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Thermostatic electric shower cutting out due to low pressure

Discuss Thermostatic electric shower cutting out due to low pressure in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

J

JTplumbingservices

Gas Engineer
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234
So I was asked to go look at a job today I was told 3 plumbers have been at previously with the same issue still occurring.
Shower is cutting out completely with the low pressure light on when the basin or sink tap is turned on.
I’ve managed to have them all working together by shutting down the ballofix valves on each tap but this isn’t ideal as pressure wasn’t great to start with.
I can’t see how it’s piped as it’s all done behind the walls.
All I can think is with the pressure not being amazing to begin with maybe the shower is the last connection on the run and opening something before it is leaving very little water to reach it.
Last 3 plumbers have fitted new showers.
Thoughts guys ?
Cheers
 
Did you test the mains pressure what they got ?
 
ShaunCorbs said:
Did you test the mains pressure what they got ?
Click to expand...
Nah I didn’t have my gauge with me ! It did look good enough at the taps but it just wasn’t great.
OffshoreGas said:
Is there a space to fit an accumulator? Not ideal but would give a boost to flow for short period when taps are used.
is the pressure/flow pants in the whole house?
Click to expand...
There’s no way the company would go for that mate
 
rpm said:
It`s had 3 new showers in how long?
Would the shower booster from the new sponsor work
rpm said:
It`s had 3 new showers in how long?
Would the shower booster from the new sponsor work here?
Click to expand...
since last year sometime when her new kitchen was fitted she said
Click to expand...
rpm said:
It`s had 3 new showers in how long?
Would the shower booster from the new sponsor work here?
Click to expand...
since last year some time
 
Sounds like the shower is on the same pipe supplies as the taps. It should have its own dedicated supplies fed directly to it or it will lose pressure when a tap is used on an appliance. If it's an electric thermostatic shower, the inbuilt pump won't work if there's not enough water getting to it and the low pressure cut out will activate.
 
Cailean said:
Sounds like the shower is on the same pipe supplies as the taps. It should have its own dedicated supplies fed directly to it or it will lose pressure when a tap is used on an appliance. If it's an electric thermostatic shower, the inbuilt pump won't work if there's not enough water getting to it and the low pressure cut out will activate.
Click to expand...
Yes like the shower could be tee’d off one of the basin tails, could be but without tipping walls down we won’t know how its piped. If the pressure was decent it should still work that way tbf, or as in the op the basin could be off a tee with the shower on an elbow at the end of the run so the basin is taking priority and again with the poor mains it’s not strong enough for the shower.
I’m trying to think of a solution other than fixing the pipework though.
Maybe a mains booster pump or a low pressure shower
 
JTplumbingservices said:
Yes like the shower could be tee’d off one of the basin tails, could be but without tipping walls down we won’t know how its piped. If the pressure was decent it should still work that way tbf, or as in the op the basin could be off a tee with the shower on an elbow at the end of the run so the basin is taking priority and again with the poor mains it’s not strong enough for the shower.
I’m trying to think of a solution other than fixing the pipework though.
Maybe a mains booster pump or a low pressure shower
Click to expand...

May well have problems with cavitation if the pressure is that low.
 
JTplumbingservices said:
Yes like the shower could be tee’d off one of the basin tails, could be but without tipping walls down we won’t know how its piped. If the pressure was decent it should still work that way tbf, or as in the op the basin could be off a tee with the shower on an elbow at the end of the run so the basin is taking priority and again with the poor mains it’s not strong enough for the shower.
I’m trying to think of a solution other than fixing the pipework though.
Maybe a mains booster pump or a low pressure shower
Click to expand...
A recent fix I did was to connect the cold supply to the shower to the mains with a pressure reducing valve and feed a separate hot supply from the cylinder with one of the excellent wee shower booster pumps who are now a sponsor here. I balanced the cold mains supply to the hot with the PRV and it worked a treat.
Still, to fix your problem properly and permanently, a thermostatic shower must have its own dedicated hot and cold supplies and is something that you can tell your customer if they want a proper permanent fix.
 
rpm said:
Ahem, post #6
5 word rule applied
Click to expand...
Cailean said:
A recent fix I did was to connect the cold supply to the shower to the mains with a pressure reducing valve and feed a separate hot supply from the cylinder with one of the excellent wee shower booster pumps who are now a sponsor here. I balanced the cold mains supply to the hot with the PRV and it worked a treat.
Still, to fix your problem properly and permanently, a thermostatic shower must have its own dedicated hot and cold supplies and is something that you can tell your customer if they want a proper permanent fix.
Click to expand...
It doesn’t have a hot supply mate.
 
Again stating the obvious but I assume that it is being fed from the CWST so poor mains pressure should have no effect except that its not sufficient to keep the tank full, you mentioned poor mains in post #9.
 
ALL electric showers with a integral pump are designed to be gravity (tank) fed.
They are usually installed where mains pressure is poor, a mains supplied electric shower requires ~ a sustained 0.8/1.0 bar at 8 LPM.
You could possibly/probably run it on mains if the pressure was reduced to ~ 0.5/1.0 bar via a PRV but this is not recommended.
Most, if not all "care" type showers will be tank fed because any temporary interruption in the mains pressure will not immediately affect the shower performance.
www.tritonshowers.ie

Safeguard Care Pumped Thermostatic Shower

The Safeguard Care Pumped is ideal for low water pressure areas. Designed specifically for use with a gravity fed cold water supply from a header tank, the integrated pump boosts the flow rate of your shower. The Safeguard Care Pumped is perfect for those who require additional showering aids...
www.tritonshowers.ie www.tritonshowers.ie
 
Don’t know why you think it’s got a pump I must have missed something, I thought we were on about a standard electric shower.

I don’t think most ‘care’ are tank fed, Mira advance is very common for this and not tank fed. I would say tank fed electric with a pump is exceptional rather than common. But maybe that’s just in my area - we’re all different
 
Yes its not clear if this particular Triton care shower is mains or pumped, I probably assumed a pumped shower as the few I've seen around here are all pumped. My own shower is mains supplied.

Possibly this one if mains supplied.
www.tritonshowers.co.uk

Safeguard Care Thermostatic Shower

The Safeguard Care is perfect for the those who require additional showering aids and reassurance. Its thermostatic control ensures that the temperature is consistent. This shower is BEAB Care and RNIB approved for total peace of mind.
www.tritonshowers.co.uk www.tritonshowers.co.uk
 
Last edited:
We have had loads of customers who with this problem have solved it with a ShowerPowerBooster (about 10% of my sales are for electric showers).
If the problem is a tap which is taking away the pressure then a SP2B gives a single boost and adds around 0.4 bars. This can increase the pressure enough to solve the problem. If adding 0.4 bars does not solve it a SP21S double boost adds 0.8 bars (you can also triple boost it adding 0.4 + 0.4 + 0.4 but lets not get silly).
The way it works is that water is lazy so rather than going out of a tap it would rather go into a pump suction given the chance. Provided you do not take all of the water away before it reaches the pump the water that does reach the pump gets boosted, the second pump if needed boosts it again. If you put the pump on the cold water feed to the electric shower only it protects the shower. If you put it on the pipe that feeds the tap and the shower you are wasting your time and money because the tap wins again. Make sure you find which tap is causing the problem and avoid boosting that as well.
One SP2B pump giving a single boost is normally enough but if you are serious about trying my product I will happily loan you specially adapted pressure gage which screws into where the shower head fits onto the shower hose from you electric shower. With the gage you can tell if you need a single or double boost before you fit a pump or if the pressure is good enough already and its a new shower you need.
The Shower Power Booster | Get the Perfect Shower | Inline Pump
 
If its a mains supplied shower then its a bit surprising that 3 replacement showers were installed especially if the low flow cut out was operating in each case, Triton were hardly supplying free replacements in each case. It would be prudent to take flow/pressure readings before proceeding further with any fix.
 
I did something similar recently, fitted new shower and tried to be clever by taking feed from old bath supply which was close by. I was replacing bath and old shower unit with walk in shower.
There was an old inset triton that had the main unit under the far end of the bath which I removed and capped off.

Turns out that the bath was tank fed and the old shower had a dedicated mains feed. took a while to realise what id done but was able to sort it. Kept getting low pressure warning on shower so maybe the pipework has been taken from the wrong source
 
John.g said:
ALL electric showers with a integral pump are designed to be gravity (tank) fed.
They are usually installed where mains pressure is poor, a mains supplied electric shower requires ~ a sustained 0.8/1.0 bar at 8 LPM.
You could possibly/probably run it on mains if the pressure was reduced to ~ 0.5/1.0 bar via a PRV but this is not recommended.
Most, if not all "care" type showers will be tank fed because any temporary interruption in the mains pressure will not immediately affect the shower performance.
www.tritonshowers.ie

Safeguard Care Pumped Thermostatic Shower

The Safeguard Care Pumped is ideal for low water pressure areas. Designed specifically for use with a gravity fed cold water supply from a header tank, the integrated pump boosts the flow rate of your shower. The Safeguard Care Pumped is perfect for those who require additional showering aids...
www.tritonshowers.ie www.tritonshowers.ie
Click to expand...

I don’t knew why but I’m just getting notifications for this now.
I don’t know why you think it’s a pumped shower and tank fed?
It’s mains fed and not pumped.
 

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