bath mixer tap problem

[Ian & Hilda Dedic]

Hi Chaps, I have a wickes bath mixer tap with a shower hose outlet which may be scaled up. The flow to the tap outlet is fine but the pull up diverter lever is very stiff and results in a much reduced flow from the shower head. This thankfully is not our main shower.

Am I right in thinking the diverter valve has become scaled up? We are in a very hard water area, and the shower hose is not much used, especially now the flow is so poor.

Is there any way I can de-scale the tap, or is there some other fault that this is symptomatic of.

Any suggestions (except the angle grinder one!) or links to how to pages greatfully accepted.

dedics

[Roger Mills]

Well, there's a blockage somewhere - but it could be in any one (or more) of

3 places - so a bit of investigation is required.

1. The diverter part of the tap
2. The shower hose
3. The shower head

When you remove the head, how much water comes out of the end of the hose? When you remove the hose from the tap, how much water comes out of the nozzle to which it attaches?

Answers to those questions should give a clue as to the root cause of the problem.

The shower head is perhaps the most likely candidate because it has a lot of small holes which are easily blocked. Soaking it overnight in vinegar sometimes helps by dissolving the scale - even better if it comes to bits easily - otherwise just soak the whole thing.

[Ian & Hilda Dedic]

Thanks for that. I checked the obvious bits, the hose and showerhead before I started they are all fine. Recently replaced for brand new in fact.

It really seems to be the internals or the diverter valve where there is a problem. The pull up knob is very hard to move.

Does anyone have a link to an exploded diagram of a telephone style mixer tap with a pull up diverter knob?

I've looked in all the usual web places, but they are all about changing the cartridge rather than pinpointing trouble in the diverter valve.

dedics

[Edward W. Thompson]

Have a similar problem.

I intend to seal the outlet to the bath using duck tape or something similar and then fill the 'fitting' with a diluted descaler through the shower hose fitting. Have to wait and see whether it will do the trick. I can foresee the problem will be to efficiently seal the outlet to the bath