New Combi Boiler Fitted Now Shower Leaking

M271

A friend had a Combi Boiler fitted last week to replace a traditional hot water cylinder set up. Now the power shower leaks all the time from the tap whether in use or not, the fitter has put a pressure restrictor in place put this has not helped. I would have thought that the output from the Power Shower pump before the Boiler Installation would have been higher than the output now from the boiler for the hot water or cold water at mains pressure.

Has anyone experienced this problem before and what was the solution?

evoke

A combi should never be used to drive a power shower. I'm not surprised it's leaking.

Your friend needs to replace the power shower with a non-power shower.

M271

Thanks evoke.

The pump has been removed from the power shower. Is this still not OK?

evoke

The damage may already have been done. And I wouldn't have thought that operating a power shower without its pump would be very efficient. The water needs a direct route to the showerhead.

As I mentioned, the shower needs to be replaced with a proper one that is suitable for use with a combi boiler. You should have the water pressure and flow rate tested first and then buy a suitable shower (some require a lot of water pressure).

Have you had a new water mains pipe laid from the street to your property and/or have you had your mains water pressure and flow rate tested before the boiler was installed?

Who installed the combi boiler? Was it a gas safe registered heating engineer and someone accredited by the company who make the boiler or a general plumber?

Was the boiler commissioned and its service book updated?

A heating system done properly would have taken the power shower into account and made recommendations before the installation.

M271

evoke wrote: »

The damage may already have been done. And I wouldn't have thought that operating a power shower without its pump would be very efficient. The water needs a direct route to the showerhead.

As I mentioned, the shower needs to be replaced with a proper one that is suitable for use with a combi boiler. You should have the water pressure and flow rate tested first and then buy a suitable shower (some require a lot of water pressure).

Have you had a new water mains pipe laid from the street to your property and/or have you had your mains water pressure and flow rate tested before the boiler was installed?

Who installed the combi boiler? Was it a gas safe registered heating engineer and someone accredited by the company who make the boiler or a general plumber?

Was the boiler commissioned and its service book updated?

A heating system done properly would have taken the power shower into account and made recommendations before the installation.

I don't know all of the details of which you ask. The company who installed it is a large Gas Safe registered heating engineering company. My friend had 3 quotes before taking the plunge including British Gas and none mentioned any problem with using or adapting the power shower.
To me if the Shower Tap is leaking the cold mains pressure now must be higher than the pressure that was seen from the Power Shower Pump otherwise it should be able to cope. I did read on the Triton site that debris could have got into the tap which could cause the leak. My friend has used the shower and it was OK but not as powerful as before (obviously now without the pump). Just that it leaks.

diywhynot

Make and model of boiler and 'power shower'?

macman

A pumped shower isn't suitable for feeding off a combi, it's designed to be fed from the hot and cold tanks in order to get sufficient flow. Pressure isn't the issue.
The RGI is clearly incompetent or didn't even realise it was pumped. Did he suggest a combi, or did your friend just say that he wanted one?
Either way, shower will need changing to a non-pumped or electric one.

M271

diywhynot wrote: »

Make and model of boiler and 'power shower'?

I'll talk to them again tomorrow and let you know.

M271

macman wrote: »

A pumped shower isn't suitable for feeding off a combi, it's designed to be fed from the hot and cold tanks in order to get sufficient flow. Pressure isn't the issue.
The RGI is clearly incompetent or didn't even realise it was pumped. Did he suggest a combi, or did your friend just say that he wanted one?
Either way, shower will need changing to a non-pumped or electric one.

I can understand if it didn't function but why should it leak from the tap (controls) all the time?

My friend was never asked if the shower was pumped by the 3 companies which quoted including British Gas.

evoke

It has probably been operated and the seals are perished due to over-pressure - the combined pressure of the combi boiler pump supplying water and the shower's own pump adding additional pressure.

And I would imagine if the guts of the power shower have been taken out then what's left isn't properly watertight.