Mixer tap bath/shower need doodad to hold diverter pole up.

lilibeth

I have a brand new mixer tap on a bath with a shower attachment. Like this http://www.bristan.com/WebRoot/BristanNewDB/Shops/Bristan/Products/WEB_DATA-1056172-D2.PDF

Because the water pressure is below .2 bars the diverter pole won't stay in the up position unless it is held up by hand. Meaning I can't use the shower attachment, only the taps. I found one reference on the internet to someone using a 'spacer' to keep theirs up & one other of someone using bluetack. I would like to do the same.

My question is what do I look for, what would it be called? I googled plastic spacer & came up with nothing that looked like it would do the job.

Thanks very much.

mart.vader

Sorry, I don't know what the "spacer" is that you want.

Who measured your water pressure ? 0.2 bar ? If this is correct then, I'm surprised it has enough energy to crawl out of the shower head. That is only 6.6 foot head, meaning that it would only rise 6.6 feet up a vertical pipe (and stop). That's not nearly enough for a shower.

Are you on an upper floor ? Is the shower supplied from a tank/cistern in your loft ? If so, you may have some options of getting the tank raised, or better, getting a pump fitted.

Yes, I looked at the link and it does say minimum pressure 0.2 bar.

The minimum that most water companies provide (measured at street level.) is 1.0 bar.

southcoastrgi

make your own, abit of plastic pipe overflow pipe or similiar, cut a slot lift the k nob up & slide it under

lilibeth

mart.vader wrote: »

Sorry, I don't know what the "spacer" is that you want.

Who measured your water pressure ? 0.2 bar ? If this is correct then, I'm surprised it has enough energy to crawl out of the shower head. That is only 6.6 foot head, meaning that it would only rise 6.6 feet up a vertical pipe (and stop). That's not nearly enough for a shower.

Are you on an upper floor ? Is the shower supplied from a tank/cistern in your loft ? If so, you may have some options of getting the tank raised, or better, getting a pump fitted.

Yes, I looked at the link and it does say minimum pressure 0.2 bar.

The minimum that most water companies provide (measured at street level.) is 1.0 bar.

A tap is apparently supposed to output 14 litres in one minute if it is at .2 bars (the lady on the phone that makes the taps said). I measured how many jugs I could get in a minute & it was around 9 - 9 1/2 litres. I'm on the 8th floor in a council place. Pump not an option & tank is at its highest. I know I couldn't shower in it properly but just to rinse off & be able to rinse down the bath after using it would be great. Thus why I need a doodad to keep the diverter pole thing up. Just like a plastic clippy ring or something.

lilibeth

southcoastrgi wrote: »

make your own, abit of plastic pipe overflow pipe or similiar, cut a slot lift the k nob up & slide it under

Thank you
I am housebound & will be ordering off the net. I popped overflow pipe into screwfix & got this.
http://www.screwfix.com/search.do?fh_sort_by=price&fh_search=overflow+pipe&fh_start_index=0&fhSearchParams=&customPrice=&priceFrom=&priceTo=&priceFilterOn=&fh_view_size=100
I'm guessing at what size I'd need & I don't think any of these would fit/work wrong size/too thick to get off on easily. What do you think?

mart.vader

lilibeth wrote: »

A tap is apparently supposed to output 14 litres in one minute if it is at .2 bars (the lady on the phone that makes the taps said). I measured how many jugs I could get in a minute & it was around 9 - 9 1/2 litres. I'm on the 8th floor in a council place. Pump not an option & tank is at its highest. I know I couldn't shower in it properly but just to rinse off & be able to rinse down the bath after using it would be great. Thus why I need a doodad to keep the diverter pole thing up. Just like a plastic clippy ring or something.

What do the people on the 9th floor do for water ? ?

Try ringing your Water Company, and ask them to find out if you are getting enough pressure.

Most council blocks, in my experience, have a large communal storage tank on the roof, which is fed by a pump at ground level, and then it feeds the flats via down-pipes. If you are in the "Penthouse" then there may not be too much height difference in between you and the roof.

southcoastrgi is suggesting you use a bit of plastic pipe, but you have linked to this : http://www.screwfix.com/p/overflow-pipe-21-5mm-x-3m-white/68593;jsessionid=8t2JRjnFk9hgfXLJ92dKRTHndm2mCz73g2hQn1gZKPJGnqTrpw2R!-331193201

That's three metres of pipe. You need 18 inches or so at most, wedged into the bottom of the bath, maybe only a couple of inches if you can wedge it onto the top of the bath. What about taping it up with "Gaffer Tape" ?

Hope you get it sorted !

lilibeth

mart.vader wrote: »

What do the people on the 9th floor do for water ? ?

Try ringing your Water Company, and ask them to find out if you are getting enough pressure.

Most council blocks, in my experience, have a large communal storage tank on the roof, which is fed by a pump at ground level, and then it feeds the flats via down-pipes. If you are in the "Penthouse" then there may not be too much height difference in between you and the roof.

southcoastrgi is suggesting you use a bit of plastic pipe, but you have linked to this : http://www.screwfix.com/p/overflow-pipe-21-5mm-x-3m-white/68593;jsessionid=8t2JRjnFk9hgfXLJ92dKRTHndm2mCz73g2hQn1gZKPJGnqTrpw2R!-331193201

That's three metres of pipe. You need 18 inches or so at most, wedged into the bottom of the bath, maybe only a couple of inches if you can wedge it onto the top of the bath. What about taping it up with "Gaffer Tape" ?

Hope you get it sorted !

No I linked to this
http://www.screwfix.com/search.do?fh_sort_by=price&fh_search=overflow+pipe&fh_start_index=0&fhSearchParams=&customPrice=&priceFrom=&priceTo=&priceFilterOn=&fh_view_size=100
A search page on screwfix for 'overflow pipe'

I'm a bit confused about the 18 inches you mention as I only need something a centimetre high & with an opening a few millimetres across. To hold the diverter pole up.
I've looked randomly on there & am wondering if a pipe clip would be better. Not sure on the dimensions though.
Re The water tank: there is no tank on the roof & there is one floor above me.

mart.vader

Yes, sorry, you gave the page link, and I refined it to specifically "overflow pipe".

No tank on the roof ? So it must be direct from the mains ? Have you asked your neighbours on the 9th floor what their showers are like, as they would be getting even less pressure than you ?

I thought you were going to cut 18 inches of pipe off and wedge the diverter up with it !

You only need something small, what about cutting a ballpoint pen down to size.? Did you consider Gaffer Tape ?

sillygoose

I sort of have a similiar problem with our shower/bath mixer, it does stay up but not firmly so still lets a fair dribble out the bath tap when having a shower, maybe only 5-10% but I'd rather it went to the shower head!

Anyway I use a large one of those plastic clips you can get to seal food bags after opening. Using some wire cutters I cut a bit of the plastic out the middle section so it can be closed around the diverters shaft.

lilibeth

mart.vader wrote: »

Yes, sorry, you gave the page link, and I refined it to specifically "overflow pipe".

No tank on the roof ? So it must be direct from the mains ? Have you asked your neighbours on the 9th floor what their showers are like, as they would be getting even less pressure than you ?

I thought you were going to cut 18 inches of pipe off and wedge the diverter up with it !

You only need something small, what about cutting a ballpoint pen down to size.? Did you consider Gaffer Tape ?

No I haven't I don't know my neighbours.
18 inches would be to much. The diverter is the little knob on top between the two taps.
Thanks for trying to help everyone I know it is a weird question. With regards to your tape suggestion, no I need to switch between shower & bath mode.
I've seen this http://www.wickes.co.uk/bin/venda?bsref=wickes&log=22&mode=add&curpage=&next=&layout=&preventdbclick=&ex=co_disp-shopc&buy=421902&invt=421902&htxt=wE8NCLlH7w0Dv5VLX5Y3QR79osPaI310WXneNICzsXU4oplU%252B26m4OBsdDT2tMXZMbqXswjTRT5l%250ADyO%252BKv0RDw%253D%253D&qty=1
It would need to be 12mm height though to properly hold it up.

lilibeth

sillygoose wrote: »

I sort of have a similiar problem with our shower/bath mixer, it does stay up but not firmly so still lets a fair dribble out the bath tap when having a shower, maybe only 5-10% but I'd rather it went to the shower head!

Anyway I use a large one of those plastic clips you can get to seal food bags after opening. Using some wire cutters I cut a bit of the plastic out the middle section so it can be closed around the diverters shaft.

Blimey I have a pile of these sitting in a drawer! I'm not sure which bit you mean to cut out though without seeing it.