No cold water at mixer shower

markc1184

Hi. I've just noticed that there is no cold water at the mixer shower in the main bathroom. The unit in question is a Mira 88. When the knob is turned to hot, the pressure is fine and water is warm. But the pressure gradually weakens to not much more than a trickle as the knob is turned to the cold, the water then remains hot. This shower is rarely used as we both use the shower in the ensuite or the bath in the main bathroom. The cold water feed is direct from the tank in the attic and hot water is off the hot water cylinder. Back in September our hot water cylinder burst and the tank in the attic emptied. Could debris have got sucked into the feed to the shower, or perhaps an airlock? There is no issue with hot or cold water anywhere else in the house.

Is there anything I could do myself to get this issue sorted or is it a job for a plumber? The shower itself could probably do with being replaced at this stage anyway, would this sort the issue?

Thanks
Mark

K.Flyer

As your shower is fed by gravity and after the trouble with the cylinder, the most probable cause is an airlock.
Try this... but best when the hot water is only warm and not hot!
Disconnect the shower head from the hose, or from the arm if it just protrudes from the wall.
Put the mixer to halfway between hot and cold.
Hold your hand or finger over the water outlet and turn on the shower valve.
Hold it there for a couple of minutes.
Turn of the valve, take hand away, reassemble things, try the shower to see if it now works correctly. If no luck, then repeat a couple of times. Still no luck, you need someone to look at it.

markc1184

I've tried the above method about 10 times between yesterday and today but unfortunately it hasn't sorted the issue. I'll look into having the shower changed and any airlock sorted out.

Thanks for the suggestion K.Flyer.

K.Flyer

I wouldn't rush into changing the shower valve just yet unless you are planning on some tiling work as well.
Spare parts are available for the Mira 88 shower valve, which means whatever the problem is, it shouldn't be too difficult to rectify.
Could still be a pipework issue, but maybe best to get someone familiar with Mira showers to look at it first before buying a new shower valve.

Sleeper12

K.Flyer wrote:

I wouldn't rush into changing the shower valve just yet unless you are planning on some tiling work as well. Spare parts are available for the Mira 88 shower valve, which means whatever the problem is, it shouldn't be too difficult to rectify. Could still be a pipework issue, but maybe best to get someone familiar with Mira showers to look at it first before buying a new shower valve.

I replaced a cartridge in an aqualisa aquastream last December. Got a call last week saying that the pressure wasn't as good on hot as it was on cold. Aqualisa make quality cartridges so I was pretty sure it wasn't that. Went out the next day and took out the cartridge. Both hot and cold filters were blocked with dead flies. Had a look at the tank in attic. There were about 50 dead flies around the ball cock and as many or more at the bottom of the tank. Tank had no lid obviously. I've never come across flies in a tank like that but the point of this story is, you're perfectly right, it doesn't necessarily mean a new shower or cartridge.
Every time I say to myself I've seen it all I'm proven wrong.