Review on Hansgrohe 1850181 iBox Universal Plus with Service Stops - ¾" Upgrade, 4-Inch Required Rough - 01850181 (3/4-Inch) by Jon Thompson

This was an old bathtub retrofit. I was concerned that I would have to redo much of the copper wiring. I was also concerned that there would not be enough room in my wall since my house doesn't have 2x4 studs but uses 2x3. My tub tubing is 1/2" in diameter, so I used 1/2" copper fittings and 3/4" MPT fittings. Although the manual recommended sockets, I felt this was the best solution. An even better solution would be to use the simple replacement seats but couldn't find them at the local hardware store.The iBox takes up about the same footprint as my old valve and I only had to replace small segments of the copper tubing up to the first 90° bend.The iBox stuck out about halfway between the min and max marks in front of the bathroom tile, and I was able to center it perfectly in the existing hole without repositioning the pipes.The iBox's face was about an inch smaller than my previous valve, but the rosette on the iBox is about 1/8 larger than the hole in the tile so I would call it a perfect fit.I filled the gap around the green plastic shield and tile with stretchable, closed cellular foam, then using a vibrating tool cut the foam and protruding green plastic shield flush with the tile surface and sealed the cut foam with mortar matched siliconized caulking compound. waterproof. I installed the finished fairing, the next day I added silicone sealant behind the plastic base of the fairing to keep water out of the iBox but left a small opening at the bottom for water to drain if the valve was leaking. I had to cut a few holes in the space behind the wall of the tub to allow access to install the valve. Since my wall studs are 2x3, the iBox's green plastic screen ended up about 1/4 inch from the outside of the drywall, resulting in my being unable to patch the hole behind the iBox with drywall. Instead I installed a metal drywall access door to close the valve. I had to cut off a piece of the metal access panel that goes into the wall to avoid hitting the pipes. It took some effort but it was worth it as it should allow future service. The whole process took about 5 hours including installing the liner, but I'm no plumber or contractor. I like the waterproof plastic valve screen. It came in handy after flushing the system. If you remove the cover, water will flow back out of the showers. Without the waterproofing around the plastic screen, the water would escape from the wall. It should also come in handy when I need to change valves. Tip: Do not flush the system until you have made it watertight! I love that the iBox comes with a check valve and a check valve. This simplifies maintenance of the main valves. However, I am afraid that to service the isolation and check valves you will need to remove the iBox as you will need access to the inlet/outlet ports. I replaced my old valve because the stops failed and I couldn't find replacement parts for the stops. I hope this lasts at least 10 years. I love the new features this system introduces: I like the diverter and flow control feature: my house has very high water pressure and the previous diverter feature on the spouts sometimes spat out the spouts or destroyed the spouts and the spouts leaked when the shower to use. With the hansgrohe system, the spout is just a spout, the spout is screwed into a brass elbow that can keep up with the flow. It's a well thought out system and the discount off the MSRP makes it affordable.