Recommendations for shower mixer taps

poppellerant

Currently I have a bath with individual taps for hot and cold water. On the end of these I have an attachment that allows me to either fill the bath or I can pull up a lever to use the shower. This attachment has had it's day now, the rubber has perished and water is spraying onto the tiles. I have even used clips to tighten the rubber part around the tap, but even this is no good now!

I have tried to source such another attachment, but none seem suitable for the square taps.

I know you can remove the taps and put a attachment on that lets me choose between running a bath or using the shower by means of a lever. I have to bear in mind that I have low pressure because of the combi boiler - some levers won't stay up without the right amount of pressure!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0051TR0LC/ref=s9_simh_gw_p79_d1_g60_i2?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0051JZNPG16VTM47JJ3E&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294

I have seen the above shower mixer on eBay, and very nearly bought it - until I saw the reviews on Amazon. :eek: It seems that if you want to run a bath, it is very slow to fill with this tap. At the moment I can fill a bath in about 10-15 minutes, so I'd look to be keeping that flow of hot water.

I should mention that I have a budget of £50.00. I have arranged for somebody to install the tap for me for free.

I really need help with what to buy. Should I keep looking for attachment to go on the end of my taps? Or would I be better off looking to replace my taps? Neither seem an easy choice to purchase.

Help!

southcoastrgi

your combi means you have a high pressure system fed directly from the incoming mains, low pressure systems are roof tank fed, you are very limited with only a budget of £50 looking at those taps they req a min of 0.5 bar to work correctly, if you have less pressure than this then a combi isn't the right type of boiler for you anyway.

cyclonebri1

As your main concern is bath filling, you would probably be better having a separate shower in stalled and run it of the combi, then single bath taps, unfortunately it's well over your budget to do it that way.

poppellerant

keithgillyon wrote: »

your combi means you have a high pressure system fed directly from the incoming mains, low pressure systems are roof tank fed, you are very limited with only a budget of £50 looking at those taps they req a min of 0.5 bar to work correctly, if you have less pressure than this then a combi isn't the right type of boiler for you anyway.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Croydex-Bath-Shower-Mixer-White/dp/B000TAQH9E/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1342827488&sr=8-3

I've tried the above before, and the water pressure wasn't enough to keep the lever up when showering. Going by the reviews, I'm not the only person to have had that problem.

By no means is the hot water trickling out the tap - but I think 15 minutes to properly fill a bath tells me the hot water pressure is not excellent. The cold water pressure on the other hand is fairly decent!

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

As your main concern is bath filling, you would probably be better having a separate shower in stalled and run it of the combi, then single bath taps, unfortunately it's well over your budget to do it that way.

Indeed, it is well over my budget. I know which is better, but at this moment the better is both impractical and beyond my budget.

southcoastrgi

poppellerant wrote: »

By no means is the hot water trickling out the tap - but I think 15 minutes to properly fill a bath tells me the hot water pressure is not excellent. The cold water pressure on the other hand is fairly decent

this has nothing to do with pressure this is flow rate, you want your bath to be hot so you have to turn the flow down to allow the boiler to heat it, this will also depend on the size of your combi, the higher the kw output the faster your hot water flow for the required temperature, domestic combi's range from 24kw to 40kw, personally i wouldn't fit anything less than a 28kw which will give you approx 9-11 ltrs/min @ 35 degree rise.

poppellerant

keithgillyon wrote: »

this has nothing to do with pressure this is flow rate, you want your bath to be hot so you have to turn the flow down to allow the boiler to heat it, this will also depend on the size of your combi, the higher the kw output the faster your hot water flow for the required temperature, domestic combi's range from 24kw to 40kw, personally i wouldn't fit anything less than a 28kw which will give you approx 9-11 ltrs/min @ 35 degree rise.

I see - I know nothing about the workings of plumbing, as you can tell!

poppellerant

http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/209432

Now that looks what I want - I'm not sure if my hot water pressure will affect it's performance, though.

Can it be had cheaper?

southcoastrgi

it's cheap enough & just within your budget, some bath shower mixers are hundreds of pounds, with a combi you will always get a temp/flow rate issue with taps like these, a shower paired with a combi should always be thermostatic, you can buy a thermostatic bath shower mixer but these are really really expensive

Canucklehead

poppellerant wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Croydex-Bath-Shower-Mixer-White/dp/B000TAQH9E/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1342827488&sr=8-3

I've tried the above before, and the water pressure wasn't enough to keep the lever up when showering. Going by the reviews, I'm not the only person to have had that problem.

By no means is the hot water trickling out the tap - but I think 15 minutes to properly fill a bath tells me the hot water pressure is not excellent. The cold water pressure on the other hand is fairly decent!Indeed, it is well over my budget. I know which is better, but at this moment the better is both impractical and beyond my budget.

Hi.

Is it possible that you have pushed the rubber boot over the tap and covered/restricted the flow of water from the end of the tap? IYKWIM.

I know from experience the Croydex fitting works on a combi system.

GSR.

poppellerant

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi.

Is it possible that you have pushed the rubber boot over the tap and covered/restricted the flow of water from the end of the tap? IYKWIM.

I know from experience the Croydex fitting works on a combi system.

GSR.

You might be right, but the way my square ended taps are, it would be impossible to use the Croydex.

http://www.diy.com/nav/rooms/bathrooms/bathroom-taps/plumbsure/-specificproducttype-quartz/Plumbsure-Quartz-Bath-Shower-Mixer-11477554

I have bit the bullet, and bought one the above instore. I asked pretty much what I did here, and the shower "selector" actually stays up by itself. To be sure I wasn't being deceived by stock that people have played around with, we checked it out the box too - and sure enough it does stay up on its own!

Now to get it installed, and I will be very happy indeed. :j