Replacing Bristan shower tap

Daisy_84

Thank you everyone. I'll unscrew the bolts and have a go at cleaning it first. If that fails, then I will buy a new one

neilmcl

Daisy_84 said:

Thank you everyone. I'll unscrew the bolts and have a go at cleaning it first. If that fails, then I will buy a new one

Remove the tap on the left, the side that's not fully closing, first and give that a through clean and soak in a descaling solution to see if that fixes it first. There's an exploded diagram on that link I posted which will give you an idea of how it comes apart. As already mentioned, just make sure you isolate the shower first before taking it apart.

southcoastrgi

neilmcl said:

It might matter to the OP which is why I questioned it, also don't forget this is MSE, so if a little bit of elbow grease can resolve the issue where's the harm.

I very much doubt the op cares if the hose connects to one end or in the middle, the problem the op is having won't be solved by cleaning the outside, the problem will be with the on/off control & even if the op could actually remove it from the main body I very much doubt that cleaning will solve anything, the link was for a new valve for less than £30 which is really cheap & it can be changed by the op which is the mse way to go 

neilmcl

southcoastrgi said:

neilmcl said:

It might matter to the OP which is why I questioned it, also don't forget this is MSE, so if a little bit of elbow grease can resolve the issue where's the harm.

I very much doubt the op cares if the hose connects to one end or in the middle, the problem the op is having won't be solved by cleaning the outside, the problem will be with the on/off control & even if the op could actually remove it from the main body I very much doubt that cleaning will solve anything, the link was for a new valve for less than £30 which is really cheap & it can be changed by the op which is the mse way to go 

I never said anything about "cleaning the outside", in fact I specifically mentioned taking it apart to give the tap control a good clean and descale. The fact the OP has thanked me and decided to give it a go suggests they are of the same mind and would rather not have to spend money when they may not need to.

Daisy_84

neilmcl said:

southcoastrgi said:

neilmcl said:

It might matter to the OP which is why I questioned it, also don't forget this is MSE, so if a little bit of elbow grease can resolve the issue where's the harm.

I very much doubt the op cares if the hose connects to one end or in the middle, the problem the op is having won't be solved by cleaning the outside, the problem will be with the on/off control & even if the op could actually remove it from the main body I very much doubt that cleaning will solve anything, the link was for a new valve for less than £30 which is really cheap & it can be changed by the op which is the mse way to go 

I never said anything about "cleaning the outside", in fact I specifically mentioned taking it apart to give the tap control a good clean and descale. The fact the OP has thanked me and decided to give it a go suggests they are of the same mind and would rather not have to spend money when they may not need to.

I took it out and cleaned it and it didn't make a difference. I've now ordered the one from Amazon.

I noticed that the leak is actually happening because there's a lot of water pressure building at the back. It made and that's because the tap can't fully close off the water. It made me wonder, where is the water going when the shower is turned off and water has no outlet? 

Daisy_84

southcoastrgi said:

neilmcl said:

It might matter to the OP which is why I questioned it, also don't forget this is MSE, so if a little bit of elbow grease can resolve the issue where's the harm.

I very much doubt the op cares if the hose connects to one end or in the middle, the problem the op is having won't be solved by cleaning the outside, the problem will be with the on/off control & even if the op could actually remove it from the main body I very much doubt that cleaning will solve anything, the link was for a new valve for less than £30 which is really cheap & it can be changed by the op which is the mse way to go 

I've now ordered the one off Amazon. I noticed that the leak and whistle sounds are from water that has no outlet. It made me wonder where the water goes with all that pressure. 
I'm now worried about water pipes bursting. 
The new controls arrive on Wednesday, but I hope they arrive tomorrow. 

Jeepers_Creepers

Daisy_84 said:

I noticed that the leak is actually happening because there's a lot of water pressure building at the back. It made and that's because the tap can't fully close off the water. It made me wonder, where is the water going when the shower is turned off and water has no outlet? 

Hopefully nowhere, since the control is off.

I'm not sure I understand your concern - the shower control shuts off the water flow completely, but I suspect that in your case some water was seeping past the rubber seals around the spindle shaft. This is simply wear and tear, and a new control should sort it.

Do you have any reason to suspect that your water pressure is excessively high?

Jeepers_Creepers

Daisy_84 said:

I've now ordered the one off Amazon. I noticed that the leak and whistle sounds are from water that has no outlet. It made me wonder where the water goes with all that pressure. 
I'm now worried about water pipes bursting. 
The new controls arrive on Wednesday, but I hope they arrive tomorrow. 

You've ordered a complete new shower mixer unit? Is it also Bristan? If not, there's still a good chance it'll have the same pipe spacing, so will fit straight on.

Don't worry about the water pressure. An 'ok-ish' one is 2bar. A 'good' one more like 3bar. A really nice one is '4', and above this it could start causing undesirable issues such as noisy taps and toilet cisterns - but still not a safety 'concern'; all the plumbing bits in your house will have been certified to at least 10 bar, and even a 'high' pressure won't be anywhere near that.

Fit the new one, and almost certainly sort your problem. Any issues, come back to us :-)  

Daisy_84

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Daisy_84 said:

I noticed that the leak is actually happening because there's a lot of water pressure building at the back. It made and that's because the tap can't fully close off the water. It made me wonder, where is the water going when the shower is turned off and water has no outlet? 

Hopefully nowhere, since the control is off.

I'm not sure I understand your concern - the shower control shuts off the water flow completely, but I suspect that in your case some water was seeping past the rubber seals around the spindle shaft. This is simply wear and tear, and a new control should sort it.

Do you have any reason to suspect that your water pressure is excessively high?

I only ask because when I remove the bolts of the shower, loads of water starts gushing out if I haven't turned off the mains. Is that normal? I thought turning off the shower should effectively cut the water supply meaning I'd be able to screw and unscrew bolts without a gush of water.

Excuse my ignorance, I know where to turn off my mains but I just want to understand the mechanisms and I want to make sure there's no water pressure building up

Daisy_84

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Daisy_84 said:

I've now ordered the one off Amazon. I noticed that the leak and whistle sounds are from water that has no outlet. It made me wonder where the water goes with all that pressure. 
I'm now worried about water pipes bursting. 
The new controls arrive on Wednesday, but I hope they arrive tomorrow. 

You've ordered a complete new shower mixer unit? Is it also Bristan? If not, there's still a good chance it'll have the same pipe spacing, so will fit straight on.

Don't worry about the water pressure. An 'ok-ish' one is 2bar. A 'good' one more like 3bar. A really nice one is '4', and above this it could start causing undesirable issues such as noisy taps and toilet cisterns - but still not a safety 'concern'; all the plumbing bits in your house will have been certified to at least 10 bar, and even a 'high' pressure won't be anywhere near that.

Fit the new one, and almost certainly sort your problem. Any issues, come back to us :-)  

Thanks. No I couldn't find a Bristan replacement, but I have done the measurements and they should be fine. 
Any chance you might be able to answer my question about mechanics? Does water still gush out of the wall even if shower controls are turned off. I explained what happens when I remove the bolts, the gush of water. Is that normal? Is that to be expected if I haven't turned off mains?