Red button and housing stuck on shower mixer

usignuolo

Our bathroom shower mixer operates via a bar with on/off water pressure switch on the left (press in black button and rotate housing) and temperature control via a press in and rotate red button on the right.

Recently the red temperature button has become stuck and will not move. Nor can I rotate the housing round it to choose the temperature. It seems to be a fairly common problem in hard water areas when you leave the temperature at the same setting for any length of time.

Can anyone recommend a solution? (The shower is around 3 years old).

DaftyDuck

There's normally a small cap right on the end of the tap; it can be difficult to see under soap & limescale. Use a small screwdriver to lever it off. Beneath is a Philips screwhead. Undo, and the chrome handle will come off. Don't worry - no leaks; it's just the covering you are removing. Underneath are the metal controls. Try cleaning all the bits, remove the limescale and the soap crud (and worse!), reassemble, but don't put screw back in yet.

Any better?

Pull it off again, and gently squirt a little WD40 on the metal control. Now stick the chrome bit back, screw back in, and try it out.

If it's no better at all, then the limescale on the innards is causing the problem, and at that stage I'd replace the whole unit.

usignuolo

Thanks will try. Cannot face replacing whole unit as it is on some very expensive tiles not easily re-sourced. Thought it would last more than 3 years....does seem to be a common problem. Maybe the manufacturers should advise using it regularly in hard water areas to avoid the problem....

DaftyDuck

Bar mixer replacement won't affect the tiling behind at all. All you need replace is that bar bit, and the fit between the hot & cold through the tiles is fairly standard. Hopefully you won't need to go down that route, but it's a fairly easy DIY job that'd take under an hour with a bit of luck. In fact, with luck, it's a six-minute job for a competent DIYer. (Takes me an hour!)