cold showers

[telectrix]

recently fitted new instantaneous shower for m-i-l. shower will not heat up due to showing low water pressure indicator. have problems with our own shower exactly the same but not constantly. united utilities have been and checked the pressure in the street and said it's good. but that's at a point 20 feet lower than the shower. i don't believe them as even when i turn on a cold tap, the flow is poor compared to wherever else i've been. how can i tell what the pressure is, and is there a remedy, short of fitting a booster pump which would have to be triggered from the shower?

 

[Geordie Spark]

recently fitted new instantaneous shower for m-i-l. shower will not heat up due to showing low water pressure indicator. have problems with our own shower exactly the same but not constantly. united utilities have been and checked the pressure in the street and said it's good. but that's at a point 20 feet lower than the shower. i don't believe them as even when i turn on a cold tap, the flow is poor compared to wherever else i've been. how can i tell what the pressure is, and is there a remedy, short of fitting a booster pump which would have to be triggered from the shower?

Hi Tel.

Sorry if I'm stating the bleeding obvious here, but is the stopcock turned fully on?

I've found in the past that some folk only crack it open - insead of fully opening it - and find that it's fine for filling the kettle & wash basin etc.

Later on, when someone tries to open it all the way, it can feel like it's fully opened,but is infact stuck because of limescale etc.

Try fully closing it, then fully opening it - about 4 or 5 turns I think.

If you still want to test the pressure, a test gauge is available from Screwfix (Quote 82412) for about £12-00.

Hope this helps

 

[telectrix]

we don't have limescale round here and the fact that both houses have the same problem leads me to believe that the pressure is low. i will check with some neighbours , see if they're having same .

 

[ezzzekiel]

stopcock was my initial thought, only other consideration is the time of year with water pipes being colder than usual (although this is more to do with temp not low pressure)

 

[Geordie Spark]

recently fitted new instantaneous shower for m-i-l. shower will not heat up due to showing low water pressure indicator. have problems with our own shower exactly the same but not constantly. united utilities have been and checked the pressure in the street and said it's good. but that's at a point 20 feet lower than the shower. i don't believe them as even when i turn on a cold tap, the flow is poor compared to wherever else i've been. how can i tell what the pressure is, and is there a remedy, short of fitting a booster pump which would have to be triggered from the shower?

Furhter to my last post, I've been thinking about your comment about the utitlities company checking the pressure in the street & am wondering WHERE they took their reading. I suspect they measured the pressure at a convenient fire hydrant which would show that the pressure in the mains is fine - or not.

The problem you seem to have is that you may or not be getting enough water into the premises - that is AFTER the stopcock in the street for the property. This is a quarter turn cock (only a quarter of a turn between fully open & fully closed) & it's hiding about 2 feet down below a black iron or plastic cover in the pavement outside the property, & you'll need a water key to reach & turn it. It's not unknown for these things to not be turned on properly.

For you to play about with it is the exact same scenario as cutting the seal & pulling the main fuse - if you catch my drift .....

 

[pushrod]

Hi, assuming the shower is on mains - You might be able to increase pressure by running from a cold water tank high up in the loft, though obviously that might be a silly amount of work. You could do a crude measurement and comparison of flow rate by seeing how many seconds it takes to fill a bucket of water and converting to litres per min.

edit : forgot to say manufacturer might have info on min flow rates.

 

[Steve1412]

Is there any information what the pressure switch in the shower operates at?

 

[telectrix]

Is there any information what the pressure switch in the shower operates at?

no, thrown instrusctions away.

 

[telectrix]

united utilities got at the stop tap. to check pressure. feeding several properties, 2 ft. below pavement. water tank in attic is only 3 ft above shower, will time a 5 gallon drum filling. in a mo.

 

[Steve1412]

Could always frig the switch and see how it goes....I know its a bit extreme but you would expect the manufacturers to err on the side of caution when sizing the pressure switch!!!! either that or they stick a standard one relating to the country of origin who probably have far superior water supply systems than ours!!!!
Should also be an over temp switch in case water ever fails.

 

[pushrod]

If it is fed off a cold water tank then it is not to do with mains pressure. Raising the cold water tank a foot or two will increase the pressure at the shower.

edit other than that you will have to put a flow activated pump in.

 

[telectrix]

OK< just done a test with a 5 gallon can. rate is 5litres per min. that's off downstairs tap full on ,where the pressure is highest. thinking back, if my lady was in the shower , it would go cold if i turned a tap on or flushed the bog.

 

[tony mc]

Sounds like it a flow problem not pressure as 5 liters a min could be old lead pipe furred up.

Had same problem years ago at old house which was given 1 gallon a minute,

Had a new blue pipe installed went up to about 6 a minute.

 

[telectrix]

all copper in house. no limescale in the area. could it just be inadequate flow in the street, if it affects all houses round here

 

[telectrix]

If it is fed off a cold water tank then it is not to do with mains pressure. Raising the cold water tank a foot or two will increase the pressure at the shower.

edit other than that you will have to put a flow activated pump in.

it's fed off the rising main. and i think the united utilities guy said the pressure was 3 bar. but, everwhere i've lived even in hard water areas, when you turned the cold tap on, the water bounced off the bottom of the sink. here , it just flows about the same rate as a watering can. ( best analogy i can make )

 

[pushrod]

just checked mine and it is approx 14 litres per min, so 5 L/min does seems a bit piddly!

Wife wondered what on earth i was doing lol

 

[telectrix]

i could do better after 8 pints of good ale. so, if it's the pipe from the street to the house, who's liable to replace it?

 

[Geordie Spark]

it's fed off the rising main. and i think the united utilities guy said the pressure was 3 bar. but, everwhere i've lived even in hard water areas, when you turned the cold tap on, the water bounced off the bottom of the sink. here , it just flows about the same rate as a watering can. ( best analogy i can make )

3 bar is quite a good pressure. I think I would be happy with that.

I think the flow is the problem, Flow & pressure are 2 different things (think Volts & Amps) You can have water at a pressure high enough to be able to cut through steel plate, but it would take forever to fill a bath !!

To give you an idea about flow rates, A decent combi boiler will give you about 11 litres per minute - providing of course that you have at least that amount coming into the property in the first place.

We use a Weir Cup to measure this which is like a measuring jug with a slot running down the side. Like this: Flowmate II flow cup weir gauge plumbers' water flowmeter

 

[pushrod]

i could do better after 8 pints of good ale. so, if it's the pipe from the street to the house, who's liable to replace it?

If the fault is on your property then think it is down to you - i would check with neighbours to see if they have similar flow rate. If it is the whole street then think it is down to them.

 

[pushrod]

If it is just your house join the utilities insurance scheme before you mention it to them!