GP500520 Pressure Balancing Unit Cartridge Replacement, Compatible With Kohler Shower Cartridge, Kohler Shower Valve, Rite-Temp Bath and Shower 1/2" Single Handle valves 1pcs

After installing, the valve leaked. Turns out it had nothing to do with the replacement cartridge. After much on line searching, I found the valve housing was corroded where the main o-ring seals. There was scaling and green corrosion on the brass housing causing a rough surface and a leak at the o-ring seal. I used a light acid solution to remove most of the corrosion and scale then I used 800, 1000, 3000, 5000, 7000 and 10,000 grit wet paper to polish the surface. Added a little silicon grease to the o-ring and valve surface, reassembled and the leak was gone. The unit functions perfectly. I would not be surprised if some of the "leaking" problems reported by others were not due to this issue.Also, I disassembled the failed pressure cartridge out of curiosity and found the internal pressure diaphragm was completely rotted away causing random mixing and unstable/unpredictable temperatures. This failure also caused the nearby bathroom sink to have hot water coming from the cold faucet! That was a very bizarre and confusing symptom.Hope this helps someone.

I used it and quality good. It is working. No need to return at all.

With a little knowledge of plumbing anyone can replace this cartridge. Shipping was fast and the price was right. However, the gaskets that were included did not fit the unit. I had to use the o rings from the old unit on the new one. So far, there are no leaks.

Figured i would try this since the OEM Kohler one wouldn't ship as fast. This unit is every-bit the same quality. I have these in all my showers with zero issues

Came on time this product fit perfectly and fixed my hot water, mixing problem.

I bought this to have on reserve in case I needed to replace my current one. Today was the day I had to replace it and not only did the washers not fit, it leaked worse than the one I replaced.Installation was very difficult because of the mismatched parts. And the quality is completely missing. I now have to leave my water off to go find a genuine part that will work.

In the picture you can see that there is a black molding issue inside the temperature balancer around the left balancing piston. This cut the hot water flow to half compared to cold water. So hot water took a lot longer to arrive and half flow created irritating noise for others in the house. Could not use the updated Kohler replacement because of their new oval shaped rear washer design in combination with the small machined inlet faces on our 26 year old unit. So very glad this 3rd party unit was available and that I had ordered spares. Before changing consider watching youtube "Stuck Kohler Pressure Balancing Valve" along with others.

If youre here and looking at this. yes it does perfectly match the kohler rite temp shower