Shower does not get hot

[kandj]

I'd really appreciate any help!

I have a bar shower with a combi boiler. The water only gets to lukewarm. The water pressure seems good, water to the hot taps in the bathroom is very hot, reducing the water flow doesn't make it any hotter, and the temp difference between hot & cold is virtually nothing. We have taken off the temp knob & removed the plastic thingy that restricts how far the temperature knob can turn, but still no better - the knob turns alot further but doesn't change the temperature any more. Turning on a cold tap in the bathroom at the same time makes the shower water get colder.

How can I get the hot water to work? Or do I have a faulty shower?

Thankyou!

 

[Dannypipe]

Sounds like your shower valve is kapuut.

I would call a plumber. These bar showers are notorious for this.

I've seen same thing a few times. You depress the plastic button to put in on full hot and it's mad hot, you turn it all the way down to cold, and guess what, it's still mad hot, but maybe not quite as much.

It could need calibration, but my guess is new cartridge/shower required. Sorry.

 

[kandj]

Thanks for your reply/help, I guess I'll be looking for a new one then. Very annoying as this is a new one, but unfortunately for me I brought it over a year ago online & have only just got it fitted.

 

[Dannypipe]

In that case it could just require calibration. I would speak to the guy who installed it. Good luck.

Dan

 

[kandj]

Any chance you can give me a point in the right direction to calibrate it? It was fitted by a non-plumber friend, and he doesn't know how to get into it, we only had a plumber put in the pipe work.

 

[Dannypipe]

Calibration is just a case of taking the head off and setting it so it will go to dead cold in the correct position.

It's hard to explain, but dead simple really. Just for your own satisfaction, take the head off (temp adjust side) and make see what happens if you turn the shower down to it's coolest setting.

If it goes cold, it's prob ok. If not, new valve. I hope that helps, but some how I doubt it!!!

 

[kandj]

Thankyou. I'll give it a go tomorrow & see.

 

[tamz]

If it has just been installed you have connected the hot and cold to the wrong sides. Easy cheched on a bar shower. Just remove it and turn it upside down so the outlet is from the top and reconnect. Try it now.
If it works ok now the pipes have been connected wrong and need swapped.

 

[easyt]

Hot feed should be to left and cold to right. Presume whoever fitted it can check they are right way round.

Presumably there are isolation valves somewhere in the system for hot and cold feeds. Are these fully open?

Not sure about the model as the sport listed by mira is an electric shower.

With bar showers there is a filter between the pipes on the wall and the bar control. When the control unit is undone using the chromed nuts on the back of the bar these are inside the nut housing. Mira say to flush system thoroughly before fixing to avoid blockages. I think this is unlikely though.

The manufacturers instructions should tell how to recalibrate. If you have lost them they can be found on the net like this - http://help.tradingdepot.co.uk/bathrooms/mira/mira-coda.pdf This tells how to recalibrate on page 14 of the pdf.

If all else fails phone the manufacturer for technical advice.

If you have receipt or registered the guarantee some of the showers have a 2 or three year guarantee.

 

[kandj]

Thanks tamz and easyt for your advice.

The hot pipe is definately on the left & feeling the left side of the bar it gets very hot.

The mira pdf looks useful so I use that to have a look inside it, guessing these type of showers are similar inside(?).

It's an "Architeckt Profile Thermostatic Bar Shower & Kit" from plumbworld, turns out I brought it in 2007 with a 2 year gaurantee, so looks like there'll be nothing I can do there.

I've tried dannypipe's advice and the shower goes completely cold when turning clockwise, & lukewarm when turning anticlockwise. Does that confirm it isn't broken/unfixable?

 

[Gray0689]

Just check the shower valve as some come with cold feed left and hot right if you turn to cold and pressure stays same it must be a fault in valve

 

[easyt]

I would try to adjust the thermostat. There is probably a grub screw holding the side with the temperature control in place. The control knob must engage into a splined spindle of some kind. It should be possible to turn the control to hot, lift the knob off and re-engage past the stop to give more travel.

 

[kandj]

I'd love to take it off & try it upside down, but you have no idea how difficult that would be for me , so I'll just have another look in the end for now to see if I can find this spindle thingy. Failing that I'll see if my friend who fitted it has time to try it the other way up. In the meantime I've sent an email off to the manufacturer to check which inlet is suposed to be hot & cold.

Have had another look in it, but can't find anything to calibrate?

Confused , here's a picture:-

Nothing seems to move, except the end bit the handle goes on & the washer.

Oh, and the hot & cold must be the right way round as I have red & blue coloured spots stuck on the back of the bar next to the inlets.

 

[aggis]

Have you checked the filters between the nuts at the back, connecting the shower bar. Don't forget to turn the water off & drain !!

 

[easyt]

I'd love to take it off & try it upside down, but you have no idea how difficult that would be for me , so I'll just have another look in the end for now to see if I can find this spindle thingy. Failing that I'll see if my friend who fitted it has time to try it the other way up. In the meantime I've sent an email off to the manufacturer to check which inlet is suposed to be hot & cold.

Have had another look in it, but can't find anything to calibrate?

Confused , here's a picture:-

Nothing seems to move, except the end bit the handle goes on & the washer.

Oh, and the hot & cold must be the right way round as I have red & blue coloured spots stuck on the back of the bar next to the inlets.

Right. I had a look on web on the user reports from where you bought it. A guy had same problem from installation and solved it - If a fella can do it I'm sure you can.

I would have thought that when you turn the control knob to hot it hits a stop of some kind. (You wouldn't want it too hot). Put the knob on loosely. Turn it to Max temp., test the shower temp then take it off again. rotate 90 degrees in the hot direction before putting it back on the splines. Turn it to max hot again and check the temperature at the shower. Leave grub screw out until you are happy with the temp.

As far as I am aware most bar type mixers can be adjusted in this way. Also some thermostatic mixer taps have an adjustment to allow for small differences in pressure between hot and cold. The shower needs nominally equal pressures but due to pipe runs etc even when the supply source is supposedly the same pressure there can be a slight difference to be evened out.