Poor Shower hot water pressure

[chezabha]

Hi

Same problem that I have had for a long time with a shower in the En-Suite. Hot water pressure is very poor. I've now ripped out the lot and intend to install a new bathroom. I've taken the hot pipe off the thermostatic valve and the pressure is still very poor, so I assume the problem is somewhere further up the pipe. The pipes go down through the floor but does anyone know where they go to?. I don't see any 15mm plastic pipes near the hot water tank?

If and I suspect it is an airlock, what would be the best way to clear it.

Any help would be appreciated

Paul

 

[AWheating]

hi paul what hot water system do you have? is there a shower pump?

 

[SimonG]

Sounds like std hot water. The driving force is the height of the cwcs above your shower. Also you say the hot is poor but what aboutbthe cold?

 

[chezabha]

Hi. The hot water system is fed by the gas boiler, with a tank in the cupboard on the landing. There is no pump for the shower and the cold water is operating with the same pressure that it always has

 

[spanner]

A result would be to increase the height the cold feed tank on the landing. This would increase the hot outlet.

 

[albatross]

Or a shiny new unvented cylinder perhaps.

 

[SimonG]

Hi. The hot water system is fed by the gas boiler, with a tank in the cupboard on the landing. There is no pump for the shower and the cold water is operating with the same pressure that it always has

The cold might be the same as it always was, but is it the same as the hot, poorer or much better?

You are going to need to be a bit more forthcoming with the info, or get a pro in.

 

[spanner]

Or a shiny new unvented cylinder perhaps.

YEHAA... goods thinking albatross..
Why I never thought of that

 

[chezabha]

The cold might be the same as it always was, but is it the same as the hot, poorer or much better?

You are going to need to be a bit more forthcoming with the info, or get a pro in.

Ok. So the cold water pressure is much better than the hot. The cold is operating the same as it always has. The hot used to be perfect, used to have a normal shower then over time it got worse to the point it just trickles out.

 

[Centralheatking]

Please put a diagram up and we can get on with solving your problem

Centralheatking

Hi

Same problem that I have had for a long time with a shower in the En-Suite. Hot water pressure is very poor. I've now ripped out the lot and intend to install a new bathroom. I've taken the hot pipe off the thermostatic valve and the pressure is still very poor, so I assume the problem is somewhere further up the pipe. The pipes go down through the floor but does anyone know where they go to?. I don't see any 15mm plastic pipes near the hot water tank?

If and I suspect it is an airlock, what would be the best way to clear it.

Any help would be appreciated

Paul

 

[spanner]

Cold is better than hot because the delivery is directly from the tank as apposed the hot has a conventional process before the outlet to the hot.

 

[AWheating]

So the showers hot and cold are the same pressure but the hot has slowed down?

Probably a a blocked filter on the shower or the shower is faulty. Remove the shower, check the pressure and flow from the supplying pipework.

 

[iiplumbing]

Hiya

Didn't op mean that he has already got an open pipe from the hot that he has tested?

" I've taken the hot pipe off the thermostatic valve and the pressure is still very poor"

What's the configuration of the hot take off from the HW cylinder, and, has the OP checked the take off from the cylinder?

Does it have one of these Salamander S Tank Flange Fitting for Hot Water Cylinder 22mm | Shower Pump Tank Flanges | NoLinkingToThis

or one of these Male Elbow 22mm x 1" | Compression Elbows | NoLinkingToThis ?

If its the latter, have a look inside the connection (have you got a dentist mirror?) to make sure that there is no build up of lime scale that is causing a restriction to flow

Hope this helps

Russ

 

[chezabha]

Hi. Sorry I have been away for a couple of days working. The shower is concealed but I've taken it all out and removed the hot pipe from the shower unit. The flow was still poor and I was able to connect back up without turning the supply back off. Today I have forced mains pressure from the outside tap back up the hot taps. I then tested and the flow was excellent. Hot tap in bath was running like it was 10 years ago when the house was new. Until...about an hour later I tried the taps again and they have slowed down again. Not as bad as before but it's dropped right off. I tried to draw a diagram but i'm unable to upload any images for some reason.

Cold water tank in the loft with a small tank next to it. Mains feed goes into top of tank with two pipes lower down the tank coming out. One seems to stop the cold the other the hot. There is also a pipe like a walking stick into the large tank (Vent) On the upper floor in the house there is a hot water cylinder in the cupboard where most of the pipes in the loft go to. One pipe comes out the top which goes up to the loft (Vent) and down the way.

I can't see where any of the pipes from the shower or the basin go to.

Does this help

 

[chezabha]

Hiya

Didn't op mean that he has already got an open pipe from the hot that he has tested?

" I've taken the hot pipe off the thermostatic valve and the pressure is still very poor"

What's the configuration of the hot take off from the HW cylinder, and, has the OP checked the take off from the cylinder?

Does it have one of these Salamander S Tank Flange Fitting for Hot Water Cylinder 22mm | Shower Pump Tank Flanges | NoLinkingToThis

or one of these Male Elbow 22mm x 1" | Compression Elbows | NoLinkingToThis ?

If its the latter, have a look inside the connection (have you got a dentist mirror?) to make sure that there is no build up of lime scale that is causing a restriction to flow

Hope this helps

Russ

Hi Russ

Thanks for the examples. I don't seem to see either. How do I check the take off from the cylinder. Is it the top or bottom.

 

[spanner]

So you have a pipe which air lock on the hot feed starting from the hot take off" coming from the hit water cylinder. The fault could be where you have teed of the cylinder, are you able to forward a picture of the cylinder to the forum herself

 

[chezabha]

So you have a pipe which air lock on the hot feed starting from the hot take off" coming from the hit water cylinder. The fault could be where you have teed of the cylinder, are you able to forward a picture of the cylinder to the forum herself

 

[spanner]

Wow. Ok and this is the feed to your shower coming from the hot water cylinder with the isolation valve shown! Correct?

 

[Ermintrude]

Nice work?

 

[chezabha]

Wow. Ok and this is the feed to your shower coming from the hot water cylinder with the isolation valve shown! Correct?

I'm not sure. The pipe disappears under the floor. Incidentally the isolation valve is in the off position. I've never touched it and I've been here since the house was built. Should it be open?

 

[spanner]

Ok. So the tank is it n the same level as the Shower and bathroom. And a picture of the hot cylinder to the forum please would be appreciated

 

[chezabha]

Ok. So the tank is it n the same level as the Shower and bathroom. And a picture of the hot cylinder to the forum please would be appreciated

The cold water tank is in the loft so it's a floor above the bathroom and shower in the en suite. Picture of hot water cylinder attached

 

[spanner]

Ok so shower and the en suit and water tank are on above floor level to the hot water cylinder... one more question! The picture of the hot water cylinder you've illustrated feeds all over the hot water outlets in the dwelling, eg:kitchen bath basin etc??

 

[Ermintrude]

Probably a drain off?

 

[spanner]

I think the reason for the poor hot water outlet to the shower are for TWO things
1) the tee off to the hot shower feed is not in the correct place
2) there maybe an airlock in the system and This would be the recipient of a poor hot water feed to en suit..