slow drips and an 1/8th or 1/4 turn solved the problem. Be careful NOT to over tighten and crack them (ask me how I know). Maybe some of the plumbers in the group will tell us what the expected life of those fittings is.
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I would be scared to tighten those grey plastic fittings as I’ve had several crack on their own. While I’ve found the plastic tubing Liberty used to be very durable, whenever I’m working in a general area of plumbing, I replace the plastic fittings with brass compression.
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I expect to replace the fitting on the tubing at some point, maybe the tubing as well.
I had good luck finger tightening the fittings; an eighth or quarter of a turn stopped the one or two leaks I had. Then an eighth of a turn on the rest using very little pressure. Some were “tight enough” and didn’t move.
I had to replace the fitting for the ice maker because it had cracked. I found the same fittings that liberty used in 1999 at the local hardware store and they had a special wrench for the fitting! I bought it. Used it to tighten. Cracked the second fitting with the wrench and had to replace … so that was the end of using the wrench. Too much leverage. Maybe the fittings get brittle over time.
Tighten cautiously!
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