- which colour cartridge would I need, pink or grey? It i
gravity fed, so the hot water comes from the tank and I assume the cold from the mains (stop c*ck) or tank in the loft?
For low pressure it is the grey one. Pink is for mains pressure. Tr to trace the cold pipe to the shower. You should find two pipes at least leaving the roof tank. One feeds the HW cylinder, the other should b the shower, but try to identify them.
It should not be fed from the mains cold. Turn off the mains cold a the stop tap and the shower should still run at normal temperature.
If it is being driven directly from the mains, this needs to be change . For this type of valve, both supplies should be from the tank, and almost certainly are.
Well I took the bath panel off and peered under the bath! There is ho pipe which goes to the bath tap and up to the shower, and two seperat cold pipes, one the bath cold tap and one going up the wall to shower. And I did see right under the bath on the hot pipe another red turn of tap, so hopefully the hot can be turned off just from there (if I ca reach it!) so certainly looks cold fed from the loft.
- I know how to turn the cold water off at the stop c*ck, but ho do I stop the hot water (without draining the tank)? There is a re 'tap' next to the tank but I'm not sure if that is a 'turn off' tap for the hot water.
Is it on the hot side or is it on the pipe feeding the cylinder? There should be a separate tap for hot and for cold - possibly it's in th loft?
Otherwise, you will need to drain the roof tank. Boiler off first.
- I obviously have to remove all old parts, I read here the last O ring is a pain to remove? Obviously if I don't get all the old parts out the new ones wont re-assemble properly.
There is an O-ring at the back inside a tube in the centre. You wil be able to see it when you get the cartridge out. This should be replaced. Getting it out is a swine. The crochet hook idea they suggest doesn't work. Either use a long scalpel with sharp pointed blade to dig into the O-ring or stout darning needle attached to something to impale and remove it. Fitting the replacement is much easier but don't use anything shar for that.Ladies have an advantage here with smaller hands than gentlemen.
- The unit is hidden behind tiles, will I have to remove the 'backplate' behind the on/off knob and temp control too?
No. Take the front cap off of the on/off knob and then pull off th knob with your fingers. It may be quite tight. This will reveal screw which hold the temperature control lever in place. Remove these and you ca get to the cartridge. The cartridge comes with exploded diagrams. There is a replacement O-ring for the on/off knob as well
- If I mess it up, will I be able to leave it as is and turn water back on so can have a bath instead whilst get a plumber booked in?! lol
This is why you need to check that you have a way to turn off the wate just to the shower before committing to pulling it apart. Looks like if turn hot off it turns the bath hot off too, so I thin I'll be in trouble if can't do the job! Though it looks *crosse fingers* fairly straight forward If you can't then you might prefer to get a plumber to do it and t fit valves as well. thanks for your help, I'm a bit dubious about attempting it lol
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-- Zoe