mixer tap shower fault

[amychats]

hi,im new to this,but am at my wits end,so here goes.i live in a private rent house.there is a combi boiler and the shower facility is from a mixer tap.fine a yr ago when i moved in,but for the last 6 months,absolutely impossible to regulate the temperature.had the boiler checked,oldish but working fine apparently.3 plumbers sent from the agency later,and they are trying to say nothing is wrong and i just have to live with it as what more can i expect from a mixer shower.had it been like this from the start,i may have lived with it.but it hasnt.ive had to disconnect my heat/smoke alarm outside my bathroom as it goes off everytime the shower goes to scalding.just when i think i have got a good temp,it'll turn freezing,i cannot put my young children in it for fear of them getting scalded.temps have been altered around and checked from the boiler end,nothing works though.a friend of mine has suggested the part that mixes may have become faulty.does anyone have a clue as to what the problem may be?i would be very helpful for any help or suggestions,thanks in advance.

 

[solutions]

Hi Amychats sorry to hear you are having a hard time with your shower it is often difficult getting problems like yours resolved as a tennant. At least you have had plumbers attend which shows willingness from your landlord or agent to resolve your problem.
What is the temperature control like at your other taps? If you run the hot say on the kitchen tap or the bath does it stay hot or change temperature from cold to hot and back again?
If the boiler has been checked and confirmed working then I would assume the mixer valve is at fault. I am assuming the mixer is thermostatic with one control for intensity of flow and one control to set the temperature?

 

[amychats]

the other taps can be annoying.if on full they will run hot,but any less and they switch a bit from hot to cold.to run a bath i have to leave the hot tap on low to achieve a good hot temp for the bath,any higher and a warmish bath is what you get.yes they sent an engineer who said the boiler was ok.im not sure if the valve on the mixer is thermostatic as the gas engineer and friend said what they could recommend was to put a thermostat in there,i got my hopes up,so either they did recommend that to the agent and shes lying to me,or they didnt recommend it and am making me look to the agency like im crazy lol,i dont know.how much would it cost to have that valve checked and fixed or replaced?im getting to the point where im considering getting it done myself.thanks so much for advice.

 

[solutions]

Sounds like its the mixer to me. If you give your post a little time you may get some differing opinions. If when the other taps are fully open the heat is a constant then the mixer valve is the only one not giving the same consistant result. So by process of elimination I would, without seeing it, suggest the bath mixer is the problem.

 

[gassafe]

Sounds to me like its just a regular bath mixer with shower on the flex, I dont think these are that great for proper showers! You need a shower, or as a plumber suggested a thermostatic bath/shower mixer fitted! These ain't cheap tho...