Shower not causing enough pressure drop to cause pump to activate.

hopalong_ie

Hi,

I have a Grohe Wireless shower, it is wall mounted and fed off the same feed as the bath and sink, the problem is that when the shower is turned it doesn't cause enough of a pressure drop to cause the pump to activate. If i turn on and off the tap the pump activates and the shower works away. How can i solve this, i assume the issue is that the shower pack is higher than the pipes with a 1/2" feed off the pipes as its wall mounted.

Any ideas how to resolve this ?

311

You should be able to adjust the setting on the pump.
Usually it's a small flat headed screw ,that you turn.

ircoha

When in the shower, if u lower the shower head handset - assumimg it not fixed - then the flow should be enough to start the pump, as opposed to using the tap.

I dont know about the actual unit u have but I had to fit an air switch to my pump as I did not have enough height to create the initial flow

Borzoi

hopalong_ie wrote:

Any ideas how to resolve this ?

Is the shower head above the level of the pump? Sounds like it is, in which case you should really have a 'negative pressure pump', which has a small pressure vessel on top to maintain pressure for starting flow. Unfortunately it would mean a new, and expensive pump change!

coolerhash

Hi
Is your house a 2 story house or single ,sounds like you have not got enough head pressure in your hot and cold water system to start the pump. Just fitted one of these units myself with no probs but i fitted my my unit in the attic just above the shower

ircoha

Borzoi wrote:

Is the shower head above the level of the pump? Sounds like it is, in which case you should really have a 'negative pressure pump', which has a small pressure vessel on top to maintain pressure for starting flow. Unfortunately it would mean a new, and expensive pump change!

or an airswitch, which is not expensive

311

Jeez ,sorry for posting again ,but the flow switch on most pumps can be adjusted and set to suit the pressure feeding the pump.

As I said ,check and see if there is an adjustment screw on the pump.

Negative head pumps are beneficial ,mostly in attic conversions . When the shower is higher than the tank.

Fr Dougal

What's the make & model of your pump?

Do you know how high above your shower head to the bottom of the water tank?
What size are the outlets from the pump? duid you have to reduce from 3/4" to 1/2"?

Did you install yourself or get a plumber? If you got a plumber to install, just get him back to sort it. He may have to fit an airswitch or do a negative head installaion which requires some re-routing of pipes.


As Brian said, check for a sensitivity adjuster, probably on the end of the pump.

ircoha wrote:

When in the shower, if u lower the shower head handset

Also, if you do this, does the pump start?

Dec McC

Had a similar problem to this and rang the manufacturers. They told me there was a chance it was the mixer valve on the wall. Had it changed and it worked no problem.