TL;DR: Moen confirmed they changed their 1222 cartridge in 2022 for “enhanced shower shock protection” which resulted in never having purely cold water go through it. It will always have a mix of hot water so you can never get a fully cold output in the cold position.

I have been struggling with my Moen faucet for months and months on end with 4 different replacement cartridges from Moen customer support and nobody was able to help me. My issue was that turning on from the 6 o clock to 5 o clock position I was getting lukewarm water, then in the 4 o clock position it was slightly cold, then in the 3:30 position it got hot. Tried turning cartridge upside down and everything and it didn’t work. Moen kept thinking it was the cartridge issue and sent 3 replacements and they all had the same issue so they sent a valve. I had to get a contractor to break our new tile to replace the valve and it still didn’t work. Then replaced with a brand new system and new valve and cartridge and still didn’t work. Wasted so much time and money. Moen claimed it was the installer’s fault, not the valve or cartridge that’s causing the issue.

Then I randomly pulled the cartridge from a super old version of the Moen faucet to test and that one worked completely fine. I emailed back Moen to tell them that it’s the cartridge causing the issue and only the newer ones, THEN they finally told me “yeah, we made changes to it in 2022”. See the attached email.

On one hand, finally feels good to know the reason. On the other hand, it sucks that they think this is an “enhancement” and think my lack of cold water is “perceived”. Mind you, the ground water temp here is really cold, not like I’m living in Texas or anything, so that’s BS. Basically Moen is saying “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature”.

If you want cold showers, don’t get a Moen product using the 1222 cartridge post-2022.

So I've got a couple of Moen single handle shower handles in my house. The one in the master bath works perfectly. The one in the hall bathroom worked perfectly for 6 years, and then stopped working back in 2018. I could get hot water by turning it all the way open, but slowly bringing the handle back would just turn the hot water off and cold water wouldn't come out until it was almost closed, and then a "clunk" and then cold water would come out. Adjusting for the right temperature wouldn't work either.

I went to Home Depot and purchased a replacement 1222 cartridge. This worked for just under a year, and then the same problem again. I bought another one, which lasted about 6 months. I contacted Moen, and they sent me a free replacement since it was less than a year old. This one lasted about 5 months, and today the problem is back again.

Any idea what's causing this problem? The exact same handle in the master bedroom has been flawless for 8 years, but in the other bathroom, I'm now on my 4th cartridge replacement in just 2 years.

Hi guys. Had to replace the shower cartridge because the valve wasn’t turning off the shower water.

My dad and I turned off the water line and replaced the cartridge. When the cartridge is in and the water line is one, there’s just tiny drops coming out the faucet. No matter how I spin the nob.

When the cartridge is taken out and the water line is on, the water is healthily spraying out of the pipe.

What are we doing wrong? Thanks!

Background: we have Navien tankless hot water and a dedicated hot water loop. (Not using the cold as part of the loop). Recently the master shower, with a Moen 1222 shower cartridge, started to get cooler water every couple of minutes. The shower might start at 117° and in six minutes it would be down to 97° (at this point, the handle is at the 9 o’clock position, indicating 100% hot water) I

replaced the cartridge, but the same thing happens. Interestingly, if we go to the sink in that bathroom and turn on the hot water, cold water comes out, but the shower starts to get hot as you would expect if everything was working normally.

When I replaced the cartridge, I did flush the valve.

When the shower is producing cooler and cooler water, if you go to any other faucet in the house, the hot water comes out at the expected temperature. Also, I have varied the testing by setting the Navien at 130°, 125°, and 120°. All temperatures produce the same results. I have called Moen for support, but they were not very helpful. I have also talked to a couple plumbers and they were not able to offer additional assistance.

Any suggestions as to what might be causing this would be sincerely appreciated!

Hey I'm installing a moen cartridge for the first time and having trouble with getting the retainer clip back in

I lightly toothbrushed the faucet with a mix of vinegar and water and let the water run thru to make sure the cartridge would go in all the way

But it seems like I don't have space to fit in the clip

It's supposed to go thru the slit part of the valve, right?

This is the same clip that was in with the old cartridge (also moen 1222), I unfortunately didn't take pics while removing parts

Should I cut the tile above? I feel like that's a bit extreme, but I think a plumber we had before knocked out a whole block in another shower, maybe because it was like this

Thanks for any advice and Happy Holidays !