How water problem

[Mrast]

Hi all,

I have just had my bathroom refitted - part of this refit was a new bath.

The old bath had a mains fed thermostatic mixer shower valve and separate bath taps - i had no issue previously with this setup.

My new bathroom has done away with the separate bath taps and got a wall mounted thermostatic bath and shower mixer tap
Buy Premier Thermostatic Wall Mounted Square Bath Shower Mixer Tap Chrome Online

Since this has been put it the hot water goes cold for about 15 seconds every now and again.

My wife was just in the shower so i stood at watched the boiler..... this is what i saw..........

Boiler problem when shower on - YouTube


Further to this - i didnt catch it in the video but still with the shower on and hot, the demand on the boiler for hot water stops completely and left me with just a green power light - then it would fire back up about 20 seconds later and this is the point the shower water would go stone cold temporarily.

There is 22m copper going from the boiler up to the bathroom but somewhere under the bathroom floor it is then reduced to 15mm copper - and this 15 mm copper runs to the new taps (same pipe work for the old tap, just slightly altered to remove the branch offs for the old bath taps.)



Any body any idea what could be wrong please, or any suggestions on what i could check?

Not normal for the boiler to keep igniting every 25 secs or so like shown in the video surely?

Many Thanks in advance

 

[SimonG]

Ask the fitter who installed it all. Who supplied the materials?

 

[SimonG]

Just had a look at the tap. £60 for a thermostatic mixer, well there's your problem

 

[Mrast]

The fitter says he is just a plumber and not a boiler man so doesnt know why the boiler is behaving the way it is. Helpful i know.

The tap naff then?

 

[jtsplumbing]

Is the boiler working ok on all the other taps ?? if so then the fault IS NOT the boiler, if this is the case then get your plumber to sort it out, Who bought the mixer ?? go back to people it came from & tell them you have a fault. But from other reply (SimonG) it's cheep rubbish ! looks nice, but that's about all, only made for looking at, not for using.

 

[mountainman]

Just had a look at the tap. £60 for a thermostatic mixer, well there's your problem

I couldn't agree more!

 

[snowhead]

In no particular order, apart from the first and second one;

Cheap tap
Flexis used
Hot and cold cross connected

 

[Mrast]

hello all,

Thankyou for your replies and insights.

After Simons comment above this afternoon i have unscrewed the tap from the wall and just let the water spurt out of the pipe holes and watched the boiler for 10 minutes and the behaviour does not re-occur.

@ jtsplumbing - no i have tested all the other taps and the boiler doesnt recycle through the ignition process as shown in the video.

So its deffo the tap thats the problem.

Question is - could the tap be faulty, or is it just (excuse the pun) a complete shower of £$%*

I kind of sprung it on the fitter - i was going for separate shower mixer and taps as i had previously but i was in Spain and the hotel shower had a wall mounted tap/shower mixer and i liked it so i ordered one and asked him to change the plan and fit that - so my fault really for getting excited and buying cheap crap on a whim!

So its looking like i need to replace the tap.

Are thermostatic shower/bath valves ok to use or should i i get a not thermo one with a single handled lever? Still want it wall mounted.

What brands are good? And obviously i need to ask this - what kind of money should i be spending?

Been looking around this afternoon as seen some nice Vado ones, also some nice Grohe ones.

Been looking at the £150-£200 bracket. Am i in the ball park?

Thanks again in advance for your precious time

 

[AlexGas]

You won't go wrong with BRISTAN or MIRA.

 

[TBServices]

Luckily enough, you've picked a bar type tap, so a straight swap should be easy. I'd go for one if these:

http://www.ideal-standard.co.uk/pro...tic-wall-mounted-bath-shower-mixer/a5634.html

 

[Mrast]

You won't go wrong with BRISTAN or MIRA.

Thanks for suggestion.

Any others i should look at please?

Monday at work sorted - internet tap hunting!

 

[Crinkmeister]

Thanks for suggestion.

Any others i should look at please?

Monday at work sorted - internet tap hunting!

Pop into my office at 9:00 and collect your cards for improper use of company internet!

 

[jtsplumbing]

Thanks for suggestion.

Any others i should look at please?

Monday at work sorted - internet tap hunting!

By all means look on the internet, but I'm sure that your Plumber can get you a good deal from one of his suppliers , Bristan / iflow / Mira good quality ,guarantee and you will get spares years down the line, try and buy from a local outlet then if you do get any problems it's easy to sort out.

 

[Mrast]

Luckily enough, you've picked a bar type tap, so a straight swap should be easy. I'd go for one if these:

Product details: A5634 | Thermostatic Wall Mounted Bath Shower Mixer | Ideal Standard

at only £80 though will i be any better off than the £60 i have at the moment, if as suggested the one i have nows price is the biggest problem?

Thankyou

 

[Mrast]

Pop into my office at 9:00 and collect your cards for improper use of company internet!

im the systems admin so ill abuse my powers!

 

[Mrast]

By all means look on the internet, but I'm sure that your Plumber can get you a good deal from one of his suppliers , Bristan / iflow / Mira good quality ,guarantee and you will get spares years down the line, try and buy from a local outlet then if you do get any problems it's easy to sort out.

Yes - id like to research this time though before making a decision on which model to go for, my impetualance and impulse buying appears to have got me into this position.

 

[Dotty]

at only £80 though will i be any better off than the £60 i have at the moment, if as suggested the one i have nows price is the biggest problem?

Thankyou

It's from a much more reputable stable.

 

[Dotty]

im the systems admin so ill abuse my powers!

A BOFH eh?

 

[Mrast]

A BOFH eh?

Id like to think im laid back and un-draconian.

Although sometimes id happily lynch some users!

 

[Mrast]

So i know what is casuing my problem.

Anybody have any understanding as to why the tap is fighting my boiler?

Id like to actually learn something from you guys as a thankyou for you taking your time to reply and help me out, rather than come, ask and bugger off.

Cheers

 

[snowhead]

If the boiler is cutting out then there is little or no demand for hot water from the mixer.

Most likely the thermostatic cartridge is faulty, being over sensitive to the temperature of the incoming hot water and cutting off demand for it.

Did you check if the Hot / Cold are connected correctly to the tap?

 

[SimonG]

Did the tap have flow limiters on the feeds? I know some thermostatic showers have them and have different ones needed for different water feed configurations.

 

[TBServices]

at only £80 though will i be any better off than the £60 i have at the moment, if as suggested the one i have nows price is the biggest problem?

Thankyou

If you can get that shower for £80, you should! But I doubt you can tbh

 

[Mrast]

If the boiler is cutting out then there is little or no demand for hot water from the mixer.

Most likely the thermostatic cartridge is faulty, being over sensitive to the temperature of the incoming hot water and cutting off demand for it.

Did you check if the Hot / Cold are connected correctly to the tap?

Yes the taps are connected to the correct pipework add far as i can see from tracing the pipes as far as i can go.

Left side of tap has a red sticker on it and the left side spurts out hot water when i took the tap off

 

[Mrast]

Did the tap have flow limiters on the feeds? I know some thermostatic showers have them and have different ones needed for different water feed configurations.

Wouldn't know what they are sorry.

All that came was tap, plates to cover the pipework sticking out the wall and 2 fittings that were 15mm to screw into the elbow coming out the wall going to 22mm for the taps to screw onto.