- Messages
- 20
Units involved: Gainsborough 10.5SE heater unit with Swirl (Screwfix 278PG) overhead shower kit with diverter.
Hi guys. I have a Gainsborough 10.5SE shower heating unit. It has never given any trouble in the years I have had it. Until now it has been fitted with a generic handheld single shower head and rail unit joined directly to the heater. I recently upgraded the shower head to a fitted rainfall type shower unit with an overhead shower and a secondary handheld head with a switch to swap between the two. This is a Screwfix bought (278PG) Swirl unit. It is a very basic "screw to the wall and flexipipe to the unit" installation. It went up without any issues and worked right from the off. Everything was wonderful.
The next day, while my wife went in for a shower, the heater suddenly started to flood water out and down the wall from its bottom edge. The PRD had popped out. I have no idea what form these usually take but this was a simple squishy ball fitted into a cavity with a narrowed neck and where the water flows past the rear side of the ball. Any increase in water pressure will pop the ball out and release the water against the wall. I removed the feed pipe and popped the ball back in with a blunt pencil end. No problem. Now, two days later, preparing to shower the dog 🙄, it has just done the same thing again.
My wife is not the most technical of people but it seems to me to have happened when the change is made from overhead to haldheld and vice versa. Now that suggests to me that maybe the diverter completely blocks the flow in between selection of each function and the pressure for that instant is then too much for the PRD. Are these units prone to that sort of issue? Or is it possible that the supplied shower heads are just not flowing enough water for the PRD to sit comfortably and it is constantly on the edge of popping out? It certainly does not act as though it has some sort of fault as in a blockage inside when it is use, it seems to flow water just fine until the PRD pops.
Alternatively, do PRDs reset correctly and reliably after releasing or are they basically one shot devices which weaken from then on?
Hi guys. I have a Gainsborough 10.5SE shower heating unit. It has never given any trouble in the years I have had it. Until now it has been fitted with a generic handheld single shower head and rail unit joined directly to the heater. I recently upgraded the shower head to a fitted rainfall type shower unit with an overhead shower and a secondary handheld head with a switch to swap between the two. This is a Screwfix bought (278PG) Swirl unit. It is a very basic "screw to the wall and flexipipe to the unit" installation. It went up without any issues and worked right from the off. Everything was wonderful.
The next day, while my wife went in for a shower, the heater suddenly started to flood water out and down the wall from its bottom edge. The PRD had popped out. I have no idea what form these usually take but this was a simple squishy ball fitted into a cavity with a narrowed neck and where the water flows past the rear side of the ball. Any increase in water pressure will pop the ball out and release the water against the wall. I removed the feed pipe and popped the ball back in with a blunt pencil end. No problem. Now, two days later, preparing to shower the dog 🙄, it has just done the same thing again.
My wife is not the most technical of people but it seems to me to have happened when the change is made from overhead to haldheld and vice versa. Now that suggests to me that maybe the diverter completely blocks the flow in between selection of each function and the pressure for that instant is then too much for the PRD. Are these units prone to that sort of issue? Or is it possible that the supplied shower heads are just not flowing enough water for the PRD to sit comfortably and it is constantly on the edge of popping out? It certainly does not act as though it has some sort of fault as in a blockage inside when it is use, it seems to flow water just fine until the PRD pops.
Alternatively, do PRDs reset correctly and reliably after releasing or are they basically one shot devices which weaken from then on?
