I first tried pulling cartridge out with some pliers and it wouldn't budge. Next I tried the Moen puller tool and it worked great. Cartridge slowly came out as I rotated the large hex nut.

This tool made a difficult job a lot easier. The Moen shower cartridge I was replacing allowed cold water at full pressure and the hot water barely trickled. The old one was nearing 20 years of service and our water is very hard. It was time. I ordered all the parts needed and I added this tool as a "why not" thing. Well, once I shut off the water to the house and pulled the clip out, I saw a solid mineral build up inside. I used a screwdriver to scrape the minerals from around the old cartridge and tried to start pulling it out without the tool. That went nowhere fast, zero movement. I decided to try the tool and read the instructions. Seemed easy from reading. I set the tool up on the old cartridge and started to apply pressure. I was amazed when the cartridge started moving. Nothing beats good old slow and steady mechanical force. The puller got the old cartridge out just over halfway when the plastic cartridge shattered, leaving a bit still lodged in the valve body. I used a screwdriver to break away the remaining stuck cartridge. I ran a tubing cleaner into the valve body and removed the mineral build up that had locked the old cartridge in place. Once theinerals we're gone, I turned on the water very briefly and shut it off again. So glad I did this, as a few broken bits came out. Those broken bits could have ruined the new cartridge in short time. I then lubed the inside of the valve body with a very thin coating of silicone grease. I also applied grease to the seals on the new cartridge. I inserted the new cartridge into the valve body and struggled a little to get the retainer clip in. Finally got the clip seated with some wiggles and grunts and a pair of channel lock pliers. I turned the water back on and voilla! This tool saved me at least two hours of pulling and struggling to get the old cartridge out. If your cartridge hasn't been in this long, you will not have to deal with a broken cartridge to slow you down. I would recommend to friends, as my family will ask me to do this for them!!! Great product worth the cost.

Very good quality. Made of steel not plastic. Helped greatly with removing old cartridge.

Very useful to have as a service plumber

I've used this on two 1222 cartridges that were about 10 years old and I'd say they were stuck pretty good. This tool works if you know how to use it. Instructions on box are woefully inadequate, website is a little better, but doesn't provide necessary information to fully utilize this tools capabilities. The hex nut is a puller. Tabs on cartridge get in the way of the pulling action, snap them off to get full use of the tool. The tabs are more accessible after you turn hex nut 2 full rotations (per online instructions). Make sure you stop turning the hex nut when cartridge is fully seated into tool or risk breaking the cartridge (ref review diagram). Manually extract the cartridge the rest of the way with gentle twist, push, pull action. Use a small amount of WD-40 or silicone spray if necessary. Lightly use Scotch-Brite or emery cloth to thoroughly clean the inside of the valve. Flush and then wipe inside of valve dry with paper towel. Lube cartridge and inside of valve with supplied lubricant. Install new cartridge.

I hate working on plumbing. Hate doing it. But I do get a happy feeling when I do a plumbing project and it goes smoothly from start to finish. This tool was a big part of that. I went with the Moen tool instead of one of the less expensive off-brand ones. I just figured I would have less issues with one from the same company as the faucet I was attempting to fix.The faucet in question was one of the tub faucets - one that was originally installed some time in the early 1980's. It had a persistent leak. Has for years. It's a tub in the back bathrppm - and rarely gets used. So, out of sight out of mind. I recently put a bucket under it to see just how much water was being wasted. Yikes. So I reseached and discovered that this might be something I could deal with myself.Ordered a new core/cartridge, and this tool. Watched a bunch of videos online.Using this tool made all the difference in getting this 40 year old core out. Don't think I could have done it without it.Did have a few issues. At first I thought the screw that attaches to the core was too short. Didn't realize the faucet needed to be in the Open position with the core pulled out. Then I ran into the problem of the core still wouldn't pull out when I got to the end of the run on the turn nut. Solved that by using a pair of pliers as sort of a extension. The thickness of the pliers didn't add much, but it was enough to get the old core to the point I could wiggle it out.The new core/cartridge went in smoothly and reassemble was a snap. Total time - about half an hour from start to finish.If all my plumbing experiences were like this - I probably wouldn't hate doing plumbing.I have two more of these sort of tub/shower faucets and forsee changing out those cartridges in the near future.

Chunky Steel, not aluminum. Do a little research on how to properly use this tool for the specified applications and you cant go wrong. I’ve seen many people complaining about the screw being too short (pull the stem out first) or the screw snapping (screw is meant to hold tool in place, large nut is meant for removing core) moen should be more clear with instructions on both tool packaging and replacement valve core packaging but other than that its perfect. Great 25$ investment for homeowners.

The key is to keep slowly turning the nut which causes the cartridge to be pulled out.The key is to do it slowly to avoid any undue force that may cause any part of the cartridge to crack/break.If you are succeeding then you will know because when the cartridge is coming out you can see the top plastic part of the cartridge move away from the metal of the valve body(as seen more clearly when Big Al moves the nut back to reveal the cartridge has come out).Extra note to those out there that are newbies like me and this is the first time:Once the cartridge is coming out and you cannot turn the nut more (for me this happened at about half as far as it did for Big Al) then carefully hold the handle and with constant gentle pressure turn the handle left-right over and over slowly pulling at the same time to coax the cartridge out.If it is a newish cartridge and the previous installer put grease on it than this will be easier.If it is an extremely old cartridge made of metal then this may be more difficult.In my case, the original plumber didn't secure the valve tight enough to a wooden structure so the whole thing was moving in and out when I applied pressure, so I used a wrench applied to the metal valve body that sticks out of the wall and another set of hands to hold the wrench to stop the valve body from moving back and forth, both when I removed the cartridge and when I inserted it.Don't forget that once the new cartridge is inserted with the HC (hot cold indicating hot on left and cold on right) in the top position, to use pliers to turn the protruding gold metal post 180 to the right to close the water, so that when you turn on the water supply it does not come gushing out.The other problem I ran into was that one of the holes that the faceplate is to screw into on the valve body was blocked by my fiberglass shower cause the hole in the fiberglass was not made large enough by the original installer. I had to chip away carefully to remove the fiberglass so that when I affix the plate cover, I could get the screw in straight so it connects with the screw hole on the valve body to secure the face plate.Take a good look at the valve body with a flashlight before you attempt to install the faceplate. When the faceplate is put on straight, you will notice that the two holes to attach it are located on the top right and one on the bottom left. (diagonal to each other, weird !)You should see the same orientation of screw holes in your valve body in the wall.It was not easy to make the screws go into the holes in the valve body to screw the faceplate in because you can't see anything at this point cause the faceplate is blocking your view. That's why should should take a good look at the wholes in the valve body to help you orient the screws once the faceplate is placed .So you have to go by feel.Put the screw in as straight as possible then hold with your fingers and move it around until you feel it lands onto something solid then turn to screw it in a bit with your fingers and if it is in the hole in the valve body it will start feeling secure so you know its in and you can continue screwing it in now with a screw driver (Philips).Make sure to screw one screw a bit at a time and alternate between the two screws.You never want to screw one screw in all the way, both have to go in a bit at a time.Since my valve body was not well secured in the wall to a wooden structure, screwing the face plate in brought the valve body closer and closer to the wall of my fiberglass shower and this helped to make that valve body stable.If you have any worries about water leakage then turn your water on before putting the faceplate on, and after the cartridge is installed with the pin. (Please note the cartridge is well seated in the valve body when the plastic with the HC inscription is right up against the metal of the valve body.) Then you can look into the hole in the wall and observe if any water is leaking in the wall with the water on. There is a small chance that if a joint in the copper pipes was not soldered properly, originally, and you were rough with your install and made all the pipes clang back and forth during the install, a joint may crack and leak.So always check for water leakage in the wall by turning on the water supply and turning the cartridge post using pliers before adding the faceplate.It is recommended to add a thin bead of clear caulking around the faceplate at the point where it meets the wall to avoid water or humidity from entering into the wall.Hopes this helps the newbies like me !

Used to remove a cartridge from a single handle moen faucet and worked perfectly.The removal was quick and easy and the job was done fast.

It works well for removal of my sink cartridge

My shower cartridge recently broke down and this was my first time replacing it, or any for that matter. I bought this due to the fact that it would make the job supposedly easier.Although it performed its task as intended, I must admit paying $40+ for a specialty tool that I may or may not use again is a bit much.My suggestion would be to try and remove the shower cartridge with just the white plastic attachment tool included with the new shower cartridge to save that $40+. If your having trouble removing it, then buy one of these.

Solid construction, a nice tool to have when you're in need of it.