Advice from plumbers please re shower

nicter

Hi
We recently had our Bristan thermostatic mixer shower replaced due to constant dripping from the showerhead
Its been replaced with a Triton Aspira mixer shower
Now not only do we have a constantly dripping shower head we also have a very poor water flow. Almost have to run about to get wet !!
We have a salamander RSP50 pump which was in situ with the previous shower and the flow was excellent
Plumber has been back today , checked pump and shower and can find nothing obviously wrong with either
Any suggestions please
We did change the showerhead to a 4 inch one in the hope that would solve the problem but to no avail

keystone

nicter wrote: »

Hi
We recently had our Bristan thermostatic mixer shower replaced due to constant dripping from the showerhead
Its been replaced with a Triton Aspira mixer shower
Now not only do we have a constantly dripping shower head we also have a very poor water flow. Almost have to run about to get wet !!
We have a salamander RSP50 pump which was in situ with the previous shower and the flow was excellent
Plumber has been back today , checked pump and shower and can find nothing obviously wrong with either
Any suggestions please
We did change the showerhead to a 4 inch one in the hope that would solve the problem but to no avail

What you should be doing is replacing your plumber. Changing a Bristan for a Triton is off the wall bonkers IMHO but thats water under the bridge now.

Its normal for a shower to drip for a while after its been turned off but I suspect its rather more constant.

One cause is too much pressure for the shower. Hope some clot hasn't attached the shower to mains cold and mains pressure hot from an unvented or a heat bank? If its a conventional tank fed setup the RSP 50 is only a 1½ bar pump so that wouldn't be a cause in that case.

The second and most obvious is that the flow valve is leaking. On the Bristan that was repairable without replacing the whole shower. Did anyone try descaling the cartridge (I'm assuming the Bristan was a thermo?). I'm not a fan of Triton anyway but it could be a manufacturing fault or an installation issue either of which is generating a coincidental problem.

The fact that the flow rate has now dropped right off suggests the plumber has done something wrong n'est pas? Is your Aspira like this one:



these rain heads use a prodigious amount of water and its quite possible that the supply arrangement isn't up to the task which is why the flow rate has declined dramatically. But you say that using a 4 inch head hasn't made any difference. So I'm leaning towards a pipe blockage in respect of poor flow.

Sorry to be so negative.

Cheers

nicter

Thankyou for your reply
Yes the shower is the one in your picture
The original shower worked fine and new one has been connected to original pipework so Im assuming the installation is correct
We did have the bristan repaired several times by various plumbers none of whom managed to stop the constant drip and as its an ensuite the noise drove us crazy at night
The new shower drips continually
Do you think if its a blockage it will be in the actual shower or could it be anywhere between the pump and shower ? How can we easily clear this as some of the pipework is enclosed
Thanks again for your reply

keystone

nicter wrote: »

Thankyou for your reply
Yes the shower is the one in your picture

'Kay.

The original shower worked fine and new one has been connected to original pipework so Im assuming the installation is correct

Old one worked but new one doesn't therefore installation is correct? Really? That doesn't add up for me somehow. Has he managed to airlock the pump perhaps?

We did have the bristan repaired several times by various plumbers none of whom managed to stop the constant drip and as its an ensuite the noise drove us crazy at night.

Understand. Water under bridge but I suspect various people on various occasions hadn't actually got much of an idea. If it was passing then it was passing so it had to be the flow valve but it wasn't not leaking enough to trigger the flow switches on the pump and start pumping.

The new shower drips continually

Chinese water torture. Its almost certainly not capilliary action though - the riser is too tall methinks.

Do you think if its a blockage it will be in the actual shower or could it be anywhere between the pump and shower ?

It could be anywhere, it might be solids it might be air.

How can we easily clear this as some of the pipework is enclosed

Ask laughing boy back who installed it to fix it (yes I know you have once) and if he can't tell him to find someone who can. Don't take no for an answer. You paid him to do a job which he has manifestly failed at.

Thanks again for your reply

Au plaisir. Sorry that it seems unfixable from this side of the keyboard.

Cheers

nicter

Thankyou
will give the plumber a ring in the morning and ask him to come back.
He suggested it could be a pump problem ( therefore negating blame to him I suspect ) but the 2nd shower that runs from the pump works fine
will keep you posted :beer:

keystone

Sorry I could not be of more help. You're not trying to run two showers simultaneously from the same pump are you? Or is it one at a time? In any event if it feeds one OK and not the second it ain't the pump. Mind you pump isn't airlocked either then so its something else but who knows what without hands on?

Cheers

nicter

No. Running them separately
Think we have gremlins

nicter

Have checked the flow on both showers The one in the bathroom runs at 4 litres per 30 seconds , the newly installed triton 2 litres per 30 seconds. Have been in contact with Triton ... Engineer coming next Tuesday.
If it is installation problem will be chasing the plumber
Will keep you posted Keystone :beer:

nicter

Triton guy been today.
Apparently our original plumber had put in a flow reducer ( odd he didnt take it out again when we called him back but there you go ) This reducer was optional in the installation so have no idea why it was used
Anyway thankfully due to the constant drip, the shower valve had to be replaced so we didnt incur any costs