Review on Danco 46004 REPLACEMENT HANDLE Chrome by Terry West

I love and hate these handles - that's my opinion. The handles have some weight and they are nice - they were exactly what I was looking for in terms of look and feel. The installation and parts were a nightmare but I'm hoping to help anyone encountering the same issues I had installing as I couldn't find a suitable alternative anywhere else. Starting with the hardware, the grips come with three screw caps. One for cold, hot and flow direction (anti-shower faucet) when you use it for a three-handle bath faucet. The cases are of good quality and look great. They have o-rings that are tight and fit well. You also get handle screws - they are very long and almost always need to be trimmed to fit. More on that later. You will receive a set of plastic adapters designed to attach to the valve head to allow the handle to snap into place as the handle is turned. In my experience the valve head was too small (see picture) so they were useless to me. The valve cap (the thing with the silver tube) looks well made and goes well with the grip. Installation. This part was challenging to say the least. . Since I couldn't find another working product or a conversion kit for the smaller valve head, I had to get creative. The first problem was that the silver tubing was too short to cover the valve assembly. My solution was to cut off the end of the silver tube with the handle - the one that connects to the handle - and drill a hole in its place so the valve head can stick out instead so it connects nicely to the existing metal tube. .The second problem is getting the handle onto the valve head without slipping and/or being off center. I could glue the grips directly to the valve head with some epoxy paste, but that would be a disaster if I ever had to take them off again. I solved this problem in the following way: 1) I covered the valve head with plastic wrap 2) put epoxy putty in the hole in the handle and onto the plastic wrapped valve head 3) Pressed the valve head against the handle, allowed it to dry, and removed it then. This created a smaller, tight-fitting hole in the handle that fits snugly into the valve head. The second task was to attach the handle to the valve head. I went to the local hardware store and bought some set screws. I then drilled holes in the sides of each handle on the half where the valve head went (try to center it). Then I slowly turned the set screw back and forth until a thread formed in the hole and the screw tightened without much resistance. This allowed me to "lock" the button securely onto the valve head (epoxy isn't strong enough to do it on its own). I positioned the set screw so it wasn't visible when turning the handle - and voila - the handles fit snugly and are secured. The third problem was that one of the included screws matched the threads on the valve head but was too long. I got around this by taking my trusty wire cutters (not basic, so the big, sturdy ones) to cut them to length, and then using a file to narrow the end so as not to damage the threads in the valve head will. Wow. - it was a LOT of work, but the finished product looks so good I'm not even mad. I will say that this was no trivial task, so proceed at your own risk.