Like many people I have one of the dreaded pulsing showers once it is switched off. I read many posts here and elsewhere on the internet and came to the conclusion mine could be due to incorrect installation and or air trapped in the system.
So diagnosing, my shower is a mixer with a thermostat dial and single operation button. Pump is recessed & hidden behind a tiled wall in the shower so I have no idea what it is or how it is plumbed.
Fed by 1.5 year old combi boiler in the roof. One bathroom house, no other showers, no water tank.
Normal operation, set to middle temp, press button wait 20-40s depending on heating status and shower is at set temp. Time to achieve desired temp has no effect on pulsing. Flow of water does vary ever so slightly during this period but not vastly. Something others reported I saw in threads that during this period steam from the hot water feed can cause air pockets.
Switch off shower, immediate pulsing on the shower itself in the hose and on water pipes hidden under the floor and behind the walls. Now getting so bad I'm worried the pulsing is impacting their mountings. Pulsing can last up to 5 mins.
With my new found dangerous internet knowledge, I tried diagnosing. In the bathroom is a toilet and sink with separate hot and water taps. Before switching the shower on I opened the cold water tap to half flow. Switched on the shower and ran it for 1-2 minutes. Switched off and lo and behold no pulsing. Turned off cold water tap.
Tried test again but this time using the shower for 5-7 mins. Switched on cold water tap at quarter flow. Used shower for 5-7 mins, when shower stopped mild less pulsing than before was present. Whilst it was pulsing I opened the hot sink tap as well to half flow and the pulsing immediately stopped.
So my ask to the forum, is there enough information above to give the exact problem to a good local reputable plumber to work off? If so what kind of fix would he need to do based on this information. If there is a known fix for this behaviour, how much roughly am I looking to fix it. I'm not looking to do this myself just want to avoid multiple visits and hopefully fix in one go.
Thanks in advance for reading and any help.
So diagnosing, my shower is a mixer with a thermostat dial and single operation button. Pump is recessed & hidden behind a tiled wall in the shower so I have no idea what it is or how it is plumbed.
Fed by 1.5 year old combi boiler in the roof. One bathroom house, no other showers, no water tank.
Normal operation, set to middle temp, press button wait 20-40s depending on heating status and shower is at set temp. Time to achieve desired temp has no effect on pulsing. Flow of water does vary ever so slightly during this period but not vastly. Something others reported I saw in threads that during this period steam from the hot water feed can cause air pockets.
Switch off shower, immediate pulsing on the shower itself in the hose and on water pipes hidden under the floor and behind the walls. Now getting so bad I'm worried the pulsing is impacting their mountings. Pulsing can last up to 5 mins.
With my new found dangerous internet knowledge, I tried diagnosing. In the bathroom is a toilet and sink with separate hot and water taps. Before switching the shower on I opened the cold water tap to half flow. Switched on the shower and ran it for 1-2 minutes. Switched off and lo and behold no pulsing. Turned off cold water tap.
Tried test again but this time using the shower for 5-7 mins. Switched on cold water tap at quarter flow. Used shower for 5-7 mins, when shower stopped mild less pulsing than before was present. Whilst it was pulsing I opened the hot sink tap as well to half flow and the pulsing immediately stopped.
So my ask to the forum, is there enough information above to give the exact problem to a good local reputable plumber to work off? If so what kind of fix would he need to do based on this information. If there is a known fix for this behaviour, how much roughly am I looking to fix it. I'm not looking to do this myself just want to avoid multiple visits and hopefully fix in one go.
Thanks in advance for reading and any help.
