Moen S3102 Smart Shower 2-Outlet Digital Thermostatic Shower Valve with 1/2" Connections

Because my shower isn't finished yet, this may be updated. I work for an aerospace contractor during the day and am a rogue home improvement fanatic at night. When it became apparent that my shower needed to be completely redone, I came across this and decided to take the plunge. I've picked up a few new skills. br>1) Don't trust your contractor's claim that the shower was built with standard framing. The valve is designed to fit between standard 16-on-center framing, which I didn't have in my shower wall. br>2) On the opposite side of the shower, you must have an access panel. I'm fortunate in that my shower and toilet closet walls are shared. I would have had to return this if it wasn't for the fact that it was. br>3) I was also fortunate in that one of the facilities guys at work agreed to run the electrical for me. I first contacted an electrician, who gave me a quote of $933 for the electrical work. It took about an hour to complete. I'd have had to pay a hefty price - paying full price - The supplies cost $30. For labor, the electrician demanded $900 per hour. I'm expecting dinner and flowers in addition to the electricity for that price. br>4) Something I discovered after I'd made a mistake I couldn't reverse - Standard PEX adapters sweated onto brass fittings are shown in the installation video - They are incorrect in their assumptions. Make use of the Sharkbite brand of push-ups. on the fittings You'll avoid a problem like the one I had with the retaining ring not fitting over the PEX adapter. I saw a review video using the Sharkbite fittings after I had it installed, and they didn't seem to have the same issue I did. br>br>I noticed I might update this review after installation because of an issue I encountered while testing. I hooked up the control panel and went over the initial setup once I had power. It wouldn't connect to my phone via the Moen app, which is required to unlock the shower's full functionality. Moen customer service was helpful, but their hours of operation are limited, so I had to hang up and return to work before we were able to resolve the issue. I'm going on a two-week vacation starting in a few days to finish the shower, and I'll be able to talk to them for as long as they need. I'm crossing all of my fingers. br>br>After completion, update: I borrowed an iPhone, which worked flawlessly during setup, and my Android app recognized the controller - once. However, the controller functions properly, and I am satisfied with it, though I will spend some time on the phone with Moen's technical support to at least try to get my phone to recognize it. br>br>Updated once more: The glitches with Android are resolved (no need to borrow an iPhone to set it up), the glitches with "water saving mode" are resolved, and Moen's customer service is outstanding: they stuck with the problem until it was fixed, and they contacted me several times during the process to assure me it was being done, and they contacted me again when it was fixed. My shower has been running smoothly for months.

Opal Shelton

| Nov 24, 2021

Okay, I purchased this to replace an older Moen control. The previous one had a wireless remote that turned on the shower when you pressed a button. EASY TO USE This item is both costly and useless, as well as inconvenient to use. It should be convenient, but Moen now requires you to control the shower with your smartphone in order to save money. (1) I now have to carry my cellphone upstairs to my bedroom and use it to activate my shower. (2) Because cell phones update and restart automatically, Moen logs me out, forcing me to re-enter the app just to shower - DUMBNESS. (3) Moen sent me a code to use when I forgot my password - Approximately 50 characters - ABSURD - all I wanted to do was turn on the water in my shower. br>br>Moen seems to have forgotten that a shower controller is supposed to be convenient, not inconvenient. I'm going to switch to manual valves once this one is gone. This technology has devolved into nonsense. It demonstrates how anyone can take technology and turn it into something useless.

Santino Anderson

| Mar 19, 2021

If you have finished walls on both sides of the shower, make an access panel or you'll have to tear out a large portion of your finished wall to replace this controller if it fails. I also added a nice trap door for access to the power cable, controller cable, and filters when I installed it. br>br>Aside from that, this system has been rock solid for me, with the internet connected feature (mostly time sync) only being down once or twice since I've owned it.

Nola Watkins

| Sep 14, 2021

I'll start by saying that before this shower, I was a huge Moen fan; I have Moen fixtures at home, my weekend house, and my place of business. br>br>I have had this shower for 4 years, the software is a little flaky but it has worked fine, integrated into Alexa, and so on. br>Two weeks ago this device stopped working, it has an error it is over temperature, (it was not as when you activated it just said the water was 125 degrees and shut down immediately. ) I went online and created a Moen ticket, as well as calling them. They put me on hold for three hours, and I eventually hung up. My ticket to them included a complete description of the issue with pictures, a copy of the receipt, and so on. 4 days later I got a coupon to purchase a Moen I declined and called again, this time the Moen phone system asked if I wanted a callback after 20 minutes, which I agreed to. I scheduled a callback because the earliest callback was 8 days away. br>br>At this point, my shower has been broken for over a week, and I don't want to upset my wife, so I ordered and installed a second shower valve. It worked for a while but then broke again, costing over $400 in parts. Then, eight days later, but two hours before my scheduled support call, I received an automated call. It was time for my support call, which I had scheduled in advance. They made me wait on hold for 42 minutes before getting me an agent. He said he couldn't help because home automation products were in a different department and I needed to be in a different queue. He promised I'd be first in line and the wait would be short, and I was. 1 hour 41 minutes later, I get an agent in the correct department. br>br>Now comes the fun part. br>br>This is a software update that went wrong, and it's a known issue that they caused. They had made a corporate decision to keep this quiet and not to publicize or document the issues because they did not want to impact sales. There is no fix, maybe in a week or two (they have contracted the embedded software to a third party (offshore)). br>At this point, I've waited 11 days for a response to the open web ticket (other than a coupon for a replacement part that costs $250 more than the street price), and I'm still having problems. It would have saved me time and money to replace the valve if they had bothered to inform me of the known problems. I could have avoided connecting the replacement valve to the internet if I had known it was a software update, and the new valve would have worked and been a less expensive alternative. br>br>All I can say is that Moen has no idea what customer service is all about, and their business practices are unethical. (hiding known issues) They have completely betrayed the public's trust in their brand. br>br>Even with the poor decision to keep the issue non-public, they have completely betrayed the public's trust in their brand. If they had known, they could have responded to my open support ticket with the information and saved me a lot of time and trouble. I will say the customer service agents were polite and professional, but this is a case of management gone bad, I have hours into this issue, no shower in my master bathroom, this is the last Moen product I will ever buy, and I strongly advise you to avoid anything with the Moen label on it. This isn't to mention that they're amateurs at remote device support, or that they don't have a way to roll back software versions, that they must do little or no testing, and that they apparently push new updates to the entire world at once and don't monitor issues. They were inundated with support calls. br>br>*** Update, 6 weeks later. I did receive a call from Moen customer service, who informed me that the software had been fixed and that I should connect the valve to the internet so that it would automatically update. They also offered to re-install the valve. Please pay me for the replacement valve (I now have a spare). The software has been updated, and the unit is now operational. The customer service representative who spoke with me was courteous and sympathetic to my situation, and the refund helped to alleviate the pain. I still hold them responsible for failing to post a known issue to their knowledge base, as well as the notion that waiting a week for a callback for a support issue is unreasonable (which is exacerbated by the fact that the data was not accessible online). I think I'm going to change my mind about Moen because the faucets I've tried have been excellent. This is a traditional company that is struggling in the world of technology and customer service, with management that has made poor decisions and has little or no interest in the brand's value.

Jane Dodson

| Feb 05, 2021