dave r
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| posted on 3/5/11 at 05:52 PM |
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domestic plumbing
hi quick plumbing question
when is it deemed necessary to use 22mm?
our whole street is on a low pressure feed (about 1.5 bar)
this makes a shower a bit useless (mains fed electric, no pump)
my supply in is 3/4 ? ish
the stoptap is then reduced down to 15mm as it leaves the valve
will i notice the difference if i replace this with 22mm? or am i wasting my time ?
[Edited on 3/5/11 by dave r]
I'd love to give my imaginary friend a great big hug,
but this jacket makes it impossible.
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daniel mason
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| posted on 3/5/11 at 05:58 PM |
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it will be the shower rather than the mains pressure causing the problem. electric showers are no the best. you could always do away with it and put a
mains water shower in? either with a pump (possibly under bath if hot and cold are under there) or a mixer if on a combi. i assume your not on a
combi though with an electric shower
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splitrivet
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| posted on 3/5/11 at 06:58 PM |
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I fitted a pump best thing I did you can now have a decent shower. Word of warning though they are noisy varmints ours is in the airing cupboard
mounted on a cut down paving slab you can hear it through the house when its switched on. The alternative is you can get a unit that looks like a run
of the mill leccy shower but actually is a pump with a built in flow switch just hook it up to your hot and cold feed from the bath and jobs a good
un.
Cheers,
Bob
I used to be a Werewolf but I'm alright nowwoooooooooooooo
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Confused but excited.
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| posted on 3/5/11 at 07:04 PM |
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Dave, a friend was selling a complete power shower set-up, fairly cheaply a while ago. Do you want me to see if it's still available?
They bought it, then had a combi boiler fitted befor they could install it.
U2U me if interested and I'll find out the details.
[Edited on 3/5/11 by Confused but excited.]
Tell them about the bent treacle edges!
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tegwin
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| posted on 3/5/11 at 07:09 PM |
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Going to 22mm wont help you if the pressure is that low on the incomming...
I would suggest fitting a suitable shower pump to lift the hot and cold up to a better pressure.
They can be noisy, so ideally sit it on a concrete block/pad and use flexi couplings for the water...
They can be very very picky about where they are located, ideally it needs to be as close to your hot water cylinder as possible. I would suggest
fitting a proper split feed into the top of your water tank (they have a name, but cant remeber what it is)... gives you a dedicated HW feed for the
shower that is free from air... as air will bugger the pump 
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Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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Liam
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| posted on 3/5/11 at 07:56 PM |
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I also agree the 22mm wont help - 15mm is plenty to supply a shower.
Didn't think you could pump mains cold water into an electric shower - you'd have to replace it with a mixer shower fed by hot and cold
from the pump, the pump being fed from the cold header tank (assuming you have one) and the hot cylinder (again assuming you have one).
How many KW is your electric shower? Because electric showers basically run at full power and when you turn the temperature dial you're actually
adjusting the flow rate - less flow = shower can heat it to a higher temperature. If your shower is weedy, your desired showering temperature may
equate to a pretty poor flow rate. If that's the case then a more powerful shower would give you better flow at your desired temperature. If the
flow from your shower is decent when you turn the dial to cold, but reduces to an unsatisfying trickle when you turn up the temp, that indicates you
are not limited by your water supply, but the power of your shower.
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whitestu
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| posted on 3/5/11 at 08:01 PM |
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Is the pipe to your house old?
Ours was and we got good pressure and flow after we replaced it - it was full of limescale and the id of the old lead pipe was about the same as a
drinking straw.
If you can get decent mains pressure and flow don't get a pump, get an unventended pressurised system [otherwise known as a Megaflow]. This will
give a really good shower without a pump.
Stu
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dave r
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| posted on 3/5/11 at 08:30 PM |
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right more info.........
combi boiler, so no header tanks/cold water tank, apart from whats actually in the boiler
shower is 9 or 10kw
dont think the regs will allow you to pump , without a tank to draw from ?
dave
I'd love to give my imaginary friend a great big hug,
but this jacket makes it impossible.
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mark chandler
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| posted on 3/5/11 at 08:44 PM |
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Will the combi keep up with the flow? you need a really big combi to get the flow rate required for a full on shower...
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Liam
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| posted on 4/5/11 at 01:10 AM |
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Nah I've only got a little 24kW combi and the thermostatic mixer shower we have is great. Better than my old electric and better than a pumped
power shower that I've used.
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dave r
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| posted on 4/5/11 at 05:58 AM |
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the pressure isnt that great when the boiler is running, on its own.... with the cold supply running too, i can see us gaining anything
if you fill the bath, you cant run both taps together sensibly
I'd love to give my imaginary friend a great big hug,
but this jacket makes it impossible.
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splitrivet
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| posted on 4/5/11 at 07:45 AM |
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If your running on mains pressure your problem must be elsewhere our shower pump is rated at 1.5 bar and it blows your head off.
At my house in France the pressure was cr*p found out there was a regulator fitted just after the meter looked like a bottled gas regulator took it
off cleaned and adjusted it made a big big difference.
Do your neighbours have the same problem.
Cheers,
Bob
I used to be a Werewolf but I'm alright nowwoooooooooooooo
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swanny
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| posted on 4/5/11 at 08:38 AM |
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i have a pump that we fitted for six months or so to improve our shower until the builders were due to come and knock the houser about. you're
welcome to that for nowt.
paul
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tegwin
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| posted on 4/5/11 at 10:24 PM |
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Ok... if the cause is just low pressure/flow from the main and you have a combi...
I would fit an electric self heating shower jobby, run a new cold feed from the main with a booster pump (you can get these designed to work off the
incomming main) and feed that directly into the back of the shower.. might be an expensive solution though...
I recently replaced the lead main under my driveway, I now have 8 bar.... which is just silly.. so I had to actually fit a pressure reducing valve to
get it back down to 2.5 so it doesnt waste water and spray it everywhere when you open a tap!
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Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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Peteff
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| posted on 4/5/11 at 11:31 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by tegwinI recently replaced the lead main under my driveway, I now have 8 bar.... which is just silly.. so I had to
actually fit a pressure reducing valve to get it back down to 2.5 so it doesnt waste water and spray it everywhere when you open a tap!
The usual way is to turn the kitchen sink cold tap on then open the stop c0ck gradually till the water is fast enough and leave it at that, you
don't need a valve to do the same job.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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