hot water problem to shower

[mjt]

HI

I have been to a house today which has recently had a a reasonable amoung of work done to it including a new heating system.
Part of the job was a new bathroom and ensuite.

They have a problem in that the mixer shower over the does not get ot at all. It is not thermostatic but has one those large drenching type fixed shower heads with a diverter. The other shower has a large head also but gets very almost too hot according to the owner. All other taps are fine and hot water gets to them.

All the pipework for the shower is completely hidden away and there is somply no access so i cant see how it is piped.
they have a combi boiler installed (REMEHA) and it is a largeish three bedroom house. The owner is tearting his hair out as to why the water wont get hot to his shower.

If you turn onthe tap whilst this shower is on the pressure drops big style too.

I have tried running just the diverter to see if the flow out of the head was too much but no difference. The problem shower is farthest from the boiler.

I thought at first it was a thermostatic shower but it does not appear to be and the owner says it never really worked well but keeps getting ofbbed off by his builder.

Sorry to babble but any pointers ???>....

 

[kay-jay]

a thermo shower will only deliver cold water if the hot and cold feeds are the wrong way round. i would check this first! i know you said the pipes are hidden but i would investigate in loft above the shower, and below floorboards beneath shower (behind shower wall if poss) any pipes found want tracing away from shower to help identify them correctly, i would then cross the connections over and that should sort it.

all this kind of assumes that the shower hasn't worked from when it was installed by the builder and that other outlets in the same room as the shower run hot on demand.


KJ

 

[mjt]

thanks for your reply - the pipes are well and truly hidden believe me. they go down inside a stud wall under the floor down to the boiler ( i think as you cant see at all). there is nothing oin the loft. The boiler is directly under the ceiling below and about 8 feet across and there is an access hatch to get at the magna clean and you can just see the CH flow and return and the HWS pipe go up above the ceiling.

I pretty sure its not a themo shower but i will have to have look inside to check.The shower does get luke warm but as soon as you turn on the bath hot tap it all just disappears - i'm wary about ripping up stuff as if she has issue with the builder he could quite easliy wash his hands of it saying i was the last to touch it - you know what it can be like

 

[kay-jay]

are there no isolation points for the shower then?
is the shower unit itself wall mounted? if so i would be tempted to slacken off the fixings a bit til the water runs out and identify that way whether there are 2 water feeds (thermo) and if they are cross connected.

beyond that i would look at replacing/returning the shower! its often overlooked with new products, but things can be faulty straight from the manufacturers.

KJ

 

[stuartmac]

HI

I had a not too similar problem with one connected to a combi, had to take out the themo valve and replace and then balance the cold pressure into the bolier to match the pressue coming out of the boiler as on some showers the cold water pressure will bypass the valve even if its switched to hot cooling the water as the pressure is too great. another time I turned off water and took the shower off top end one pipe and then turned on water and boiler then you will see which one it hot / cold a bit basic but it worked