After some plumbing advice on shower

[Sir Brixalot]

Thanks for that. Those large bolts are filters, both clear of scale and looking through the gaps the cartridge has a plastic body with brass core.

[what2do]

Hi, re. The running the shower on cold before shutting down. The newer electric showers now have a run on or shut down timer to continue running gear the water through as it turns off.

Common practice with steam cleaners is to do a 'cold phase' before turning off.

Water softener - best thing a homeowner can fit in my opinion, no more cleaning of shower fittings and glass screens in the shower (I do clean them, but that's for hygiene reasons and not scale removal). Be careful though, if fitting one to a property with old plumbing, leaks can spring up every where in much the same manner as oil leaks can appear in our van engines that have been run with synthetic. The softened water begins to dissolve the scale that has formed on joints which had previously weeped. It takes a year or two after the softener has been fitted, ask me how I know... The one and only time I've been asked to remove a softener by a client after I'd been previously paid to install it!

[Sir Brixalot]

I sent the photos off to Showerdoc and they couldn't track it down. They said they've been asked before and think it is Chinese. Looks like what I thought would be a 10 minute job has just got expensive.

[what2do]

I sent the photos off to Showerdoc and they couldn't track it down. They said they've been asked before and think it is Chinese. Looks like what I thought would be a 10 minute job has just got expensive.

Sadly, I often encounter this scenario, unbranded showers that can't be serviced due to unknown origin, and as you can imagine it's these cheap products that fail prematurely.

If a brand doesn't have an after sales service dept with a uk telephone number then I steer people away from them.

Better luck with the next valve.

[Sir Brixalot]

Whats even more annoying is the bath water isn't as hot as it was so it may not have been the shower after all. Water to the kitchen tap is still very hot. Worst time of year, the plumbers I've spoken to are busy well into January. In the short term I'll just put geocel sealant on the leak.

[what2do]

Can you just confirm that it's a combi system without a hot water cylinder anywhere in the house? Odd that you have hot water at kitchen tap and not the bath.

[NicBeeee]

Is your hot water pressure at the bath much lower than your cold, where is your boiler upstairs or down, best way of testing pressure is to time how long it takes to fill a known volume bucket or watering can

Sent from my F3111 using Tapatalk

[Sir Brixalot]

Ground floor combi boiler, no tank. The pressure in the boiler is 2 bar at rest. Can the cassette be cut out and a different one fitted or does all the existing shower have to come out?

[what2do]

Ground floor combi boiler, no tank. The pressure in the boiler is 2 bar at rest. Can the cassette be cut out and a different one fitted or does all the existing shower have to come out?

Not sure what you mean by cassette. The whole shower mixer valve will need to be replaced, not difficult considering you're replacing the broken tile anyway. No two brand of valves share the same dimensions so the plumbing will need extending/shortening - a couple of hours work at most.

[Sir Brixalot]

I started calling it the mixer valve then replies came using "cassette" so I thought it must be the correct term and both turn up on internet sources. Couple of hours doesn't sound too bad

[NicBeeee]

Any plumber worth there salt should have installed an isolation valve either side of the mixer valve to enable removal without turning off the mains supply, if so it might be worth your while removing the cassette (I call it a cartridge) and putting it in a bowl of descaler, also some cartridges are adjustable whereby you can alter the hot flow but you will not know until its removed. However some valves do not have removable cartridges so be careful.

[what2do]

Any plumber worth there salt should have installed an isolation valve either side of the mixer valve to enable removal without turning off the mains supply, if so it might be worth your while removing the cassette (I call it a cartridge) and putting it in a bowl of descaler, also some cartridges are adjustable whereby you can alter the hot flow but you will not know until its removed. However some valves do not have removable cartridges so be careful.

ISO valves are pointless with a combi, no draining down is required and besides, when I cut the tile to fit, there's no room to access the iso valves with a screw driver, hence, they'd be inoperable without destroying the tile - catch my drift?

[what2do]

Whats even more annoying is the bath water isn't as hot as it was so it may not have been the shower after all. Water to the kitchen tap is still very hot. Worst time of year, the plumbers I've spoken to are busy well into January. In the short term I'll just put geocel sealant on the leak.

Whilst sat on a chair lift gazing at the Rockies, a thought struck me, if you are repeatedly getting hot at the kitchen tap and warm at the bath, then the cartridge has failed in such a way that it's letting cold water enter the hot side of the valve which in turn is producing warm water at the bath tap. I imagine the kitchen tap is relatively close to the boiler which is why it's not suffering the same symptoms.

Back to my holibobs...

[Sir Brixalot]

That's nothing. I'm relaxing with a large mulled wine looking at the majestic view of a 1960s bloc

[what2do]

That's nothing. I'm relaxing with a large mulled wine looking at the majestic view of a 1960s bloc

I'd like to say that my view has been of the Rockies but it's snowed since we arrived! Can't complain as we came here to ski not sightsee.