I'm getting myself confused as to what I need in order to run a shower with body jets.
A 3 way diverter is described as having 2 outlets. A 5 way diverter is described as having 3 outlets.
e.g.
i.e. Both switched off. Shower head only. Body Jets only. Both at same time.
The simplest solution is to fit 2 stopcocks (as on the deva website). T the outlet from your shower valve and run to the head and the jets through the stopcocks. Then you just turn the head stopcock on to use the showerhead, and the jet stopcock on to use the jets. You could also use the valves in a tap kit like this for the same purpose
A
This foxed me, and meant that I had to get my 3-way Bristan swapped for a 5-way whilst my plumbers were in the middle of the job.
The nearest I can get to rationalising this is that they seem to have two input ports, but even that doesn't add up for the 3-way.
Not quite sure how yours offers "full & reduced flow rates".
My Bristan 5-way will only supply water to one outlet at a time (apart from a little leakage)
I am presuming that you are supplying the diverter from a thermostatic valve incorporating a flow control. That gives you both off.
I'm guessing here, but with the aid of check valves from position
3, could you pipe the shower head from positions 1 & 3, and the body jets from 2 & 3?Failing that, it would be separate valves.
Chris
Thanks for the responses guys. I should have paid a little more attention when I pasted that URL. For anyone else who wants to know what I'm talking about, go to
I can see that the two stopcocks idea might work and the only drawbacks I can think is that there will be more fittings on show and it might restrict the choice I have if I want all the fittings to match.
I'm still not quite getting the diverters though. The only thing that seems to make sense is if the inputs contribute to the number of ways, so a 3-way diverter has one input and two outputs and the 5-way has two inputs and three outputs. Though I don't really understand why you would need two inputs unless you were using it as a mixer too. Also it doesn't really explain why Chris would have to change from a 3 to a
5-way in the middle of the job.Yes, I am planning on using a thermostatic mixer valve in front of the diverter so yes that would give me the both off requirement anyway.
I'm also not quite sure what you mean by check valves, am I correct in thinking these might be what I know as non-return valves ?
Thanks again.
Certainly both 3 & 5 way valves that I saw had two possible inputs. I suppose it would be possible to connect separate hot and cold supplies, but not really a very good idea. However, this gives the 3-way valve 4 ports.
I had told my contractor that I wanted what I described as a
3-way diverter. They knew I wanted it to supply overhead shower, bath filler and bath side pencil shower. Only when the box was opened to see how to connect it (after I had drawn a line diagram of the concept) did the problem become clear. My unfamiliarity with the arcane terminology (which the web site did not in any way explain as done by your supplier) was matched by the fitters' unfamiliarity with the use of diverters and omission of bath taps.Fortunately Bristan are not too far from me, and it was swapped in the nick of time.
The system is fed from a fully pumped supply, and the fitters were pretty surprised when everything worked (I was more than a bit relieved too) and wanted photos so they could tell others what a good idea it all was.
Yes, I was really only thinking theoretically, I don't know how much pressure you lose, if there are maintenance problems, and how practical it is to get it all in place.
Chris
A three way diverter gives you A, A+B or B.
At a guess, a five way diverter gives you A, A+B, B, B+ C, C.
Better than using a divertor valve is to use something like the DE2000RC on this page:
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