Help - the worlds worse shower

[David Hansen]

On 26 Jan 2007 00:34:45 -0800 someone who may be [e-mail] wrote this:-

To add to David's reply

?_dyncharset=UTF-8&fh_search=venturi+shower&x=0&y=0is one example (there are not many designs on offer). You will see that the page has an instruction manual to download, this should tell you all you need to know about them.

[leenowell]

reply

?...> is one example (there are not many designs on offer). You will see

[Mungo]

Perhaps you come from a "power shower" background, hence anything less invigorating seems to be problematic? The reason I say this is because we already had a gravity shower in the present house where the flow was quite acceptable. Then I added an electric shower (10.8kWatt) upstairs and my kids were quite happy with it (preferring it because it was less distance to walk from their bedrooms).

At the end of December I finished our new ensuite bathroom and I installed a power shower (Stuart Turner 3.0 bar "monsoon" pump) and my sons won't use anything less powerful given a free choice! :-)

So perhaps the dribble is all you can hope for at the moment...

If the pipe from the tap up to the shower head is flexible, does the flow appear to reduce as you lift it from the tap height to its working height?

Many years ago my parents decided to go "modern" and install an over- bath shower. The local plumber was summoned and worked his magic. The setup was a 2 storey house: cold tank in loft, hot tank in an upstairs cupboard (directly underneath the cold tank) and shower above the bath already in the upstairs of the house. The plumber connected the hot feed to the shower off the hot tank expansion pipe that went back up into the loft.

Because of this lack of "head" from the top of the cold tank water level to the shower rose, if anyone ran the hot tap downstairs the level of hot water in the expansion pipe dropped below the draw-off for the shower: and since it was usually me using the shower I got the treat of a shower suddenly running cold! My dad always apologised for the "accident" but nowadays I'm not so sure (having three wonderful sons whose idea of cleaning their bedroom is to kick the floor-strewn clothes into a pile, maybes I could also become so "forgetful" !)

Ah plumbing: dontcha just love it...

Mungo :-)

[leenowell]

Mungo,

Thanks again for all your great help. I am stumped too. In answer to your questions,

1. As you raise the shower head, you do see a reduction in the flow from a bearable shower below the taps to a dribble when it is raised to standing height.
2. The last shower we had was more or less the same setup as here. Although that one wasn't great, it was usable. Our one bearly has enough force to get water out of all the holes and part dribbles back down the hose and the rest drops vertically from the hole!!!

Thanks again for all your advice - unfortunately, I think I will need to go for the salamander pump from Screwfix.

Lee.

theshowerI got the treat

[David Pashley]

If you take the shower head and hold it 1m below its normal position, that is the same quality of shower that you will achieve by raising the header tank by 1m.

David

[leenowell]

All,

I just wanted to say thank you for all your help and to let you know that I ended up fitting the Salamander pump from Screwfix - coincidentally the same day the water company came to install my enforced water meter!! The shower is now great.....

thanks again

Lee.

[Owain]

and the meter is now spinning...

Owain