Output Stream of Consciousness

Okay, I too have one of these Waltec 12 taps. So what did you replace it with? Or put it another way, my shower goes hot to freezing in 3 seconds or less and then it scalds me. Please dont tell me its my water system, as my other shower works fine. By the way I did replace the hot water washer, & it only took 5 months before it dripped again, substantially less than the 28 years the factory installed washer lasted.

Hey there, Al. We replaced it with a Waltec 14F525 - that was actually our only option when we went looking. Fortunately, it assembles pretty much exactly like the Waltec 12.

I don’t know what would be causing your shower woes. I’ve encountered showers like that, and found it particularly odd that some of them are in the basement, where you wouldn’t normally expect pressure problems and the like. If you have somewhat uneven municipal water pressure, or you get it from a well, a low-flow shower head or minerals in the pipe can cause pretty bad swings like that. Not sure what else you can do apart from getting someone to diagnose any pressure problems you’ve got and/or shelling out for a thermostatic mixing valve or the cheaper, but less satisfactory (basically, it’s on or it’s off pressure-balanced shower valve).

I guess that’s the very small upside of us having a single bathroom in the place: less plumbing to go wrong.

Best of luck, Al :)

I hope it helps, Jac’y! I can’t tell you how long we tried to ignore our drippy faucet whilst muttering under our breath.

We couldn’t replace the nuts on ours, unfortunately, but the rest of the replacement went just fine. It’s been a month and a half, and no dripping! The only complaint I have about the 14F525 that we replaced it with is that it’s fairly sensitive… you can’t get good temperature control with a low amount of water unless you’re really dextrous (i.e. turning it a tiny bit gets you a lot of water)… but it’s just fine with the amount of water for a shower.

Please let us know how it goes! Fingers crossed for you :)

A million thank-you’s are in order.

My Waltec 12 had problems with the shower diverter where water was coming out both the faucet and shower head. I was very hesitant to tackle this possible repair/replacement job on my own, I was even thinking of bringing in a plumber. After seeing this article, I decided to do the job myself. This article was such a great help and guided me every step of the way. After removing the parts and inspecting the diverter, I decided to replace the entire component. Reason being, the replacement diverter was $20 and an entirely new faucet on cost me $88.

Once again, thanks a whole bunch and it was worth taking the chance to fix it myself.

I’m really glad it helped out, Mike!

Goodness knows why the 14F525 comes with no instructions (ours didn’t, either). It’s a good thing that it is such a straight-across replacement.

I wish they would do a little more with the design as well. It seems that your only other real option is with the full shower kits, but that looked at first glance to involve carving up your tile to put the shower in, and then filling back in the space that the Waltec 12 took up. As it stood, that was what we were going to do, albeit unhappily, but there turned out to be a defect in the parts for the kit, so we took it back and picked up the 525.

Thanks for a little bit of backstory and some information on the nuts. The 525 seems to come with nuts, and we were looking and tweaked a little to see whether the nuts would come off easily. I am glad now that we did not crank on them, or we could have had a major adventure on our hands.

Those spigots ended up in a lot of houses and, quite frankly, the trend of the past many years (at least up here) has been apartment-to-condo conversion, so a lot more people are going to be faced with these aging things.

Delta really could do a lot more with them if they wanted to. I was hoping for some sort of single-handle set-up to set the ideal running water temperature at, or maybe an antique-style spigot or some such. The 525 looks nice but feels a bit cheap with the silver plastic.

I wonder how widespread a frustration this is… :)

I eventually found a 14F525, it is still a commercial unit as was the Waltec 12. I have subsequently found out that the extreme hot/cold variance was due to the diverter and no cure would be found in simply replacing the washers. If you want to keep your old Waltec 12 unit until such time as you freeze/burn with a dead diverter you can stop the drips by not only replacing the O-rings, but by also replacing the seats. If you do not replace the seats, your tap is guaranteed to drip in 5 months. For those of you replacing the Waltec 12, keep the old shower head as the the new shower head which comes with the 14F525 is a mere dribble on your shoulder as compared to the old shower head. Be sure to thoroughly clean the old shower head in CLR or Oxyclean before reinstalling it. If you just compare the uncleaned old showerhead to the new showerhead, you will think I am pulling your leg. This also gets rid of the problem of poor control of the temperature when water pressure is low.
One more thing, if your Waltec 12 was plumbed for a tub-surround and you now have cermic tile, you will find the replacement to be a real tight fit. This will probably only become apparent when you try to attach the shower diverter knob and find you can not. What you have to do is tighten the brass nuts a little more without stripping them, and then finding a same thread but longer screw to attach the diverter knob. Be sure to insert a ferrule on the screw or the knob will feel loose but will bind with faucet and you cannot turn off the shower
Thank you Ritchie for your terrific notes on the replacement as well as the info on the 14F525.

I’m glad you finally figured out the trouble, Al, and thank you for posting on the diverter issue.

We didn’t know about the sad state of the 14F525’s shower heads, since part of our project was to install a shower head with a flexible hose and all that, so we didn’t even touch the shower head that came with the kit.

Thanks for the excellent feedback and further instructions for people, Al. We get a constant trickle of searches for the Waltec issue here, and if they are in the more dire straits that you describe, your tips will really help!

Your clear instructions made replacement of the Waltec 12 for the 4F525 extremely simple. Thing is, I did the replacement because the shower would not stop running even when the diverter is pushed in. Now, with the new unit installed, the diverter is still not working. Help?

Sounds like you have the opposite problem of a lot of folk. If someone has encountered this, they can perhaps respond, but I think you would have a lot more luck with a response over somewhere like Ridgid Forum’s “Ask The Plumbing Experts” forum.

This post is from the opposite problem you have, but it describes getting into the diverter pieces. I’ve seen the warning many times, though, “don’t remove the packing nut".

It’s also possible that there’s some sediment or other blockage. Some folks recommend cleaning things out with a bottle brush or just running the faucet without a diverter to see whether something comes out or whether you can tell there’s any blockage.

Probably be a whole before someone with some diverter mojo encounters us here, but if they do, I hope they can help.

Conversely, if you find the answer to your problem, please post it here :)

Thank you to all the contributors above.
With your sage advice, I have resurrected
my Waltec 12. I replaced the nicked seat
with a Moen MO128 (Waltec 16392) seat part
and the worn washer with a 1/4″ flat Bibb
washer from Master Plumber (ULN 616;
comes in a 6-pack). The parts were
purchased from Home Depot in Vancouver,
Canada. I did buy a faucet seat wrench
though. I thought about cheaping out
with a giant Allen key but $8.50 wasn’t
gonna break the bank. I do still have the
receipt, hmmm…..

Re: Dripping from a Waltec 12
To resurrect the shower portion why not just replace the 3 O-rings?
The Seats and the 9/16″ washers are a no brainer.

Hi, John Baldwin.
I found the Waltec 12 stuff at Amre Supply in Canada. Searching didn’t always bring up what I needed but the person who answered the phone - Shannon - was very helpful with answering my questions and giving me the stock numbers I needed to search for specific items. And, yes…they actually answer the phone there. In Canada, the toll-free is 1-800-387-3131.

Sure glad I stumbled onto this conversation. Thanks, everyone for answering all my questions and more about the Waltec 12.

the replacments for the Wealtec can be found in Home Depot.

I am having trouble finding a replacement for my bath/shower tub handles. I just replaced the hot water cartridge and now the handle won’t grip the cartridge because the old handle is stripped. The brand is Waltec and the taps say “Waltec 30′ on them. Is this available on the market anymore, and if not, how can I replace the taps so that a full faucet replacement (and with it the tub surround) is not required?

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without this article. I am a single mom with 8 kids and you just saved me hundreds of dollars. I was going to call a plumber but because of your instructions, I had no trouble replacing my old Waltec 12 faucet.

my waltec shower head 11/2 years old
is not functioning correctly. the
problem is when i pull the diverter
to switch to the shower head the
water continues to flow out of
the spout and the shower head at the same time. a plumber looked at it
but was not able to fix it. he is refusing to believe the diverter assembly needs to be replaced.
do you have any suggestions. please advise. thankyou kindly.

Hi there, I’m not sure if anyone is still watching this thread but I thought I’d post anyways.
I too have a (drippy) Waltec 12. I’m not very handy so I’m wondering if I can just change the cartridge or the washers if that’s even possible, forgive me for my ignorance!
In our bathroom the taps just stick out of the wall & we have a ceramic tile surround. We don’t have the skill to replace it or the money to have someone come in.
I’d like to change the handles & faucet but if I can just fix the drippiness I’d be thrilled!

I need hot & cold valves
for a Waltec 40 - tub/shower taps.

we have a waltec 12 in our tub shower combo wanted to replace rubber washers and found the seat on the hot water very rough, can not see how the seat is replacable appears to be a solid unit. Am i going to have the whole unit. Is there possibly a tool for regrinding the seat assembly any information would be appreciated. Ross

Thank you for reasearhing the replacement Waltec 14F525.
Is it possible to get it in a brushed nickle instead of chrome? Of course I have changed all of my other bathroom faucets over to that.

Hi guys,

Does anyone know the hot water cartridge part no. for the waltec 12? Would the cartridge for a 14F525 suffice? Any input is appreciated.

Thanks!

Millions of thanks !
Your sketches are more than good to follow

Thanks for the great diagram and all the follow up comments. I had a seat that had began to corrode, thinking I would have to replace the entire system until I saw the comment about the seat being removeable. Got out my Allen set and a 5/16 size later, had the bad part in my hand and off to Home Depot. Thanks again.

My Waltec 12 was eating flat washers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I had to replace the hot cartridge twice prior to today.

Finally took a trip to Homeless Depo and finally realized that I could repalce the seats. (What a thought!) So, new seats, a plumbing alan key, two new cartridges and some ring washers and home I went.

Where did all those chewed up flat washers go? Why to the diverter of course. I must have pulled enough rubber out of the diverter holes to make 6 washers. BUT, in removing the diverter, I destroyed one of the ring washers on the diverter.

I’m close… but not done just yet. YES, you can save some $$$ on DIY, just ask questions.

Thanks for the diagrams way, way above… Very accurate. Wish I had seen it before.

What tool do you need to replace the seat on a Waltec 12 shower unit?

I’m a 72 year old lady who has don DIY stuff before but was stumped until I saw your diagrams and instructions. Thanks very much.
From Vancouver Island

Waltec 12 . Taps had to be shut off very very tight. Replaced washers with 1/4R, and seems to be OK. However the diverter does leak, but I will live with that for now.

HELP….
I have the Waltec 12
Waltec 14F625-1 this the chrome body. My issue is the shower head I am getting more cold than hot, can’t seem to adjust it wondering if diverter is shot?, also when diverter is pulled still getting water out of taps. does this mean I need to replace??
It does look that hard I have replaced cartridges 2 in 8 yrs on it but wondering if it is time

How to install diverter?

Good morning I have a waltec12 tub spout, I replace my wall tiles and now I am finding I can not screw the chrome rings onto the silver face plate thats holds it tight to the wall, using it now with the rings but its hard to turn taps on for the binding on the face plate. Is there any way I person could cut down the face plate about a quarter of an inch and if so what would you use to cut the face plate, tried hacksaw but it just rides the face plate thanks rod

blog but still very useful, thank you for posting the information-couldn’t figure out how to remove faucet.

This entry might be almost 11 years old now, but I wanted you to know that it saved me today from having to call a plumber. The diverter valve on my Waltec 12 failed, but with these instructions, I was able to remove it and put on the replacement 14F525 myself. Thank you very much!

My Walter facet hot water seat keep cracke every three month I been replacing since 3year . Any advice or just keep replacing every 3 to 4 moth . Thanks .

I replaced the two cartridges on my Walter tub faucets. Hot and cold. Now when I turn the water on I have to turn the hot tap all the way open and my cold only a small turn. What did I do wrong?

the diverter went on our real old wallet tub and shower. I pulled the old diverter out, took it to eco pl/htg. and they gave me a duplicate. it will not do anything once I replaced it. can you tell me were I went wrong?

What a crazy world we live in - I was looking for information about how to fix the Waltec 12 faucet in the house I recently moved into and this is the blog I land on! Didn’t realize it until I got to the comments but now the detail of the directions is making a lot of sense :) Thanks for the tips Jade!

Of all the strange side things, Brian! 😅

There was just such a paucity of material on it, and so many of these old neighbourhoods have these old contractor-installed Waltec bits of hardware, it was crying out for just a straightforward explanation and some of my trademark horrible artwork.

I hope it helped!