Fixing Aqualisa shower faucet

[fyj]

Hello,

I have an Aqualisa shower which recently started dripping. I think I need to get at the O-rings or cartridge, but I'm stuck at the first step of getting the handle cap off. I've attached a photo of the handle - I think I need to remove the round bit in the centre. However, it is very snugly fitted - I tried getting levering it off with the blade of a stanley knife, but to no avail. I just wondered has anyone here had experience with fixing this kind of shower tap and have any good ideas of how to get to the innards? I'm afraid I don't know any specific details about the shower, because it's the one that was installed when I moved in.

 

[robin7]

Looks like an AquaLisa 609, spares for which can be ordered from Shower Doctor. Here's a link to that model: http://www.showerdoc.com/aqualisa-aquavalve-609-thermostatic-and-409-manual-shower-spares

If memory serves me correctly, you need to pry out the sticky red & blue Aqualisa badge, revealing a bolt which must be loosesned in order to strip the valve. The exploded diagram in the link above should help.

 

[Felix247]

That looks just like my shower (though I can't confirm if its a 609). I had same problem of it leaking. You will almost certainly need a replacement thermostatic cartridge. They are easy to fit. You will need to remove the Aquilasa badge (its just stuck on) to get at the screw.
The rubber seal at the back of the shower body is tricky to remove (and to refit). I would try the new cartridge without replacing that seal first to see if that alone cures the leak.

 

[fyj]

Thanks very much. Yes, that looks like my model. Just a note for anyone else with a similar problem - to get the badge off, just tap it with a screwdriver on each side - behind one side there is a hole, so tapping it there makes that side dip into the hole and the other side pop out. It beats trying to lever the badge out like I tried at first...