Replacement for Tempress II Pressure Balancing Tub Shower Cartridge, Gerber Grohe

When a hot water pipe had frozen and burst behind the wall of our bathroom, a plumber disassembling the shower fixture to see if he could find the break. Well, he didn't find it, but once tampered with, our old Tempress II valve developed a persistent drip from the shower head. Within a few days, that slow drip turned into a trickle. Instead of calling the plumber to come back, I decided to troubleshoot the issue myself. First I checked to make sure the cartridge didn't get turned somehow, but that didn't solve the drip. Then I went to a local plumbing store and bought a Grohe OEM cartridge, which was three times as expensive as this one on Amazon. Wouldn't you know, the OEM part dripped too! I must have installed and reinstalled it 5 times before deciding it was faulty. Then I figured I'd take a chance on this less expensive alternative on Amazon and also get some genuine Grohe non-return valves (also available on Amazon, but they cost as much as this valve, which is mind blowing). Wouldn't you know... NO MORE DRIP! This cartridge worked! For those folks who haven't dealt with pressure balancing cartridges before... they can be fickle. Here are a few tips: Be sure the "O' rings on the side of the cartridge are perfectly in place and grease the heck out of them (grease is included, but the grease is a bit thin so I used the stuff that came with the Grohe non-return valves). Be sure the cartridge goes in perfectly straight and that the "O" rings on the sides don't get out of alignment when sliding the cartridge past the non-return valves (non-return valves are the white things inside the valve). Don't crank the cartridge too far OFF (counter clockwise if cold is on the right when cartridge is installed) to avoid damaging it (be sure to put in a stop... a stop is not included). If you still have a drip from the shower head or tub, try replacing the non-return valves and/or their rubber gaskets (grease those gaskets heavily too). Replace the gasket (gasket included) that goes on the inside of the valve cover and grease it generously (gasket prevents water from leaking out of the valve and behind the wall). And lastly, alternate tightening the 4 screws of the valve cover to get a good seal (don't crank one down at a time). I was so pleased that this inexpensive (at least relative to the OEM) cartridge did the trick on the first try! The instructions were clear, and the screw threads of the shaft even worked with our original fixture.

Dropped right into my Tempress II. I used the large o-ring for the square valve cover. I also used the tiny capsule of clear grease, which was plenty. The plastic thumbwheel for turning the splined shaft was very helpful. Fixed my shower drip. Cant comment on longevity yet, of course. Note that the pic of the cartridge is of the OLD cartridge. Looks the same, but still important to note.

These cartridges break rather easily and when they do the water flows through full throttle, so when I had my last one replaced I ordered this one ahead of time to prepare for the next breakdown. Unfortunately, that meant I would actually use it outside the warranty period. Too bad, because when I did, it leaked. Took me a while to figure out that (1) the O-ring on the Cold water port was missing. Further, after trying to replace it (I eventually got an O-ring to fit), I discovered (2) the port was slightly deformed - enough to allow a persistent drip. To top it off (3) there was no metal stop included. This stop is critical because the valve closes with a metal against plastic gear, so that without the metal stop to protect it, a hard crank of the knob to shut the water off will break the plastic gear and the cartridge.

My bathtub have been leaking constantly and I finally had to do something about it when the old Grohe shower cartridge broke during usage. I needed a replacement shower cartridge immediately, so I bought this replacement due to it arriving the next day compared to the OEM that will arrive in a week! The installation was fairly straight-forward and simple, where I just had to remove the face plate/shower handle, pull out the broken shower cartridge, put in the new shower cartridge, and put everything back together. It has been two months since I installed it when there have been no leakage at all. Definitely a faster shipment and a great cost-alternative compared to the OEM! Note: If you have extra lubricant/grease lying around, I would recommend you to use more than the small packet they shipped with the shower cartridge. It took me a few minutes of slowly nudging/pushing the cartridge in place because I didn't want to accidentally break it if I tried forcing it in.

Water dripping from my grohe faucet. Was very easy to install and water drip stopped. Been about 6 months and still working well

The shaft on this part was very slightly larger than the shaft on the cartridge I was replacing (a tempress II from the early 1990s). All the parts fit except for the brass mechanical stop clip. I ordered two replacement stop clips, a faucetshark-tempressclip and a sigma-18.30.058. One of them fit and one was too small. Unfortunately they were not labelled and were shipped together in a zip-lock. I'm not sure which one was the correct part. Took a few extra days, but worked out in the end.

My shower had been leaking for the longest time. I finally had the time to replace the cartridge this weekend and it appears the problem is fixed. The installation was mostly problem free. Here are some tips. 1) Take pictures as you disassemble. I lost 20 minutes trying to figure out which part goes back in first. 2) Use Sakrete concrete mortar dissolver if you want to remove some of the hard to remove water stains/scum inside the valve. I figure that you want the areas where the cold and hot water comes in to be as level as possible to get a tighter fit with the o-rings. 3) Before installation turn the cartridge stem/axle back and forth but be gentle at the fully closed and open positions. When I first installed the cartridge, I found it very difficult to turn. I thought it was broken. It just needed to be loosened up a bit.

Stem threading depth was to short for my application. I have a custom Tempress II cover and hardware. This includes a stem extender that is about 3 inches long. The screw in side the stem extender needed the exrta depth to fully mate the extender to the cartridge stem. YOU will NOT find a screw with that threading anywhere. You have to make what you have work. I opt'ed to buy a small plasic bushing that threaded onto the screw and cut it to length. (AKA a stack of washers). The plastic piece essentially made the screw shorted. You won't find a replacement stem screw, treat your's like gold.