Heritage Dorchester Deck Bath Shower Mixer lever loose?

[morrfio]

Hello. The lever which allows me to switch from shower spray to bath filler tap feels very loose and does not seem to engage when I move it from one side to the other such that I only get the filler tap working and I cannot get anything through the shower head (so cannot wash my hair). All I can see externally is a hexagonal nut (?) on the front of the mixer at the bottom end of the lever but it has a shallow head and is shiny chrome so I do not want to have a go at it with a spanner as I will probably scratch it if I actually manage to get a grip of it.

I was recently charged £120 by a local plumber to replace the flush mechanism in my wee Ideal Standard close coupled cistern and so I am scared stiff of getting a plumber in to look at this. Sorry

 

[tackleburger]

It will be the nut but you may find internaly an oring has split or worn hence the loose feeling. It is an easy job I use a old piece of inner tube and grips to undo chrome fittings. £120 for a new flush valve is unreasonable if it was straight forward I'd say £55 EX Vat and you would have got a fluidmaster valve unless you had to get the Ideal one due to lush button size but have always used the fluid master on Ideal Standard without a problem. An extra £15 and I'd have done the fill valve as well.

 

[morrfio]

Thank you tackleburger; I have an old inner tube used to protect my car roof when I put the roofbars on so I will try that. Silly question, and I think I know the answer... I switch the water off at the mains before touching it don't I?

Yes, it was a generic £14 unit he replaced in the cistern... c'est la vie

 

[tackleburger]

No need to turn water off as log as the taps are of nothing with happen.