Shower head drips after use, but stops 20 minutes later

[moondriver]

Hi Folks,

I have a problem with one of our showers. The home was built in 2015, and the shower fixtures are Delta Monitor. It was a second home until a year ago when we moved into it full time, so it hasn't been used much.

At my wife's request I bought and installed Waterpik hand held shower heads on hoses from Home Depot for both showers. They work fine, but six months ago one started dripping after taking a shower. It drips for about 15-20 minutes then stops. I tried leaving it hanging, resting on the floor of the shower, but it still drips for 15-20 minutes, then stops. So last week I bought a Glacier Bay replacement from Home Depot and installed it. Same exact thing happens.

I had thought that if it were something in the shower head/hose, this would fix it. I had also reasoned that if the valve or cartridge was leaking it would keep leaking, not stop.

Does anyone have experience with this kind of thing? I really need to fix it once and for all.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Twowaxhack]

It’s working fine. There’s no problem.

 

[moondriver]

Well, for years it didn’t drip. It never dripped after you shut the water off. Now it’s suddenly drips, and I mean a lot of water. And it makes a lot of noise. So I’m not quite sure it’s normal.

 

[moondriver]

I also have to say the other one doesn’t drip, and never has. So I would say that that one is normal, and the one I’m talking about isn’t.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Could be the slope of the shower arm compared to the other one shower arm.

If it consistently drips for 20 minutes and then stops then there is no plumbing problem.

You could check and make sure your thermal expansion tank/control is operating correctly if you have one, but I doubt that’s your issue.

Just like a water hose after you turn the water off, the shower head or handheld holds water and it drips out……

Sound reasonable ? I’ve seen this many times with shower heads and handheld showers.

Take everything off the shower arm pipe and see if it still drips out for 20 minutes.

 

[Twowaxhack]

I also find that customers like think their situation is special or different. Typically it’s not.

The faucets either dripping or it’s not.

Catch the water it drips out and measure it. Compare several collections and see if it’s consistent.

A malfunction wouldn’t be consistent.

 

[pakle]

I had a similar problem and got some good advice from the guys here but sadly it did not work out for me. As TWH says above, it's likely normal.
https://www.plumbingforums.com/threads/rainfall-showerhead-drips-hours-later.18941/I did not put in a valve which would probably completely eliminate the dripping. Good luck.

 

[moondriver]

Thanks to all you guys for your help. I guess we just live with it. It seems odd that it dripped for ten seconds and then stopped. What it does now, what I mean by dripping is a steady flow that makes a lot of noise and has to be much more than what's in the hose. I've taken to leaving the handle hanging straight down and letting it drip that way, but it's a fiberglass tub, and it still makes a lot of noise for up to half an hour.
Thanks for you responses!

 

[TomFOhio]

Maybe something is wrong with the cartridge in the faucet. Maybe somehow it is letting water get by and
then stopping. Put a genuine Delta cartridge in.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Check for thermal expansion

 

[Aggie83]

I have a monitor 17 that does this. When it does, it means that sediment from the well is blocking the valve. I shut the water off , take valve out and flush it, and it stops. ( This is temp quarters in the barn running off an ag well. When house is finished I will run water from new well)

 

[Steve_K2]

I shut the water off , take valve out and flush it, and it stops.

I'm not a plumber, but this sure seems to answer the question.