Pump & Shower piping

Hi,

I have a plumber who's fitting a Stuart Turner Showermate Shower Pump & Hudson Reed 3/4" thermostatic valve (from Bathstore) for me (you might argue this wasn't DIY, but I have fixed the electrics myself!). Question is this (and I think it is on topic for the ng): he's using

15mm flexi-piping: about .5 m from the hot tank to the pump, and about 3m from there to the valve (all but the last 50cms which are 22mm copper pipe). The instructions both for the pump & the valve say "use 22mm piping if possible", but he (and the wife) reckon that as the pump entry & exit tubes are 15mm, it's not going to make too much difference.

So, if any of you have experience of this sort of set-up, please tell me: is this going to turn our rainstorm into a piddle? Or not really.

Ah yes: gravity system; hot tank, pump & bath on first floor, cold tank on second floor.

And a PS. The obvious cold feed to use for the pump might be straight from the mains, I haven't checked. Would that be a bad idea?

Thanks.

James

Reply to
James
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As much of the pipe runs as possible should be in 22mm, but you don't say how long the runs are from the cylinder to the pump.

There's no point in having just the last section in 22mm. Really, only the pieces immediately adjacent to the pump with the short flexible hoses that Stuart Turner supply should be smaller.

It must be directly from the cold tank and not the mains. Don't let him bodge it by tapping into a pipe in the airing cupboard.

The hot take off should be from the cylinder using either a separate tapping or a Surrey or Essex flange on the cylinder.

Otherwise the shower, even though thermostatic, will tend to pulse hot or cold as taps are turned on and off.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Reply to
Andy Hall

In other words, don't do what the prat who installed the power shower in our house (before we bought it), has done. In fact, he (I assume it was a "he"), has carefully ignored almost ALL the installation requirements in the manufacturer's data sheet. Frankly, it's a wonder that it works, and work it does - surpringly well in fact. However, when I get "a round tuit", I must plumb the thing in properly. In theory it's a simple enough thing to do, but as I would have to undo half a dozen other bodgeups at the same time, it's not exactly a five-minute job. Five hours might be nearer the mark, with a lot of sweating and swearing. I'll probably leave it until we have the bathroom refurbished, when we can dispense with the separate pump in the loft and fit one of these combined units with the pump inside the shower unit itself.

Bodgers should be publicly executed. It takes very little effort to do the job right to begin with, but it often takes a very great deal of effort to put things right later.

Rant over!

Rick

Reply to
Richard Sterry

Ahh - that rather destroys an idea I had for solving my weak flow problem !! Single story cottage, head is 4m max. so it's been an electric shower for many years, with the annual mutterings in the mid winter about poor flow (winter water temperatures in Scotland tend to be a bit low !). The mutterings were usually ignored, until recently when the other half came in contact with one of those kitchen mixer taps on a shower hose and came proudly out of Homebase clutching one pleased that she had got it on a 10% off day.

Muggins fitted it without reading all of the small print - those who have read the small print, or are muggins too, know what I am talking about - these taps have a high insertion loss and the hot water is a piddle now.

So, as the shower and the kitchen sink are physically close I have been thinking that I could kill the proverbial 2 birds and fit one pump. Do I take it this is not a good idea ?

Rob

Reply to
Rob Graham

You can't put a pump on the mains.

Reply to
IMM

Sorry - obviously didn't make it clear - the mains pressure is more than adequate, hence the electric shower; it's the hot water supply that has only a 3 to 4m gravity feed and this fancy mixer tap recommends 0.5 bar minimum in the SMALL PRINT :>(.

Rob

Reply to
Rob Graham

Yes, stick a single impellor pump on the hot side only. Use a pressure balancing brass bodied thermostatic shower mixer valve. Run the bath hot tap off it too.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

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