Recently, I fixed a shower. Two actually; they are side by side and both were suffering from the same problem – a fused cartridge in the diverter. These showers are at the vacation home of a family member, which my wife and I were staying at for the weekend, and have never functioned properly. All the necessary replacement parts had been acquired but never had anyone take the time to install them. Although I consider myself handy, not being a plumber, and never having worked on anything similar, I had very little knowledge about how to replace a fused cartridge, but I was determined to make it happen.

Here’s a bare-bones picture of the faucet I was working on. The top portion is the diverter and the silver-colored piece protruding from it is the cartridge which had to be replaced.

Most showers have a faucet which turns the water on and lets the user adjust the water temperature to taste. I say most because while I lived in Peru I experienced a different kind of shower, one that often doesn’t follow conventional thought. Shower systems with two or more shower heads have an additional step in the piping, a diverter, that allows the user to switch to one, the other, or both heads. In the case of my showers, the diverter cartridges were both stuck in a position where both shower head were on whenever the shower was turned on. This was probably due to hard water buildup.

I expanded my very rudimentary understanding of shower systems by a parts catalogue and detailed diagrams of all the parts and how they fit together. I studied these along with the rest of the information accompanying the replacement parts; admittedly, I comprehended very little of what they all meant. I began my repair by removing the faucet and diverter handles – this part I knew how to do – and then entered into the next typical step in fixing (or breaking) something that I know very little about – removing all visible screws, nuts, bolts, clips, and other fasteners until something comes loose, at which point, remove the loose object and continue to strip away all other peripheral parts. Along the way I try to make a mental note of where each piece comes from and occasionally use my phone to snap a few quick photos of the more complicated things. Having previously studied the faucet’s diagrams my comprehension swelled as I saw how each part fit and worked together.

The first shower faucet was a work of analysis – taking everything apart and studying each piece, learning how it is built and adding to a new mental well of knowledge to draw upon for future use. I soon arrived at the part in the diverter that needed replacement. Thankfully, very smart people engineered the diverter cartridge to be removed and replaced without having to remove the entire unit and re-solder it back in to place. My only challenge here was figuring out how to remove it. Try as I might, it would not budge, and, for fear of breaking something, I would not force it with my usual vigor. I looked at the manual several more times, rechecked that I had removed the clip and all other parts that may secure it. As I was unable to locate anything else that might be preventing its removal I attempted again to remove the cartridge. In retrospect I’m sure that the same hard water build up that was preventing the inner workings of the diverter from moving was also keeping it firmly in place. Eventually, twisting, tugging and oodles of continuous pulling freed it from its housing.

I studied the workings of the parts and synthesized a plan to reassemble them back together, effectively repairing the faucet to working order. With considerable effort I fit the new cartridge into place, first assuring that everything was oriented correctly. From there, I reversed my steps, pausing to evaluate the placement and tightness of each additional piece; judging whether future pieces would fit properly in their respective residences. Of course I made mistakes, but each piece properly placed meant one step closer to a completed whole, both for the shower as well as for my learning. I finished the last piece, replaced the cover and handles and tested the shower. Mission accomplished.

Having learned a considerable amount from my encounter with the first shower, the reparations of the second went rather swiftly, with few glitches. This was due to the learning that took place by gaining literal knowledge and then thinking critically about what makes a faucet function. Breaking it down, putting it back together and evaluating my work was the golden road to this success as well as future undertakings of similar ventures.