Q: I need parts for a shower faucet. It has no markings indicating the brand but it does have a patent number 3519018.
How do I find out who made it?
A:
As a person who does his own plumbing, the lack of part numbers drives me nuts too. And parts from one manufacturer are not compatible with those of other manufacturers. I feel your pain.
Your question is a tough one. The good news is that the patent was issued in 1970, so your shower faucet must be more recent than that, so replacement parts should still be around. The patent owned by Cole Valve Co. (not to be confused with Kohl), but it could have been licensed to any number of manufacturers.
For what it's forth, there are a number of plumbing parts on Amazon that have that patent number associated with it.
If your shower faucet is original (i.e., it was installed when the house was built), then it was likely manufactured by the same manufacturer as the rest of the house.
You can always take the part and pictures to a plumbing shop, and see if they can help you (I am talking about shops that professional plumbers use, not retail stores like Lowes or Home Depot).
Good luck!
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