O
olders
Hi.
Am hoping somebody here can help me determine the likely cause of my problem. Let me explain:
My shower has recently stopped working properly, having worked perfectly for years. It is a stand alone shower (as opposed to being fed from bath taps or the like) with a rain head and a hand held 'normal' head on a flexible hose.
I believe it is pumped rather than purely gravity fed as when you turn the shower on, you can hear a slight electrical motor/pump type whirring. Although I am not sure where this pump is located or how to access it. Neither the cold water tank in the loft or the hot water tank (by the boiler) is anywhere near the location of the shower. There are no obvious access hatches (fully tiled).
Up until recently everything has been working fine; two long showers in succession and we ran out of hot water (as one would expect) but cold water pressure was always very good. A couple of months ago, a strange thing happened whereby towards the end of the second successive shower the cold water supply seemed to stop, the water pressure faded away (and was very hot) before all water flow ceased (after perhaps 10/15 secs).
If the water was left off for a couple of minutes, some flow returned (slightly warmer than usual temp but acceptable) and then shortly all flow stopped again. If it was left for a longer while (say 10 mins or so - although never actually timed this) everything returned to normal.
In true "head in the sand" ostrich fashion we simply had quicker showers so that we never got to the 'no water' stage!
The problem has now intensified however, effectively rendering the shower useless....
Now, when we turn the shower on, it runs normally for about 20/30 secs, then the pressure drops and it gets very hot - temp set to its usual position. If you turn it to fully cold, pressure drops to not much more than a trickle (and is lukewarm). You can just about adjust the mixer so that cold and hot are balanced at a usable temp (although only tiny, tiny movements are possible - if you over do it, proper pressure is returned but basically only hot water) however the water flow is so little that it is effectively impossible to shower in.
From my very limited knowledge of these things, it seems to be as if we have a dual pumped shower and for some reason the cold water supply to the pump has dropped to such a small amount that the auto balancing valve (or what ever it is called!) is not able to provide a small enough amount of hot water to keep it balanced, so it shuts off.
Cold water pressure in all other parts of the house (and bathroom) is absolutely fine, no changes whatsoever.
Also, we have not had any changes or work done to any of the plumbing system recently. Essentially nothing has changed except the operation of the shower as described above.
So why has the cold water supply to the shower dropped so dramatically? Indeed, why does it work normally for the first 10 secs or so and then the cold pressure drops?
At first I suspected the pump had failed but if this was the case, why would the hot supply pressure still be strong and normal....?
Could it be an airlock in the cold supply - but how would this have come about if the system hadn't been touched? And again, why would it work normally to start with and then drop off after 10 secs....?
Confused (and getting smelly!). Please help!!
Cheers!
P.S. Apologies if this issue has been addressed previously - I had a good search through the forum archive before posting but couldn't find anything that seemed to have exactly the same symptoms....
Am hoping somebody here can help me determine the likely cause of my problem. Let me explain:
My shower has recently stopped working properly, having worked perfectly for years. It is a stand alone shower (as opposed to being fed from bath taps or the like) with a rain head and a hand held 'normal' head on a flexible hose.
I believe it is pumped rather than purely gravity fed as when you turn the shower on, you can hear a slight electrical motor/pump type whirring. Although I am not sure where this pump is located or how to access it. Neither the cold water tank in the loft or the hot water tank (by the boiler) is anywhere near the location of the shower. There are no obvious access hatches (fully tiled).
Up until recently everything has been working fine; two long showers in succession and we ran out of hot water (as one would expect) but cold water pressure was always very good. A couple of months ago, a strange thing happened whereby towards the end of the second successive shower the cold water supply seemed to stop, the water pressure faded away (and was very hot) before all water flow ceased (after perhaps 10/15 secs).
If the water was left off for a couple of minutes, some flow returned (slightly warmer than usual temp but acceptable) and then shortly all flow stopped again. If it was left for a longer while (say 10 mins or so - although never actually timed this) everything returned to normal.
In true "head in the sand" ostrich fashion we simply had quicker showers so that we never got to the 'no water' stage!
The problem has now intensified however, effectively rendering the shower useless....
Now, when we turn the shower on, it runs normally for about 20/30 secs, then the pressure drops and it gets very hot - temp set to its usual position. If you turn it to fully cold, pressure drops to not much more than a trickle (and is lukewarm). You can just about adjust the mixer so that cold and hot are balanced at a usable temp (although only tiny, tiny movements are possible - if you over do it, proper pressure is returned but basically only hot water) however the water flow is so little that it is effectively impossible to shower in.
From my very limited knowledge of these things, it seems to be as if we have a dual pumped shower and for some reason the cold water supply to the pump has dropped to such a small amount that the auto balancing valve (or what ever it is called!) is not able to provide a small enough amount of hot water to keep it balanced, so it shuts off.
Cold water pressure in all other parts of the house (and bathroom) is absolutely fine, no changes whatsoever.
Also, we have not had any changes or work done to any of the plumbing system recently. Essentially nothing has changed except the operation of the shower as described above.
So why has the cold water supply to the shower dropped so dramatically? Indeed, why does it work normally for the first 10 secs or so and then the cold pressure drops?
At first I suspected the pump had failed but if this was the case, why would the hot supply pressure still be strong and normal....?
Could it be an airlock in the cold supply - but how would this have come about if the system hadn't been touched? And again, why would it work normally to start with and then drop off after 10 secs....?
Confused (and getting smelly!). Please help!!
Cheers!
P.S. Apologies if this issue has been addressed previously - I had a good search through the forum archive before posting but couldn't find anything that seemed to have exactly the same symptoms....
