Replaced shower - water pressure

slave1

Folks,

I gutted our upstairs shower room, taking out the Mira Elite ST Pumped Electric shower from an internal studded wall to relocate to an external wall (to reduce vibration noise). The shower is probably 5/6 years old and working fine, good pressure and was fed by what was a cold water feed from where there was originally a sink in place (previous owners inheritance) so not direct from cold water tank in attic. I was intending to replicate this cold water feed but the plumber insisted it needed to be fed from the cold water tank so I just agreed as being honest this is not an area I'm that knowledgeable in. The cold water tank is just over two feet above the shower and there's a new half inch pipe run of about nine to ten feet feeding the shower.
The shower was installed yesterday and first shower this morning and the pressure is all but a trickle, there was nowhere near enough to wet or rinse the daughters hair and the noise was a lot louder than what it used to be as if the shower's working harder.
I have some very pissed off daughters and a wife livid as the shower room which is now complete has an unusable shower.
Given the shower is a constant in this scenario is there anything standing out or advice to give regarding my dilemma?
Regards

K.Flyer

It may be one of two things.
Its possible that there is a partial air lock or a blockage in the pipe from the tank to the shower.
Or that the original cold tap pipe was mains water fed which had a stronger flow of water, but not so much as to damage the shower unit.
You need to get the installer back to check the shower unit fot you, because if it is an air lock or blockage, you will damage the unit by trying to use it.

slave1

Don't think partial air lock, decent pressure when on low/coldest setting, 'pretty' sure original feed was from the tank as that's where we turned off the supply when capping off 'old' feed, kinda thinking it could be pressure and I'm looking at a feckin pump of some description to compensate??

greasepalm

was the internal filter cleaned after it was moved as in swarf and dirt left in pipe.
post the name and model number of it as some are mains fed and others are cold water tank.

K.Flyer

greasepalm wrote: »

...
post the name and model number of it as some are mains fed and others are cold water tank.

First line of first post...

slave1 wrote: »

Folks,

I gutted our upstairs shower room, taking out the Mira Elite ST Pumped Electric shower...

slave1

Filter was removed and cleaned, it's a Mira Elite ST tank-fed pumped electric shower, 9.8kw

SpaceTime

You did buy a pumped shower, right?

Sleeper12

slave1 wrote: »

Don't think partial air lock, decent pressure when on low/coldest setting, 'pretty' sure original feed was from the tank as that's where we turned off the supply when capping off 'old' feed, kinda thinking it could be pressure and I'm looking at a feckin pump of some description to compensate??

If pressure is good on cold then the supply from the tank is perfect.
Your shower has a heating can with two elements. I can't say for sure without testing with a multi meter but my money is on one of the two elements has blown. This could have happened if the plumber ran the shower without water with the power selector on hot. It's like boiling a kettle with no water. It is also possible that the element blew for no reason & may not be the plumbers fault.
You need to get someone that knows what they are doing & they will test the shower with a multi meter.

slave1

Okay, as this is 'herself' I'll get a shower guy in and get his 'on site' opinion, boll1x anyhow, was the last link in a completely brand new shower room, went back to the studs and insulated/re-slabbed/re-tiled and re-plastered. Deep breath and back into the cauldron again!

slave1

The plot thickens, used the sink for the first time and the flow (hot and cold) is brutal, as this room is close to the hot water cylinder we would have hot water in a manner of seconds with great flow, now the flow is low and waiting the guts of a minute for the hot water to kick in. These taps are being fed from the same pipe work as original taps with (new to scenario) isolation valve fully open. The tap is ikea and I removed the flow filter in the tap spout with fek all impact. Did not expect any of this?

Sleeper12

slave1 wrote: »

The plot thickens, used the sink for the first time and the flow (hot and cold) is brutal, as this room is close to the hot water cylinder we would have hot water in a manner of seconds with great flow, now the flow is low and waiting the guts of a minute for the hot water to kick in. These taps are being fed from the same pipe work as original taps with (new to scenario) isolation valve fully open. The tap is ikea and I removed the flow filter in the tap spout with fek all impact. Did not expect any of this?

A lot of bathroom taps are designed for pressurized systems and aren't suitable for an Irish bathroom with a quarter bar of pressure. You might have bought the wrong type of taps. There might be a restrictor in each tap.

gctest50

slave1 wrote: »

.... with (new to scenario) isolation valve ........

some of those valves only have a tiny hole for the water to pass through

turn off one of them , disconnect the pipe from the tap side and have a look

you need low pressure taps for dismal water pressures here too or get a boost pump

slave1

Sleeper12 wrote: »

A lot of bathroom taps are designed for pressurized systems and aren't suitable for an Irish bathroom with a quarter bar of pressure. You might have bought the wrong type of taps. There might be a restrictor in each tap.

It's this guy we have...
http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/catalog/products/60281295/

slave1

Well, I finally got through to the plumber and he's happy everything was installed correctly and as far as he's concerned he's finished....

Back to my shower issue, I've measure the (half inch/15mm) run from the cold tank in the attic and it's a 3M run with a bend down a further 70cm to the shower unit, I'm at a loss how this equates to bar calculation.
I should also point out the 'low flow' light is not lit.
I tried switching the shower hose and head with another one in the house but no improvement.....

If anyone has feedback on the tap I'd appreciate that too.

Regards

Sleeper12

slave1 wrote: »

Well, I finally got through to the plumber and he's happy everything was installed correctly and as far as he's concerned he's finished....

Back to my shower issue, I've measure the (half inch/15mm) run from the cold tank in the attic and it's a 3M run with a bend down a further 70cm to the shower unit, I'm at a loss how this equates to bar calculation.
I should also point out the 'low flow' light is not lit.
I tried switching the shower hose and head with another one in the house but no improvement.....

If anyone has feedback on the tap I'd appreciate that too.

Regards

Your shower seems to be installed correctly. You have close to quarter bar. The shower only needs.. .1 bar of pressure. If you have good pressure with dial all the way to cold then the pressure of the shower is perfect. It seems like one of the elements has blown.

slave1

Well that's a level of reassurance, I would appreciate a PM with a reliable shower repair person in the midlands - assuming this is an economical repair that is!!

slave1

Where is an element on this page of spares please?

http://www.showerdoc.com/mira-elite-st-shower-spares

Sleeper12

slave1 wrote: »

Where is an element on this page of spares please?

http://www.showerdoc.com/mira-elite-st-shower-spares

Number 5

It's cheaper here

http://dublinshowerrepair.com/showerparts/product/mira-elite-st-element-heating-can/

slave1

Sleeper12 wrote: »

If pressure is good on cold then the supply from the tank is perfect.
Your shower has a heating can with two elements. I can't say for sure without testing with a multi meter but my money is on one of the two elements has blown. This could have happened if the plumber ran the shower without water with the power selector on hot. It's like boiling a kettle with no water. It is also possible that the element blew for no reason & may not be the plumbers fault.
You need to get someone that knows what they are doing & they will test the shower with a multi meter.

I'm re-reading this thread, I suspect that this shower was indeed ran on hot when it was reinstalled, the 'tank' in the shower unit was empty as it had been in storage and moved around a few times and each time it was moved some more water came out. The plumber asked me to switch back the shower at the main circuit board and by the time I'd walked up the stairs it was on with hot water coming out, if it was flushed through with cold water for a few minutes (as I am now aware of) then there's no way the water would have been coming out hot a mere 60seconds later.
I have no way of proving this was the heating downfall but this is my very strong suspicion, kick in the balls really as I have to fork out a considerable sum for someone else's mistake...

slave1

Sleeper12 wrote: »

If pressure is good on cold then the supply from the tank is perfect.
Your shower has a heating can with two elements. I can't say for sure without testing with a multi meter but my money is on one of the two elements has blown. This could have happened if the plumber ran the shower without water with the power selector on hot. It's like boiling a kettle with no water. It is also possible that the element blew for no reason & may not be the plumbers fault.
You need to get someone that knows what they are doing & they will test the shower with a multi meter.

Okay, I have not forgotten about this, I now have a lend of a multi meter and being honest have not a clue how to use it, I attach a picture below.
Where in the other picture to 'touch' to test and what settings do I need to have set on the multi-meter.
Many thanks in advance...