How do I remove mineral build-up inside a 2-piece faucet diverter?

On an older 2-piece Ella fast-fill faucet, a diverter button that sticks or moves stiffly is usually mineral build-up inside the valve rather than a failed part. The fix Ella technical support suggests is to remove the escutcheon, take out the entire diverter valve, soak it in rubbing alcohol or a descaler such as CLR to dissolve the residue, and reinstall it. Before you pick up a tool, rule out an air lock, which also holds the button down but clears in seconds. The full family of diverter fixes and replacements is in Water Comes Out of the Wrong Outlet or Will Not Switch Back: Diverter Valves, a Stuck 2-Piece Button and Replacements.

Step One: Make Sure It Is Scale and Not an Air Lock

Two different things hold a 2-piece diverter button down, and only one of them needs descaling. The first is an air lock. When the 2-piece faucet is used with the hand shower, in rare instances the diverter button becomes stuck in the closed position after the water is turned off. The video on this page shows the whole fix: unscrew the hose from the handset, remove the small plastic restrictor from the end of the hose, watch the button snap back up on its own, then screw the hose back onto the handset. Nothing on the faucet is taken apart and no part is needed. A related quick check is to turn the water off completely with the handle, wait a moment, and turn it back on; on most tubs the flow returns to the spout and the diverter responds again.

The second cause is mineral build-up inside the valve, which is what hard water does to an older 2-piece diverter over time. The tell is the feel of the button. An air-locked button pops back the moment the restrictor comes out. A scaled button is stiff or sticky, may need pliers to pull it out, and keeps sticking after the air lock trick. If that describes your faucet, continue to the descaling steps. The quick fixes and the difference between the two are also laid out in Why Won't the Diverter Switch to the Hand Shower?.

Descaling the 2-Piece Diverter Valve

1. Shut off the hot and cold water supplies to the faucet at the shut-off valves near the tub. The same rule applies to any cartridge work, and the cartridge replacement guide explains where those valves should be.
2. Remove the escutcheon that covers the diverter.
3. Take out the entire diverter valve. The suggestion from the team is to remove the whole valve rather than trying to clean the button in place.
4. Soak the valve in rubbing alcohol or a descaler such as CLR, leaving it long enough for the solution to dissolve the mineral residue.
5. Reinstall the valve and the escutcheon, restore the water supplies, and test. Turn the water on, press the button and confirm the water switches to the hand shower, then turn the water off and on again and confirm the button releases and the flow returns to the spout.

Hard water is behind most of these, and an inline filter on the supply slows the build-up down. If the faucet lever itself has also become stiff, or the faucet drips when it is off, that is the cartridge rather than the diverter; the 2-piece faucet uses a serviceable 40 mm high-flow cartridge that is swapped from the deck with a 3 mm Allen wrench, and the steps are in the cartridge guide linked above.

Check the Hand Shower Head for the Same Scale

The water that scaled the diverter passed through the hand shower too, so a weak or uneven spray after a diverter repair usually comes from scale at the head. Unscrew the sprayer head from the hose, remove the small plastic restrictor from the hose end, rinse the restrictor and the head clean, and check the spray face. Reassemble with the restrictor back in place. To confirm the head was the restriction, run the bare hose into the tub for a few seconds with the head off; strong flow means the head was the problem, weak flow means the restriction is upstream at the hose or the diverter. While the hose is off, look along its full length for kinks or a crushed section and confirm the conical end is at the sprayer and the hex nut end is at the deck. Remember that the hand shower is limited to 1.9 gallons per minute by design, so it will never match the fast-fill spout, but it should give a firm, even spray with 5 flow settings. The full sequence is in Why Does My Hand Shower Have No Pressure?.

If the Button Still Sticks After the Soak

A valve that still sticks after a descaling soak, lets water out of both the spout and the hand shower at once, or will not hold its position has worn, and the complete valve is the stock replacement. Send a photo of the valve and your faucet and the team will match the part. Two notes for other faucets: the descaling suggestion is specific to the older 2-piece button. On the 5-piece faucet the diverter is the middle lever between the red and blue handles, and when it flows from both outlets or will not hold, the complete valve is replaced; one port is standard thread and the other reverse thread, so the hoses only fit one way. A thermostatic faucet on a chrome deck plate has two diverter valves, one marked with a spout diagram and one with a sprayer diagram, so note which one you need. What Is a Hand Shower Diverter on a Walk-In Tub? shows the diverter on each faucet style. For a ticket, have your model, serial number, a photo of the faucet and the diverter, and a short description of what the button does ready at ellasbubbles.com/support, or call your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850.

Watch: Ellas Bubbles: Two Piece Faucet Airlock Issue with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Faucet Cartridge Burst and Spraying Water: Shutting It Down and Getting Replacement Hot and Cold Valves
• 5-Piece Faucet: Water Keeps Flowing With the Valve Off, Low Pressure, Handle Replacements and Finish Options
• Temperature Control Valve (TCV) Stuck or Not Mixing: Cleaning the Cartridge and Replacing the Valve

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