Shower sounds like a foghorn

JG0

I've recently had a new shower installed, which you can see here.

However, when I adjust the temperature from cold to hot it makes a noise like a foghorn. It's absurdly loud. And this sound is continuous until you adjust it back to a colder temperature. No other taps in the house are affected by this.

The manual for the shower is here, if that's useful.

Does anyone have any idea what may be causing this?

Thanks for any help.

Mr.Generous

I suspect its not the shower but the ballcock valve that fills the water tank in the loft. These can hit a resonance frequency that you describe perfectly - like a bl00dy fog horn!!

JG0

Mr.Generous said:

I suspect its not the shower but the ballcock valve that fills the water tank in the loft. These can hit a resonance frequency that you describe perfectly - like a bl00dy fog horn!!

It's certainly a very distinct sound! Incredibly loud too.

I don't have a water tank in the loft though, I have a combi boiler.

ThisIsWeird

Is your water pressure particularly high?

Likely caused by a resonating component inside the shower mixer, a slightly loose washer or part of the thermostat valve - anything, really! The two diverters will have seals/washers on them, and one of these could cause it too, I guess.

Does it make the noise on both 'rain' and handset options? What about with both open?

Were isolating valves fitted on the supply pipes? Are they both fully open?

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said: Were isolating valves fitted on the supply pipes? Are they both fully open?

Are the supply pipes firmly fixed to the wall ?

ThisIsWeird

Since it's a recent fit, best call the installer. It'll likely be easy for them to sort.

JG0

ThisIsWeird said:

Is your water pressure particularly high?

First of all, thanks for the very detailed reply.

Yes. The pressure used to be awful, then it was realised that the person who lived here before had essentially almost shut off the stopcock. The stopcock was unseized and now the pressure is very.. powerful to say the least.

ThisIsWeird said:

Does it make the noise on both 'rain' and handset options? What about with both open?

Were isolating valves fitted on the supply pipes? Are they both fully open?

Yes to all.

FreeBear said:

Are the supply pipes firmly fixed to the wall ?

I've posted some photos at the link below. I've also uploaded a video showing the sound (EAR WARNING! You may want to turn your sound down first). You'll notice that the sound starts very suddenly, like the switch from cold to hot is doing something.

https://imgur.com/a/bathroom-ybOqCF3

ThisIsWeird said:

Since it's a recent fit, best call the installer. It'll likely be easy for them to sort.

A family friend fitted it who has dealt with plumbing before, but isn't a plumber by trade. And he's a bit unsure. I'm happy to call a plumber out, but thought I'd ask here first.

FreeBear

Might be worth fitting a pressure reducing valve to the incoming cold water supply (just wish I had the same problem).

ThisIsWeird

JG0 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Is your water pressure particularly high?

First of all, thanks for the very detailed reply.

Yes. The pressure used to be awful, then it was realised that the person who lived here before had essentially almost shut off the stopcock. The stopcock was unseized and now the pressure is very.. powerful to say the least.

ThisIsWeird said:

Does it make the noise on both 'rain' and handset options? What about with both open?

Were isolating valves fitted on the supply pipes? Are they both fully open?

Yes to all.

FreeBear said:

Are the supply pipes firmly fixed to the wall ?

I've posted some photos at the link below. I've also uploaded a video showing the sound (EAR WARNING! You may want to turn your sound down first). You'll notice that the sound starts very suddenly, like the switch from cold to hot is doing something.

https://imgur.com/a/bathroom-ybOqCF3

ThisIsWeird said:

Since it's a recent fit, best call the installer. It'll likely be easy for them to sort.

A family friend fitted it who has dealt with plumbing before, but isn't a plumber by trade. And he's a bit unsure. I'm happy to call a plumber out, but thought I'd ask here first.

Wow! 
Ok, that occurs where you adjust the temp, and not the flow. There is no separate 'on/off/flow' control on this shower, but there's two individual flow controls, one on each outlet, rain and handset. These controls do not appear to be the cause.
The part that's resonating is almost certainly the thermostatic shower cartridge, or a rubber seal on it, and the cause - other than it being loose or damaged - is almost certainly as FreeBear suggests - an excessive water pressure.
Well done, your man, for fitting lever isolating valves!
The unsupported plastic pipes might be contributing to the resonance, so you can try gripping them firmly when it's noisy to see if that makes a difference. I doubt they are the cause, tho'.
And - please confirm 100% that the H and C are the correct way around - that LH pipe is the one that becomes hot, yeah?! And the other one remains stone cold?
Are you capable of removing the thermostat cartridge, or do you need yer mate? That's the first thing I'd try, and give it a good looking-over. Rotate it, and examine all the visible moving parts. Give it a shake in all temperature positions and listen for rattles. 
(Check the installation instructions first to see if it needs to be in a certain 'temp' position before installation, and make sure you know how to set it back there before adjusting it wildly!)
Examine all the rubber O rings - I'd imagine there would be a few, as it needs to seal along it's bottom, keep the H and C apart, and also seal around the top near the handle. Look at them closely, and see if you can tell they have been 'seating' ok, so were actually effective - you'll hopefully notice a slight flattening of the mating surfaces, and perhaps they'll look lighter or drier on the contact edges if they've been doing their job! Ditto check the inside of the shower housing - look for any rough, damaged, or jagged edges where the rubbers seal against.
If all good, then buy a wee tub or tube of silicone grease, and liberally smear each O ring before assembly, and also the fitting threads (prevent it from seizing over time). (Note, this is silicone grease and not sealant!)
Reassemble, and do it up firmly so you know it's seating well - no floppy O rings.
If it still honks, then it could be either a faulty thermo cartridge, or your pressure is simply excessive.
It states max pressure of 5bar, so it's unlikely to be that high, so I reckon you have a good case for asking the supplier for a replacement (after you eliminate the loose pipes as being a cause).
Tbh, if your pressure is much above 3 bar, you really should fit a PRV, as it can put your whole plumbing system under stress - cistern valves, taps, etc. a good PRV won't actually affect your flow much, if at all, just control the pressure.
See how you get on :-)

(Looks really nice, btw - who did the rest of the bathroom?)

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said:

JG0 said: https://imgur.com/a/bathroom-ybOqCF3ught I'd ask here first.

Well done, your man, for fitting lever isolating valves!
The unsupported plastic pipes might be contributing to the resonance, so you can try gripping them firmly when it's noisy to see if that makes a difference. I doubt they are the cause, tho'.

Only just seen the collection of photos - Just one comment to make. There is a length of corrugated bendy copper pipe. Whilst the stuff can be useful where you need a complex bend, it really messes up flow rates as it introduces a lot of turbulence. I'm wondering if this is the source of the foghorn noise.

Having a compression fitting on one end, and a speedfit on the other, it won't take much effort to replace with a length of rigid (and smooth) copper pipe.

JG0

ThisIsWeird said:

JG0 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Is your water pressure particularly high?

First of all, thanks for the very detailed reply.

Yes. The pressure used to be awful, then it was realised that the person who lived here before had essentially almost shut off the stopcock. The stopcock was unseized and now the pressure is very.. powerful to say the least.

ThisIsWeird said:

Does it make the noise on both 'rain' and handset options? What about with both open?

Were isolating valves fitted on the supply pipes? Are they both fully open?

Yes to all.

FreeBear said:

Are the supply pipes firmly fixed to the wall ?

I've posted some photos at the link below. I've also uploaded a video showing the sound (EAR WARNING! You may want to turn your sound down first). You'll notice that the sound starts very suddenly, like the switch from cold to hot is doing something.

https://imgur.com/a/bathroom-ybOqCF3

ThisIsWeird said:

Since it's a recent fit, best call the installer. It'll likely be easy for them to sort.

A family friend fitted it who has dealt with plumbing before, but isn't a plumber by trade. And he's a bit unsure. I'm happy to call a plumber out, but thought I'd ask here first.

Wow! 
Ok, that occurs where you adjust the temp, and not the flow. There is no separate 'on/off/flow' control on this shower, but there's two individual flow controls, one on each outlet, rain and handset. These controls do not appear to be the cause.
The part that's resonating is almost certainly the thermostatic shower cartridge, or a rubber seal on it, and the cause - other than it being loose or damaged - is almost certainly as FreeBear suggests - an excessive water pressure.
Well done, your man, for fitting lever isolating valves!
The unsupported plastic pipes might be contributing to the resonance, so you can try gripping them firmly when it's noisy to see if that makes a difference. I doubt they are the cause, tho'.
And - please confirm 100% that the H and C are the correct way around - that LH pipe is the one that becomes hot, yeah?! And the other one remains stone cold?
Are you capable of removing the thermostat cartridge, or do you need yer mate? That's the first thing I'd try, and give it a good looking-over. Rotate it, and examine all the visible moving parts. Give it a shake in all temperature positions and listen for rattles. 
(Check the installation instructions first to see if it needs to be in a certain 'temp' position before installation, and make sure you know how to set it back there before adjusting it wildly!)
Examine all the rubber O rings - I'd imagine there would be a few, as it needs to seal along it's bottom, keep the H and C apart, and also seal around the top near the handle. Look at them closely, and see if you can tell they have been 'seating' ok, so were actually effective - you'll hopefully notice a slight flattening of the mating surfaces, and perhaps they'll look lighter or drier on the contact edges if they've been doing their job! Ditto check the inside of the shower housing - look for any rough, damaged, or jagged edges where the rubbers seal against.
If all good, then buy a wee tub or tube of silicone grease, and liberally smear each O ring before assembly, and also the fitting threads (prevent it from seizing over time). (Note, this is silicone grease and not sealant!)
Reassemble, and do it up firmly so you know it's seating well - no floppy O rings.
If it still honks, then it could be either a faulty thermo cartridge, or your pressure is simply excessive.
It states max pressure of 5bar, so it's unlikely to be that high, so I reckon you have a good case for asking the supplier for a replacement (after you eliminate the loose pipes as being a cause).
Tbh, if your pressure is much above 3 bar, you really should fit a PRV, as it can put your whole plumbing system under stress - cistern valves, taps, etc. a good PRV won't actually affect your flow much, if at all, just control the pressure.
See how you get on :-)

(Looks really nice, btw - who did the rest of the bathroom?)

Thank you so much, really appreciate the reply. We'll try the bits you recommended and then post an update.

And thank you! The family friend is a kitchen fitter who has fitted bathrooms before, and he's done the main bits, with his plastering, electrician and tiling friends coming in also. Just the toilet and sink to be installed now!

FreeBear said:

ThisIsWeird said:

JG0 said: https://imgur.com/a/bathroom-ybOqCF3ught I'd ask here first.

Well done, your man, for fitting lever isolating valves!
The unsupported plastic pipes might be contributing to the resonance, so you can try gripping them firmly when it's noisy to see if that makes a difference. I doubt they are the cause, tho'.

Only just seen the collection of photos - Just one comment to make. There is a length of corrugated bendy copper pipe. Whilst the stuff can be useful where you need a complex bend, it really messes up flow rates as it introduces a lot of turbulence. I'm wondering if this is the source of the foghorn noise.

Having a compression fitting on one end, and a speedfit on the other, it won't take much effort to replace with a length of rigid (and smooth) copper pipe.

Thank you! I'll let him know about this bit too.