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How to fix shower tap that popped off the wall?

Hey everyone. Apologies this might be a long read.

this morning my shower tap has popped off the wall and water came jetting out of the wall. It was the cold tap, which has had issues with water not working before, and when turned there was no water coming so I turned it a bit further and that’s when the whole tap popped off the wall and the water came from the wall like a jet hose stream. I shut off the water meter to the house, reattached the tap into the wall and turned it off. Turned the water meter back on, tried turning the shower tap on and the water came out fine and tap didn’t pop off. A red o ring also came out of the tap at the time and I’m not sure where it should reattach.

Does anyone have know if this could be a bigger issue that needs to be addressed or if it could just be a once off? Some googling has told me it could be a broken shower cartridge but thought best to ask here and get more opinions. Thank you guys!

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JacobZ

Hi @nickgold25,

A warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community and thank you for your question.

A broken or worn-out shower cartridge could be the cause, especially if the tap was stiff or had intermittent issues with water flow. When a cartridge fails, it can cause water pressure to build up unexpectedly, leading to a sudden release like you experienced. The O-ring might be part of the sealing mechanism around the cartridge and if it was seated incorrectly, it could be a contributing factor to the original issues.

If you can upload some images of the O-ring and where your shower head was attached, I'd be happy to offer some further guidance.

Let me know if you need assistance uploading images.

Jacob

nickgold25

Thank you @JacobZ
I have attached an image of the O ring, the tap from when it was out of the wall and the area it was attached to, as well as how the shower looks after I had put the tap back in. You may notice the cold tap sticks further out of the wall than the hot tap, that has been like that for a few months since the last time a plumber had worked on it. Hope these images are clear enough. Thank you for helping me out here, much appreciated!

JacobZ

Hi @nickgold25,

It looks like the plumber has replaced the tap spindle with a longer one and it was not screwed into place sufficiently so over time, rotation of the tap and water pressure have caused it to work its way out.

I imagine you may have worked out where things sit, but if not please see the below clarification.

The washer sits where I have circled below.

It compresses against the breech where I have circled below when the spindle is screwed in place.

You will likely need to remove the tap handle and cover plate then use a Craftright 6 Piece Tap Spanner Set to tighten the spindle back into the breech.

Let me know if you have any other questions or issues. I'm happy to help further if required.

Jacob

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