Weird problem with shower

ru437z9t8fidq2

Hi there,
I bought  an apartment recently and have run into 1 problem with the shower. 
The shower will not turn on unless the hot tap at the sink has been turned on first. 
Once the tap at sink is on and the shower is running water I can actually turn off the tap and the shower will continue to work. It just seems like the pump doesn't kick in from turning on the shower alone. 
I've heard suggestions that there is an airlock somewhere, the fixed shower head is too high on the wall, and the pump isn't high enough.. but nobody seems sure. 
Any ideas? 

Thanks for any help

BrokenArrows

I assume its an electric shower?

NickNickleby

REmove the shower head, then try it without turning on the washbasin. If it works, then try cleaning the shower head with limescale remover - like the stuff for kettles.

this post is based on many assumptions, plus I'm not a plumber.

Assumptions:

the shower doesn't have a built in pump
all hot water is fed via a pump in the airing cupboard (or elsewhere)
it used to work :pac:

listermint

Sounds like an AirLock in the pipework is being introduced when there is no water fed through.

Id call a plumber tbh

shane b

I had the same situation with an apartment I was renting a few years ago. The shower was a mixer shower not an electric one. Routine was turn on shower nothing happened, turn on sink tap and shower started working. Think it had something to do with the shower head being at a higher level than the water tank in the cupboard and a positive head pump installed rather than a negative head pump.
Spoke to the landlord about getting it changed but it didn't happen.

Sleeper12

What's the layout of the house.

What floor is the cold water tank?

What floor is the shower?

You might not have enough head of pressure to start the pump. If this is the case a negative head pump will be required

Calahonda52

is everything pumped?
does wash hand basin work?
Sounds like the fixed shower head is higher than the top of the cold water tanks.

Neg head pump is an expensive solution, might be cheaper to get a flexible shower head, hence my question about the wash hand basin

ru437z9t8fidq2

Calahonda52 wrote: »

is everything pumped?
does wash hand basin work?
Sounds like the fixed shower head is higher than the top of the cold water tanks.

Neg head pump is an expensive solution, might be cheaper to get a flexible shower head, hence my question about the wash hand basin

I think you hit the nail on the head there.
The tank is on the same floor as shower as it's a ground floor apartment and the shower head is fixed to the top of the wall in a way it can't be moved. I know what to look into now or at least expect thanks very much. I was already given advice that I may need that pump but was hoping there was a more cost effective solution e.g flexible showe head.

ru437z9t8fidq2

Sleeper12 wrote: »

What's the layout of the house.

What floor is the cold water tank?

What floor is the shower?

You might not have enough head of pressure to start the pump. If this is the case a negative head pump will be required

Thanks to yourself and the last poster I've figured out this seems to be the problem.

Cheers lads.

Calahonda52

Madilyn Nice Litter wrote: »

Thanks to yourself and the last poster I've figured out this seems to be the problem.

Cheers lads.

Well don't keep us in suspense: :D:D

tradesman

Negative head pump required. I had this problem when renting appt in uk. Changed the pump & no more problems

Meningate

Hi I had a similar problem some years ago in a flat with an electric shower fed from a tank. Water pressure was too low to trip shower pump. Solution was to hold the shower head down as low as possible when you switch on, then once it was going you could lift it up into its normal place.