American Standard Reliant 3 Shower Trim Kit Double Ceramic Pressure Balance Cartridge With Lever Handle - AMS-TU385501WDXH

Trim only. The Reliant 3 kit is built for use with American Standard Flash shower rough-in valves, so the in-wall valve body has to be ordered separately. What you get in the box is the shower arm and flange, the metal wall escutcheon with the red/blue indicator ring, the metal lever handle, and the one-piece double ceramic pressure balance cartridge. A showerhead is not included either, so budget for that line item too.

That is what the ceramic balancing spool in the cartridge does. It holds a constant output temperature when relative hot and cold supply pressure changes, which is the flush-and-scald scenario in multi-family and hotel plumbing. It is pressure balancing, not thermostatic, so it reacts to pressure swings rather than holding a dialed-in degree setting.

Yes, there is an adjustable hot limit safety stop built in. It caps how much hot water can mix with cold, which is how you set a scald ceiling on senior housing, student housing, or pediatric-facility showers without touching the water heater setpoint. It is field adjustable at the cartridge, so a maintenance tech can reset it per unit.

It can. The cartridge has back-to-back capability, so hot and cold can be reversed without re-piping the wall. That is the fix when a back-to-back bathroom layout puts the supplies on the wrong sides, and it saves opening tile on a renovation.

Chrome, ordered as TU385501WDXH.002. That is the single finish offered on this trim, so if you are standardizing a property on brushed nickel or matte black you will need a different American Standard trim line. Chrome is the usual pick for multi-family and institutional work because it matches the widest range of existing escutcheons and arms already in the building.

No. Check valves are integrated into the cartridge to eliminate cross flow, so there is nothing extra to install in the supply lines for that purpose. Cross flow is what causes cold water creeping into the hot line and lukewarm delivery at other fixtures, and it is a common callback on older two-handle conversions.

One piece. The ceramic disc mixing valve and the ceramic balancing spool are combined into a single cartridge, so a service call is one pull and one replacement instead of two components. For an MRO stockroom that means one part number on the shelf covers both the mixing and the balancing side of the valve.

The balancing spool is ceramic, and ceramic is unaffected by mineral deposits and harsh water conditions. The mixing side uses ceramic discs as well, which is what keeps the handle turning smoothly and the valve drip-free rather than chewing through washers on a hard-water system. That matters most on well water and on buildings where scale is already shortening fixture life.

Both. The trim is rated for shower and tub applications, so it will serve a tub-shower combo as well as a stall. Note it is a single-handle lever trim with the arm and flange included, so on a tub-shower you are supplying the diverter spout and the showerhead on top of the kit.

A metal lever is the handle style that operates with a closed fist or a forearm, which is why it gets specified over knob-style trim in senior housing, healthcare, and accessible units. This trim ships with the metal lever and a metal escutcheon carrying a red/blue indicator ring, so the hot and cold reference is visual as well as tactile.