New fancy Shower not as good.

Mousewar

Hi, I had a new bathroom installed recently. Prior to this we had a shower fed off a pump in the hotpress. It was great, very powerful.

When getting the new bathroom the plumber said he'd change the valve to a more attractive one which I was happy with. However now the shower is nowhere near the same pressure as before.

Pump is working (I can hear it running) and it also feeds the ensuite shower where the pressure is unaffected. Plumber says the previous valve was designed for a low pressure water supply which when combined with the pump produced high pressure. However, he says that the new valve is not so designed and so the pressure is less.

Now I thought I was just getting a new front piece for the shower. I never thought the supply would be affected in this way. His proposed solution is just to get a more powerful pump.

Can I ask plumbers a) if all this makes sense and b) will a more powerful pump actually work and if it does, would it then make the ensuite unbearably powerful?

Thanks for any replies.

sky6

What's the Valve you're talking about. Did he replace the Shower unit. ? Is there a pressure reducing valve fitted after the pump.

Mousewar

I'm really not sure. There was a twisty valve there before that you turned like a dial. Now there's a pretty chrome thing with a quarter twist on the left to turn the water on and another on the right that controls the temperature.
I don't know what a shower unit is exactly. I thought he was just changing the outside 'face of the shower' and the shower itself would be unaffected.

Mousewar

Quick bump on this if I may.

I've realised that the water pressure to the whole bathroom has been reduced. The taps in the sink and the bath and also the electric shower (which is separate to the hot tank fed shower I mentioned above).
The ensuite is totally unaffected. Pressure there is fine.

The plumber talked about how the new shower fitting for the hot tank fed shower may have restricted the water flow. However, with the electric shower, all he did was take it off the wall for tiling and then fit it back. Yet its pressure is reduced as well.

Is there anything that could explain this bathroom-wide loss of water pressure since the plumber fitted the new bathroom but which leaves the ensuite that is right next door unaffected?

K.Flyer

Hard questions to answer without pictures or a site visit.
My opinion would be that if the pressure was strong enough before the work and a particular valve was changed that affects water pressure (pressure reducing valve), then I would imagine that is where your problem is.
But that's easy for me to say without seeing pictures of the set up.

Mousewar

So if a pressure reducing valve was installed (why would anyone want this?) in the tank fed shower, this could affect pressure to the whole bathroom, even things like the electric shower which had no valves replaced?

Calahonda52

OP: this IS hard to follow: questions in-line below

Mousewar wrote: »

Quick bump on this if I may.

I've realised that the water pressure to the whole bathroom has been reduced. The taps in the sink and the bath and also the electric shower (which is separate to the hot tank fed shower I mentioned above).
The ensuite is totally unaffected. Pressure there is fine.
HOW MANY SHOWERS ARE THERE? I read three in the above sentence

I read
electric,
hot tank fed and
ensuite.

The plumber talked about how the new shower fitting for the hot tank fed shower may have restricted the water flow. However, with the electric shower, all he did was take it off the wall for tiling and then fit it back. Yet its pressure is reduced as well.

Is there anything that could explain this bathroom-wide loss of water pressure since the plumber fitted the new bathroom but which leaves the ensuite that is right next door unaffected?

What exact make and model of pump do you have?
What do you mean by electric shower?
What sort of shower is in the ensuite?

K.Flyer

Edit:

Sorry I missread your original post.

A lot of newer bathroom fittings are designed for installation to high pressure (pumped) systems and the flow of water through them can be quite restrictive compared to older valves and taps.
If you have changed your taps and shower valves and you are showing a decrease in water flow, most likely this is the cause.

Mousewar

Calahonda52 wrote: »

OP: this IS hard to follow: questions in-line below


What exact make and model of pump do you have?
What do you mean by electric shower?
What sort of shower is in the ensuite?

Hi,3 showers in the house in total.
1 tank fed shower in ensuite powered by pump
1 tank fed shower in main bathroom powered by pump
1 electric shower in main bathroom. (something like this: https://www.buyaparcel.com/wp-content/uploads/Mira-Zest-Shower-and-Riser-Rail.jpg)

Both showers in bathroom now have reduced pressure (tank fed shower hugely so). Ensuite shower unaffected.

Mousewar

K.Flyer wrote: »

Edit:

Sorry I missread your original post.

A lot of newer bathroom fittings are designed for installation to high pressure (pumped) systems and the flow of water through them can be quite restrictive compared to older valves and taps.
If you have changed your taps and shower valves and you are showing a decrease in water flow, most likely this is the cause.

Thanks a lot for your responses. I guess this is it although I can't figure out why the electric shower is affected when nothing seemed to be changed on it.

greasepalm

my electric triton shower is from a feed from cold water tank in roof,if he removed it off the wall did any foreign matter enter into the filter reducing flow.in the winter when water is freezing one turns the dial closer to the red to heat it hotter and reduces your flow,turning it back the other way increases the flow and cooler water,also plastic shower heads are adjustable when turning left or right you get a different spray pattern.
if in hard water area does your head need cleaning?


what was the pressure on your immersion feed pump as hoping to get mine done also cheers.

K.Flyer

What is the model of the Electric Shower?

Mousewar

greasepalm wrote: »

in the winter when water is freezing one turns the dial closer to the red to heat it hotter and reduces your flow,turning it back the other way increases the flow and cooler water,

Funnily enough this has stopped happening. Now, it stays the same flow whether it's hot or cold, the kind of flow I'd associate when it's on hot. Turning it down to cold no longer increases the flow since the work in the bathroom.

K.Flyer

Mousewar wrote: »

Funnily enough this has stopped happening. Now, it stays the same flow whether it's hot or cold, the kind of flow I'd associate when it's on hot. Turning it down to cold no longer increases the flow since the work in the bathroom.

I would think the front panel has not been re-assembled correctly.

greasepalm

aye sounds like it hope no bits fall out ,block plug hole first.

Calahonda52

K.Flyer wrote: »

Edit:

Sorry I missread your original post.

A lot of newer bathroom fittings are designed for installation to high pressure (pumped) systems and the flow of water through them can be quite restrictive compared to older valves and taps.
If you have changed your taps and shower valves and you are showing a decrease in water flow, most likely this is the cause.

So we need to know the type of pump he has currently, especially the pressure and the minimum pressure required for the new fittings.

Mousewar

This is the pump.

Calahonda52

Decent pump so what size piping did he use?
The other think is check to see if the two isolating penny valve on the inflow pipes to pump are fully open

Mousewar

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Decent pump so what size piping did he use?
The other think is check to see if the two isolating penny valve on the inflow pipes to pump are fully open

I've no clue. He says he's going to replace it with a more powerful pump and that'll fix the problem. I think he said my one is 1.5 bar pump and he's getting a 2 bar pump now.

Calahonda52

Run this past K.Flyer here first before you let him switch anything.
I'm all out here, like the cricket guys..
Keep well