# Disassemble this faucet?



## Kevan (Jul 5, 2010)

Anybody recognize this one? The stopper has Santec on it, so I expect the faucet is Santec. You see the "Cold" tab lying by the valve and a threaded ring.

One would think that taking the ring off would allow the handle to come up off the cartridge stem, but the male threads actually appear to be too large to let the handle come up. I can't get the handle to move at all.

Somebody enlighten me. :confused1:


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

Should just be a screw under that cap you removed to get the handle off. Either that or small set screws on the back side of the handle. Then the escutcheon should unscrew from the valve body to access the cartridge. It looks to me to be this faucet. They are probably made in the same factory. http://www.jaclo.com/products/detail?pid=1391


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## Nathan901 (Feb 11, 2012)

Or one of those handle nubs unscrews


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## Kevan (Jul 5, 2010)

The usual suspects aren't panning out. There is no screw slot (Allen, Phillips, or flathead) under the cap, nor is there a screw visible anywhere else. If I'm right about the male threads being too large to allow the handle to slip off, finding a screw inside one of the nubs would be useless.

It seems that the removable ring would have no purpose unless it was to keep the handle down. I wondered if the handle might actually unscrew over those male threads, but I got no encouragement when I torqued it counterclockwise.

My hope is that somebody has seen this puzzle before, or maybe some similar marvel of Santec engineering, and knows a secret the rest of us don't. :detective:


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

Seen them plenty. Go to the link that I posted. Download the instruction manual.


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

I'm 99.999% sure this is what you are dealing with.


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

Did you try posting 2 pics in your original post? Only one is showing up for me.


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

I'm kind of thinking the ring isn't normally supposed to unscrew from the cap, maybe the male threads still poking up are the rest of the cap that the ring screws onto to hold the ceramic cold button in place. Try to lightly pry up on the threads to see if it is the rest of the cap being held in by an o-ring.


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

If it isn't the normal screw under the cap or set screws you can see, the other remote possibility is that the nubs do unscrew like Nathan said and give you access to set screws.

Or, maybe the screw under the cap has already been removed by someone before you and now the handle is just corroded to the stem.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

That ring on top is just to hold the indicator button on the handle. Should be a screw down inside the handle that holds the handle to the stem.

Or use a dremel and cut it out and replace.


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## Kevan (Jul 5, 2010)

Yeah, it's gotta be in the nubs and those male threads, as Tommy said, must be only for the cap. Under the cap is solid metal -- rusty, but I scraped the rust with a knife and just kept hitting more metal.

Everything about the assembly above and below the sink looks ordinary, so I doubt that they've employed some spring-loaded-push-button-whizz-bang-computerized-and-metric-sized handle release system. The nubs didn't want to turn for me, but maybe I can head back over there and talk 'em into it.


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

chonkie said:


> I'm kind of thinking the ring isn't normally supposed to unscrew from the cap, maybe the male threads still poking up are the rest of the cap that the ring screws onto to hold the ceramic cold button in place. Try to lightly pry up on the threads to see if it is the rest of the cap being held in by an o-ring.


After thinking about it a little more and thinking of all the different brands of this style that i have personally installed, and trust me, I've probably seen more different styles of trim than most on here. Not bragging, letting you know that I'm not talking out of my arse.

I'm willing to bet that you need to pry on those threads that you keep worrying about to get the rest of the cap out and then you will see the screw that Tommy and I are both talking about.

I'm 100% sure there are no set screws under the nubs. I'm 100% that there isn't a crazy engineered way of attachment.


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## Kevan (Jul 5, 2010)

chonkie said:


> I'm willing to bet that you need to pry on those threads that you keep worrying about to get the rest of the cap out and then you will see the screw that Tommy and I are both talking about.
> 
> I'm 100% sure there are no set screws under the nubs. I'm 100% that there isn't a crazy engineered way of attachment.


100% is pretty impressive. I'll give it a try. Thanks.


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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

Perhaps the whole handle assembly is one piece and screws on and off as such. Try taking a stap wrench to the handle eschuteon.


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## KoleckeINC (Oct 22, 2011)

I agree with plumbus, rubber strap and channel locks(electric tape the jaws) may remove it. But try removing one of those nubs first...


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## Kevan (Jul 5, 2010)

Went back today: total failure. Customer will purchase a replacement and call me back. :surrender:

I began by following chonkie's suggestion and prying up under the male threads: no motion whatsoever.

Each of the four nubs had a little play in them, left to right, but no amount of cajoling got them to rotate any further, even with penetrating oil. Despite copious windings of electrical tape, I managed to mar the chrome. 

The escutcheon wouldn't budge, so I pulled the whole valve and examined it. The escutcheon was threaded onto the valve body in the expected way with no connection to the handle.

After I install the new one, you can bet I'm gonna dissect the old one. :nuke:


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## Steveking (May 16, 2014)

Handle should pull up wiggle it


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## Hillside (Jan 22, 2010)

Sometimes I take apart the opposite side that usually is in better shape to get an idea of how things come apart on the unfamiliar ones


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## KoleckeINC (Oct 22, 2011)

See the problem is you have to use the rubber strap WITH the channel locks. Next time will be easy.


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## Nathan901 (Feb 11, 2012)

My money is on the handle just being stuck on the stem. 

A handle puller is a handy tool, and can be used for a few different things.


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## Kevan (Jul 5, 2010)

Hillside said:


> Sometimes I take apart the opposite side that usually is in better shape to get an idea of how things come apart on the unfamiliar ones


I did that; it provided no new info.

I appreciate everyone's thoughts. They helped to confirm my own suspicions, namely, that I had exhausted the possible ideas 

Customer intends to buy a replacement this weekend. I expect a call soon and will pull the problem faucet. Then I'm gonna rip that sucker to pieces and find out where I went wrong. I'll post the results here.

It's _gotta_ be a set screw :wallbash:under a handle nub ....


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## dclarke (Dec 22, 2012)

What I do so I don't mar the finish and has worked well in the past. Take off your belt if it's leather. Use channel locks on the belt. The leather is enough cushion and grips really well. You won't scratch a thing. Moen tech support taught me that.


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## dclarke (Dec 22, 2012)

Btw my guess is the escutcheon and handle come off as one unit.


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

Ok, some parts of your story don't add up ... 

1. In this quote, you said you pulled the whole valve, which you made seem like you pulled the one that you were trying to work on. Ok, so the only way you could pull the whole valve out to check it out would be to remove the handle and escutcheon ... see where I'm going with this ...



Kevan said:


> The escutcheon wouldn't budge, so I pulled the whole valve and examined it. The escutcheon was threaded onto the valve body in the expected way with no connection to the handle.




2. Hillside made a great suggestion of disassembling the other side to see how it goes together. You stated you did that ... ok, so how after taking the other side apart, can you not have the info you need on how to take the defective side apart?

3. If the HO knows exactly what faucet they have to order a new one, why didn't you just contact the manufacturer and ask them?

4. You won't have to rip apart the old one because when you install the new one you will see where you went wrong.



Kevan said:


> I did that; it provided no new info.
> 
> I appreciate everyone's thoughts. They helped to confirm my own suspicions, namely, that I had exhausted the possible ideas
> 
> ...


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## Kevan (Jul 5, 2010)

chonkie said:


> Ok, some parts of your story don't add up ...
> 
> 1. In this quote, you said you pulled the whole valve, which you made seem like you pulled the one that you were trying to work on. Ok, so the only way you could pull the whole valve out to check it out would be to remove the handle and escutcheon ... see where I'm going with this ...


I disconnected the supplies underneath and removed the nut & washers, allowing me to lift the assembly off the deck.


> 2. Hillside made a great suggestion of disassembling the other side to see how it goes together. You stated you did that ... ok, so how after taking the other side apart, can you not have the info you need on how to take the defective side apart?


I got as far on the other valve as I got on the first one. I found the second one no easier to learn anything from.


> 3. If the HO knows exactly what faucet they have to order a new one, why didn't you just contact the manufacturer and ask them?


He's not buying a new one like his present one, he's just buying a new one -- some plain ol' widespread faucet from Home Cheapo.


> 4. You won't have to rip apart the old one because when you install the new one you will see where you went wrong.


I'll begin by twisting the nubs out of the handle. The next move, if needed, will be to Sawzall through the handle vertically to determine what holds it on.


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## KoleckeINC (Oct 22, 2011)

Send it to me and we'll skype on how to take it apart. J\K.


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## Kevan (Jul 5, 2010)

Update: customer has been preoccupied and unable to buy the replacement so far. I expect to hear back in a few days.


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## HOMER (Jun 5, 2011)

Could just be a press fit handle with a nylon(plastic) broach adapter holding the handle to the stem
sort of like a Grohe


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## Hillside (Jan 22, 2010)

Mighta called someone else to replace the stem by now


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## Kevan (Jul 5, 2010)

Hillside said:


> Mighta called someone else to replace the stem by now


I wondered the same and texted him last Thursday. His reply: "Yes, but we haven't purchased one yet. Hopefully we can take care of that this week." Haven't heard from him this week, though.


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## Kevan (Jul 5, 2010)

I texted him again tonight and was told he's going to be gone for two weeks and will call me back after that. Oh, well . . .


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