The Shower Valve Showdown

We are planning on closing the cabin every winter and spending our winters in Tucson.  Our usual modus operandi is to drain all the pipes, and not to heat the cabin in the winter.  That requires that every pipe drain to the lowest point in the system.  We do have occasional mishaps.  We discovered when we built the addition to the old cabin, that one-handled pressure balancing shower valves cannot be drained, and they freeze and crack.  This caused a huge mess when we turned the water on in the spring and there was water spraying out of the broken valve running down the inside of the wall until we located the problem.  Now we have to disassemble the valve and remove the cartridge every winter when we close up.

Pressure-balancing valves are one of the great advances in plumbing of the last few decades.  Before, when there was a drop in pressure on the cold water side, you suddenly got more hot water and less cold water, leading to sudden scalding.  They are now used almost exclusively in new construction, in fact it is very difficult to buy a non-pressure balancing shower valve anymore.  National building codes require use of pressure-balancing shower valves in new construction. 

Therein lies the problem.  We are being told that we have to have  pressure-balancing valves installed in our new cabin, which we know are going to freeze and break the first year.  We are told that we will have to use a compressed air purge system,  which I don't trust, and is a huge hassle.  We are fighting to be allowed to use a non-pressure-balancing valve.  I managed to find one at a local plumbing store and was told it is a Chinese rip-off of an old Delta faucet design.  Very simple - you lift the handle up to turn on the water, left for hot and right for cold.  That's exactly what we need.  My wife doesn't like to mess with 2 handled valves and they aren't allowed either by building codes.

I decided to put a Chinese Delta to the test, to have ammunition to fight this.  This is not a trivial matter.  The shower valves have to be nailed or screwed to the studs before the shower is installed, and you can't go back and change them, at least without tearing out the whole shower!  Here's what I did.  I screwed the valve into a 4X4 post in the usual orientation, and hooked up a water supply to the valve.  Then I turned on the water to let water flow through the valve.  Everything worked as intended.  Then I turned the water off, and disconnected the water supply to mimic draining the system.  Being careful not to tip the valve, I carefully put it into position in the back of the upright freezer, to simulate conditions it would be exposed to in the winter.  After a day, I removed the frozen valve and let it thaw.  Then I reinstalled it on the post, and hooked up the water supply.  It came though with flying colors!  No cracks, no drips.

With this information, I can now go to the Building department and demand they let me use the non-pressure balancing valve.  What is at stake here is our personal freedoms.  What business is it of theirs what we do in the privacy of our own showers!  Fellow Americans, rise up!  Let's fight the liberals and Socialists who would deprive us of our basic personal freedoms!

One last thing - I'm putting everybody on notice.  No flushing of the toilet while I'm taking a shower!!