How to fix a Glacier Bay shower in 10 minutes! 

MVP: MOST VALUABLE PLUMBER. We’ve had lukewarm water in our shower for months. I had no idea that there was a knob you can adjust! Thank you!

What a fantastic walkthrough! I have never done any plumbing of that sort in my life and yet was able to follow it smoothly from start to finish and get the job done. Hats off!

Thanks for your instructional video. Have an old glacier bay that is probably 20 plus years old for my shower--your precise video saved me $$$ not having to hire a plumber!

Thank you so much for this video. I live with my mother who has already paid a plumber $70 to come over and tell her that her leak is due to the cartridge. He told her she had to order it herself, which she did. He was going to charge her another $70 on top of the $70 he already charged. That is, now, a total of over $200!!! Now I am about to attempt replacing the cartridge. I will, of course, have my phone in the shower with me. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!! I have subscribed so I have you handy for other repairs we may have to do.

Thank you for sharing that video with the RU-vid community! We do appreciate you taking that time to record, edit and share it. Just an additional tip for others who might see this video in the future, you don't have to shut off the water to the entire house to work on that type of valve. The two screws located on the left and right side of the cartridge are shut off valve themselves. However, If those two screws are not shutting the water off completely, shut off the water to the house and repair them as well as part of the overall work. Also, you could use two screw drivers along with the handle of that plier as a "spanner wrench" or a cheap ($5) adjustable spanner wrench from Harbor Freight to remove that threaded piece without risking damaging its threads. One final note, DO NOT forget to apply a bead of 100% silicone caulk around the valve plate that goes against the tile. That is a must!!! ;-)

This tub is absolutely ru-vid.comUgkxVoi3B4CB6Oygq1-vo4OTL1M_M5JkrXif . Great quality too. The perfect size for the space in our master bath!

Huge thank you for making this video! Relatively new homeowner here. Our shower was only hot and we narrowed it down to the cartridge. A plumber wanted to charge over $1000 to replace it which seemed outrageous. Your steps worked like a charm (especially appreciated the tip about not ripping up the threads) and we were only out $25 for the part on Amazon. You’re the best! 🎉

This was so helpful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t thank you enough! I was turning the boiler temperature up and just could not figure out why the water temperature was not rising in the shower...all solved thanks to you!!!!!!!

Thank you for taking the time to create and post this video! You made it easy to order the correct part by providing the part number (I agree that Home Depot should keep these in stock!), you explained the process clearly, and you made it easy to see what you were doing. Worked perfectly, and you just saved me a few hundred dollars on what a plumber had quoted me for a cartridge replacement house call. Thank you for paying it forward!!!

Thank you. This is the second time I've used your video to change out the Glacier Bay cartridge. Super helpful.

Thank you, your video was helpful. I have been having low pressure on both hot and cold water for the past several years and finally I got down to it and search for solutions and your video was to notch. I've made the change of the cartridge and everything works like new.

This video was so helpful! I just bought a house and I had to adjust the temperature for two of three showers in my home. Your video made it very easy to do..Thanks!

I also couldn't find the valve at Home Depot. Due to the fact that I am extremely inpatient, I decided to buy the entire Glacier Bay Shower Faucet kit. Shower valve is en route and home depot will get there kit back shortly. My valve was very stubborn when I would turn it, and it was hard to fine tune from hot to cold. The culprit was indeed the valve, but mineral deposits are to blame. Thanks for a great video.

This is just what I needed to see. The Remodelers installed the new one but the water wasn't getting hot like it used to. I will use this guide.

Spot on. But now for the root cause, and "the rest of the story". I recently bought older, but newly remodeled house (old pipes, new bathroom fixtures). Found cold water only in shower, just like this video. The cartridge was dated just 4 months old at failure time, so I wondered why so quick, and I was very skeptical of the situation, not wanting to buy new cartridge if some other cold water pressure problem was what was really wrong. Nightmares of needing costly replacement cold water line and tearing out tiles?. To make long story short I found that the new cartridge had rust accumulated in the internal metallic pressure equalizing piston/cylinder. (I had broken it open to discover this). My suspicion is that rust freezes that equalizing piston. I hammered the piston loose, cleaned and re-istalled it even though plastic casing latch broken, reassembled and everything works fine, mixing cold and hot properly. If plastic cartridge is otherwise intact, other than the latching catch, it seems to reassemble within the metallic cover shroud and no leak is detected. The frozen cylinder explains why some might fail only hot, and others only cold. It is simple a matter of which side the piston falls on when it freezes from rust. I also suspect that this is much more likey to happen on seldom (or never) used shower which allows the rust to grow without breaking the small deposits that would form while sitting idle. I am not sure Glacier Bay is any lower quality than others, just that this rusting issue can indeed explain many problems in failure of the hot (or cold) mixing. I was thrilled not to have to replace pipes and redo tile in shower. Thanks for the inspiration to tackle this, I hope those who are as mystified and skeptical as I was will find hope yet. Repair done for 0$ although many hours fretting until figured out.

Glacier Bay has a lifetime guarantee. If you call their customer service number, they will ship a replacement cartridge at no charge.

Super super helpful. I'll never understand thumbs down on a video like this but why dwell on that? Much thanks.

A big thank you! Your easy instructions made my Sunday headache go away in snap and I became a hero to my wife. My master shower now has desired hot water. Cheers.

At 4:15 here's a tip: To remove that chrome piece, don't use those big pliers, use needle nose pliers, but not to grip... Put the two points of the needle nose pliers on the INSIDE, against two of the little "vanes". Hold the pliers OPEN and twist. (again, you're not gripping anything, just using them as a "fork".) It's a way of getting leverage to get it started, and then it will hand-loosen. You can also do this to tighten.

Thanks for the closeups while disassembling and reassembling. More useful than any information available from Home Depot for this extremely common store brand builder-grade "single handle tub faucet shower kit".

You saved me! My shower was luke warm because the heat control was installed on medium. Thank you thank you for making this video

Helped me greatly in adjusting my temperature

Thanks for the video! Saved me from taking it apart and having to wait a couple days to order a new cartridge

Thank you. You showed beginning to end. We had hardly any hot water after our landlord replaced the unit. I'm not a cold shower person at all. Appreciate your video!

Thanks so much for the video. After a power outage I sweaer the hot temp was lower than before, but then I tried my other outlets and they were hotter, so after a little googling I found your video. Thanks for taking the time to upload it. It made my day, now I can take a boiling out shower again!

Thank you SO much! My wife and I just bought our first house and have had a slew of issues with all kinds of things, including this. It was super easy to follow and got something that wasn't working correctly working perfectly at no cost to us! Thank you!!!!

Kick butt dude. Thanks for showing the part with its number. Save me from having to open it up first and keeping the shower out of service while I get the part. UPDATE: Mine was different after all. There's 2 versions of this style valve, shower only and tub/shower. Mine ended up being tub/shower even though it is only installed with a shower head. So I guess one can only be sure to get the right part by opening it up.

Excellent HOW-TO video! You answered all my questions! without unnecessary background explanations of every single step. Informational and concise. Thank you!

Thank You for posting, finally fixed the shower that was not getting hot enough.

Thank you! This is great! Trying to remove the cartridge off a new one and I don't see that on the instructions. Also we were debating over breaking the wall to have enough room for the black plastic component that Glacier Bay calls plaster guard, and we see it's not installed in your house. That gives us confidence to use some other method to keep the whole thing in place instead of the plaster guard.

Omg you are a life saver!!!! This was sooooo helpful and easy to do! I have hot water again lol!

Awesome! You saved me SOOOO much time and frustration here is San Diego. Thanks!

Thanks so much for the video I just bought my first home and was able to fix the water temperature not to my satisfaction on my own with the help of your video felt completely empowered! And then showed my 11 yr old daughter had to do it.

Found your video after I was done. Wish I seen it first.lol...ty!

Thanks for this how to video. Just saved me like $400 on a plumber bill

Big, thanks for the video save me some money on replacing the whole valve

OMG, this was SOOOOO very helpful!!!! Thank you so much for posting it!!!!! I had been adjusting my hot water temperature so that I could take a shower, always wondering why I couldn't get any cold water! And a "contractor" I asked to help me with it, seemed to think that the shower had just been installed incorrectly. Again, mahalo! It was VERY EASY to do, and now I can have a range of temperatures to choose from. Amazing. Utterly amazing. : )

I'm on my second one... hard water here... Great video.

Thank you for sharing. I can finally have a hot shower in my new place.

Thx for the simple video. Hardest part was finding the replacement part. The big boxes don’t carry them. ACE can order the ACE equivalent for the Glacier Bay cartridge tho, FYI

Dude just saved me $300. Hot water at the sink. Lukewarm in the shower. Just needed to adjust the little red thingy. Hot showah now!!

Thanks for the part number just ordered it off of amazon. mine has become very hard to turn

Thank you for THIS. I’ll get a friend to assist me with replacing my cartridge; I know a plumber would be too costly! It’s CRAZY that Home Depot doesn’t carry the replacement parts for an item they sell.

You’re a lifesaver! Thanks!! All the other videos on RU-vid had different types of faucets and were terrible tutorials to begin with. Yours is very thorough and didn’t skip steps. I was mainly looking at how to make my water hotter and this was the video! Thanks! You mentioned your from Texas, so I just assume all Texans are cowboys fans so GO COWBOYS!!

Thanks for the great video! On my shower there is almost no hot water. Hopefully Home Depot here has the cartridge but probably not. I guess I will be ordering the cartridge also.

How do I give this video 10 likes?? I wasn't getting enough hot water and heard the hot water selector thing and BINGO, fixed my problem

Great assistance. Saves me $$$. God Bless you always!

Clean the brass mating surface inside the valve body BEFORE installing the new cartridge making sure there are no burrs or mineral deposits and then give it a thin film of facet grease peior ro installing new cartridge. The last thing you want is to damage the new seals.

Just shut the water off AT THE SHOWER VALVE! That's what the slotted screws are for on the left and right sides of the valve body.

I had the same model but it would only turn 90 degrees instead of 180 degrees. Removing the handle, cover, sleeve, and unscrewing the screw just enough to adjust the hot water limiter worked for me.

Just wanted to thank you for doing this video. It was exactly what I needed. Thank you, thank you!!

I agree, it is infuriating that HomeDepot does not have the replacement valve in stock!!! I would have missed that arrow when reinstalling the stem. Thanks for the help!!

Thank you your video helped me out saved some money

Great video. Esp about not avail at Hm Dep which was my experience also. So I got the part number on your video, from Amazon, and it worked fine.

Thank you for this video. VERY helpful

Very helpful instructions, thank you much.

Thank you very much! Just what I needed!

My Glacier Bay goes off, cold, hot, off as you rotate it. I’m used to Moen valves that just go off, cold, hot. Is this normal behavior for this brand or is my valve trashed?

Exactly what I needed. Thanks man.

THANKS! 👍

Nice job

Many thanks for an excellent video. Since temperature control is inside, does that mean I can not control temperature using the exterior handle ? thanks !!!!

Thank you so much. 🎉

Great informative video

Great demo(very good ) thank you

What happens if you replace it and it still leaks?

Great video going to try. Mine is a few weeks old but my hot water suddenly got colder. Going to inspect it

Opening both screws allows hot and cold water to flow. However not sure if these screws should open a batch or entirely. Maybe opening to entirely might make the screw come out and it might fall between the wall. Or maybe when full open it then stops from unscrewed any longer.

Are those stops inside the wall on either side of the cartridge that you can close to turn off the water to the valve? They would save you from having to turn off the water at the street valve.

Awesome video, and very helpful!

Thank you bro you were helpful just ordered one from Amazon

HUGE HELP! Thank you!

saw somewhere else that you should use a towel with the pliers to avoid scratching

This is super helpful. Thank you. At 4:12 you begin to remove the part which his keeping the cartridge in and use your pliers before unscrewing with your hand. The problem I am encountering is that I didn't see you use your pliers and in the video it's loose enough to use your hand to remove it. When I try too loosen it with my pliers first, the piece doesn't loosen and turns the "bonnet" behind it so I'm never able to turn it with my hand. I'm beginning to think we have a slightly different model (even though everything looks exactly the same). Did you have trouble loosening it with pliers? The video seems to skip that part. Thanks for the info, Paul

I need to do exactly the same! good job!

Thanks very much @T & Ash! Question for you, how to remove the housing just outside of the cartridge, the one has thread on it. I tried everything but it wouldn't budge at all. Thanks in advance.

I will try it tomorrow and text back, thanks for you lesson

Appreciate the video, I now know how to remove and replace the cartridge. My problem is a little different. I have hot and cold that's it nothing in between. Any suggestions? I'm not finding much online.

Got the link for the parts on amazon.

I have the right size alan wrench but I cant find the head of the nut to unscrew. Any suggestions?

Why does mine look so much different? I don't have that metal piece with the center screw mine is bronze... Was the previous one installed incorrectly?

Thanks T & Ash !

“How to replace cartridge in 10 minutes!” Fixed your tile.

Have any tips for getting the faucet handle loose? I spent over an hour with an allen wrench and it's just wiggly, not loose enough to pull off. I've got the exact same model as in the video.

For the life of me I cannot get this flipping handle off. Tried the 7/64 Allen. Tried just about everything. Can't seem to loosen the screw... Consider myself quite handy as well so a little dumbfounded by this first step

I believe I have the same Glacier Bay shower lever as in your video. My issue is not temperature. The lever has become VERY difficult to turn. Possibly calcium buildup. Will replacing the cartridge fix that issue?

Thank you.

hi i have an old shower with hl-40-4.25 glacier bay cartridge, all parts are lost....i am looking for bonnet to hold the cartridge could you help me pls thank you

Just fucking saved $240 by fixing the temperature regulator myself. TY :)

I’m having issues getting the cartridge to fully sit. Getting small leak when I reconnect. Frustrating!

Thanks you.very helpful video

Thanks buddy

I thought the temperature control 2ould take care of that issue but it seems like it was more of a complicated issue.

What exact GB model handle/faucet did you use? I just purchased a brand new cartridge like this, and GB tub faucet, and the handle doesn't fit the cartridge Long piece! It's too thick

THANK YOU!!!

I have this same shower trim by Glacier bay. I wanted to change the trim to Chrome, but all the Glacier bay handles now are not for square valves. Do you know the name of this series trim? Thanks!

I notice the old cartridge was made November 10 2016 and you are having to replace it in December of 2018. It sounds like we will all be repeating this process in the future.

Do you happen to know if the bit (long & skinny) you had that went on the tooth end of the cartridge comes with the shower handle or was that sold separately? I have had so much trouble looking for a handle that will go right on that cartridge but none have adapters wide enough to fit.

can you tell me what model is that? i can't find the faucet model to buy a new set

Any tips on if the hex wrench isn't getting to that screw underneath the valve? I tried the 7/64th size as you had mentioned, even went one size up/down etc and still no luck on getting it to bite.