Gain the power to fix your shower in about an hour.
Shower faucets have different inner components to control water flow. Some shower faucets feature a cartridge with valves that turn right or left to allow water through, while others have a ball assembly that does the same thing. If your ball shower faucet leaks and needs fixing, the procedure to repair it is much like that to fix a cartridge-style faucet with a few small differences. Both repairs take up about an hour and require no special plumbing skills.
Instructions
1. Shut your water off by closing the main water valve near the water heater and open the shower by turning the handle on.
2. Take off the handle of the shower by loosening the set screw securing it to the shower pipe. This is found under the handle lever and sometimes it is beneath a small cap. Take off the cap before you loosen the screw with an Allen wrench.
3. Pull out the entire ball cartridge by hand or use a pair of pliers if the cartridge does not budge. Some shower heads have retaining rings, or a round nut around the faucet head. Remove the retaining ring and the nut with pliers first if your shower has them.
4. Install a new, matching ball cartridge assembly inside of the faucet to replace the old one. Replace the clip or retaining nut and then reattach the handle and install the set screw with the Allen wrench.
