[Zootal[_7_]]

The water pipes for my house are mostly attached to the ceiling of my
basement (which makes it super easy to get to!). It starts out 3/4", and
gets reduced to 1/2". My shower valve has 1/2 threads on it, so I see the
need to reduce it at some point.

In the shower, the water flow seems to be diminished. One of my shower head
settings is some sort of water blast, where the water comes out of a half
dozen large ports. Both hot and cold just dribble. Other settings work OK,
but none of them give really good volume. I'm thinking that i'm the victim
of a water mizer shower valve, and that replacing it will fix the problem.
This is one of those valves where you have no control over volume - it's on
or off, and all you can do is adjust the temperature.

Question: Will 50 feet of 1/2 pipe reduce the flow of water such that I
won't get good volume at the shower head? Or should it work fine and I need
to look somewhere else for the problem (like the shower valve)?

I can be easily convinced to plumb my house with 3/4 pipe, but I'd like to
avoid drastic measures like that if not really necessary. The only place we
really need good volume is the shower, and if 1/2 pipe will give us that, I
don't need to start gutting my plumbing.

[Limp Arbor]

On Feb 8, 1:27*pm, Zootal wrote:
The water pipes for my house are mostly attached to the ceiling of my
basement (which makes it super easy to get to!). It starts out 3/4", and
gets reduced to 1/2". My shower valve has 1/2 threads on it, so I see the
need to reduce it at some point.

In the shower, the water flow seems to be diminished. One of my shower head
settings is some sort of water blast, where the water comes out of a half
dozen large ports. Both hot and cold just dribble. Other settings work OK,
but none of them give really good volume. I'm thinking that i'm the victim
of a water mizer shower valve, and that replacing it will fix the problem..
This is one of those valves where you have no control over volume - it's on
or off, and all you can do is adjust the temperature.

Question: Will 50 feet of 1/2 pipe reduce the flow of water such that I
won't get good volume at the shower head? Or should it work fine and I need
to look somewhere else for the problem (like the shower valve)?

I can be easily convinced to plumb my house with 3/4 pipe, but I'd like to
avoid drastic measures like that if not really necessary. The only place we
really need good volume is the shower, and if 1/2 pipe will give us that, I
don't need to start gutting my plumbing.

I guess you didn't watch Seinfeld. Usually the 'water mizers' are in
the showerhead itself.

see here for a way to deal with it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5189790_remo...ower-head.html

[John Grabowski]

The water pipes for my house are mostly attached to the ceiling of my
basement (which makes it super easy to get to!). It starts out 3/4", and
gets reduced to 1/2". My shower valve has 1/2 threads on it, so I see the
need to reduce it at some point.

In the shower, the water flow seems to be diminished. One of my shower
head
settings is some sort of water blast, where the water comes out of a half
dozen large ports. Both hot and cold just dribble. Other settings work OK,
but none of them give really good volume. I'm thinking that i'm the victim
of a water mizer shower valve, and that replacing it will fix the problem.
This is one of those valves where you have no control over volume - it's
on
or off, and all you can do is adjust the temperature.

Question: Will 50 feet of 1/2 pipe reduce the flow of water such that I
won't get good volume at the shower head? Or should it work fine and I
need
to look somewhere else for the problem (like the shower valve)?

I can be easily convinced to plumb my house with 3/4 pipe, but I'd like to
avoid drastic measures like that if not really necessary. The only place
we
really need good volume is the shower, and if 1/2 pipe will give us that,
I
don't need to start gutting my plumbing.


*When I bought my new valves for a bathroom that I redid a while back I
noticed that the top orifice had a tiny opening and the bottom was full
size. I talked to a plumber about this and was told the top was for just a
plain showhead connection only. For other connections such as multiple
showheads or combination handheld and wall mount like I have you need to
come out of the bottom full size opening. Reading the installation
instructions confirmed this. So I plumbed to the bottom opening and capped
the top. I have a three-way diverter valve so I can have two things going
at once and don't have a problem with the volume of water. 1/2" copper
feeds the valve.

[Zootal[_7_]]

I guess you didn't watch Seinfeld. Usually the 'water mizers' are in
the showerhead itself.

see here for a way to deal with it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5189790_remo...ower-head.html



You couldn't pay me to watch Seinfeld....

I replaced the shower head. It's not the problem.

[jamesgangnc[_3_]]

On Feb 8, 2:39*pm, Zootal wrote:
I guess you didn't watch Seinfeld. *Usually the 'water mizers' are in
the showerhead itself.

see here for a way to deal with it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5189790_remo...ower-head.html

You couldn't pay me to watch Seinfeld....

I replaced the shower head. It's not the problem.

Our master bath has 3/4 to it for cold and hot. Then reduces for the
individual hookups. Don't have any problems with use in the other
baths or kitchen affecting our shower. If you are using copper then
there is a noticable price difference between 1/2 and 34. Not so much
with cpvc.

[DerbyDad03]

On Feb 8, 2:39*pm, Zootal wrote:
I guess you didn't watch Seinfeld. *Usually the 'water mizers' are in
the showerhead itself.

see here for a way to deal with it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5189790_remo...ower-head.html

You couldn't pay me to watch Seinfeld....

I replaced the shower head. It's not the problem.

....unless you replaced it with another water mizer shower head...

[Colbyt]

"Zootal" wrote in message
. 97.131...
The water pipes for my house are mostly attached to the ceiling of my
basement (which makes it super easy to get to!). It starts out 3/4", and
gets reduced to 1/2". My shower valve has 1/2 threads on it, so I see the
need to reduce it at some point.

In the shower, the water flow seems to be diminished. One of my shower
head
settings is some sort of water blast, where the water comes out of a half
dozen large ports. Both hot and cold just dribble. Other settings work OK,
but none of them give really good volume. I'm thinking that i'm the victim
of a water mizer shower valve, and that replacing it will fix the problem.
This is one of those valves where you have no control over volume - it's
on
or off, and all you can do is adjust the temperature.

Question: Will 50 feet of 1/2 pipe reduce the flow of water such that I
won't get good volume at the shower head? Or should it work fine and I
need
to look somewhere else for the problem (like the shower valve)?

I can be easily convinced to plumb my house with 3/4 pipe, but I'd like to
avoid drastic measures like that if not really necessary. The only place
we
really need good volume is the shower, and if 1/2 pipe will give us that,
I
don't need to start gutting my plumbing.


You did not state an age of the plumbing. Half inch is all you need unless
it has become calcified which is less likely with copper than iron pipe.

I would bet on the mixer valve or defective seats for a Delta style faucet.
If it has always been that way it could be a trapped solder ball inside the
fixture.

I would splurge and spend the $20 to buy a new mixing valve and seats before
I ripped out pipe.


--
Colbyt
Please come visit http://www.househomerepair.com

[Zootal[_7_]]

DerbyDad03 wrote in news:daf395c1-8698-4412-bad7-
:

On Feb 8, 2:39*pm, Zootal wrote:
I guess you didn't watch Seinfeld. *Usually the 'water mizers' are in
the showerhead itself.

see here for a way to deal with it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5189790_remo...ower-head.html

You couldn't pay me to watch Seinfeld....

I replaced the shower head. It's not the problem.

...unless you replaced it with another water mizer shower head...


No no no - it's one of these water wasting water blasters .

Just to make sure (because I've done stupider things than this...) I just
now walked into the bathroom and removed it. Turn water on. Bah - I can
just about pee better then the stream that came out of the pipe. And at my
age, I don't pee anywhere as far as I used to when I was younger...

Now that I think about it. When the pipe in the wall broke, we had a most
serious water spout coming out of the wall. It appears that there is more
than adequate cold water delivery, it's just not making it through the
valve.

[Zootal[_7_]]

You did not state an age of the plumbing. Half inch is all you need
unless it has become calcified which is less likely with copper than
iron pipe.

I would bet on the mixer valve or defective seats for a Delta style
faucet. If it has always been that way it could be a trapped solder
ball inside the fixture.

I would splurge and spend the $20 to buy a new mixing valve and seats
before I ripped out pipe.


The existing plumbing is about ten years old. We also have very soft
slightly alkaline water here. No deposits have every built up anywhere that
I'm aware of. Toilet tanks are clean enough to drink out of. Pipes that I
have had apart show no sign of deposits.

I already have a new valve ( I hate the one that is in there - no volume
control, just temp control only). I bought it a long time ago, just never
had a good enough of a reason to install it. What is definitely going to
happen is that I'm going to rip out the wall and replace the valve. What is
uncertain is how much plastic I replace with copper.

To be honest, I'm leaning towards just biting the bullet and getting rid of
the plastic. I have the time and money to do so, and I hate the idea of
plastic pipe in my walls.

[benick[_2_]]

"Zootal" wrote in message
. 97.131...
The water pipes for my house are mostly attached to the ceiling of my
basement (which makes it super easy to get to!). It starts out 3/4", and
gets reduced to 1/2". My shower valve has 1/2 threads on it, so I see the
need to reduce it at some point.

In the shower, the water flow seems to be diminished. One of my shower
head
settings is some sort of water blast, where the water comes out of a half
dozen large ports. Both hot and cold just dribble. Other settings work OK,
but none of them give really good volume. I'm thinking that i'm the victim
of a water mizer shower valve, and that replacing it will fix the problem.
This is one of those valves where you have no control over volume - it's
on
or off, and all you can do is adjust the temperature.

Question: Will 50 feet of 1/2 pipe reduce the flow of water such that I
won't get good volume at the shower head? Or should it work fine and I
need
to look somewhere else for the problem (like the shower valve)?

I can be easily convinced to plumb my house with 3/4 pipe, but I'd like to
avoid drastic measures like that if not really necessary. The only place
we
really need good volume is the shower, and if 1/2 pipe will give us that,
I
don't need to start gutting my plumbing.



Try removing the showerhead and soaking it in Limeaway or similar
product...Worked for me and we have softened water...Worked like new
again...

[Bob F]

jamesgangnc wrote:
On Feb 8, 2:39 pm, Zootal wrote:
I guess you didn't watch Seinfeld. Usually the 'water mizers' are in
the showerhead itself.

see here for a way to deal with it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5189790_remo...ower-head.html

You couldn't pay me to watch Seinfeld....

I replaced the shower head. It's not the problem.

Our master bath has 3/4 to it for cold and hot. Then reduces for the
individual hookups. Don't have any problems with use in the other
baths or kitchen affecting our shower. If you are using copper then
there is a noticable price difference between 1/2 and 34. Not so much
with cpvc.

Going up to 3/4" will significantly increase the time you wait for hot water. If
the presure is good, it might be a negative improvement.

[Bob F]

Zootal wrote:
DerbyDad03 wrote in
news:daf395c1-8698-4412-bad7-
:

On Feb 8, 2:39 pm, Zootal wrote:
I guess you didn't watch Seinfeld. Usually the 'water mizers' are
in the showerhead itself.

see here for a way to deal with it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5189790_remo...ower-head.html

You couldn't pay me to watch Seinfeld....

I replaced the shower head. It's not the problem.

...unless you replaced it with another water mizer shower head...


No no no - it's one of these water wasting water blasters .

Just to make sure (because I've done stupider things than this...) I
just now walked into the bathroom and removed it. Turn water on. Bah
- I can just about pee better then the stream that came out of the
pipe. And at my age, I don't pee anywhere as far as I used to when I
was younger...

Now that I think about it. When the pipe in the wall broke, we had a
most serious water spout coming out of the wall. It appears that
there is more than adequate cold water delivery, it's just not making
it through the valve.

There could be debris plugging holes in the valve. Shutting off the water and
taking the valve apart and cleaning it might fix it. Blowing compressed air or
using a hose to reverse flush from the showerhead pipe might flush it out.

[Bob F]

Bob F wrote:
Zootal wrote:
DerbyDad03 wrote in
news:daf395c1-8698-4412-bad7-
:

On Feb 8, 2:39 pm, Zootal wrote:
I guess you didn't watch Seinfeld. Usually the 'water mizers' are
in the showerhead itself.

see here for a way to deal with it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5189790_remo...ower-head.html

You couldn't pay me to watch Seinfeld....

I replaced the shower head. It's not the problem.

...unless you replaced it with another water mizer shower head...


No no no - it's one of these water wasting water blasters .

Just to make sure (because I've done stupider things than this...) I
just now walked into the bathroom and removed it. Turn water on. Bah
- I can just about pee better then the stream that came out of the
pipe. And at my age, I don't pee anywhere as far as I used to when I
was younger...

Now that I think about it. When the pipe in the wall broke, we had a
most serious water spout coming out of the wall. It appears that
there is more than adequate cold water delivery, it's just not making
it through the valve.

There could be debris plugging holes in the valve. Shutting off the
water and taking the valve apart and cleaning it might fix it.
Blowing compressed air or using a hose to reverse flush from the
showerhead pipe might flush it out.

You might even be able to drill out the outlet hole to the shower in the valve
if it has a built in restriction.

[Oren[_2_]]

On Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:52:25 -0600, Zootal
wrote:


To be honest, I'm leaning towards just biting the bullet and getting rid of
the plastic. I have the time and money to do so, and I hate the idea of
plastic pipe in my walls.

In another thread, PEX and sharkbite connectors or crimps were
suggested.

My walls have PEX / Manifold / lines in the walls and the attic.

NOT a single leak in five years. I'm the second owner and the PO lived
here 7 years or so.

The best PEX connector imo, is the expanded type. In recent years I'm
seeing PEX lines in lawn irrigation in the Mojave desert.

I 2nd the PEX idea.

[The Daring Dufas[_6_]]

Limp Arbor wrote:
On Feb 8, 1:27 pm, Zootal wrote:
The water pipes for my house are mostly attached to the ceiling of my
basement (which makes it super easy to get to!). It starts out 3/4", and
gets reduced to 1/2". My shower valve has 1/2 threads on it, so I see the
need to reduce it at some point.

In the shower, the water flow seems to be diminished. One of my shower head
settings is some sort of water blast, where the water comes out of a half
dozen large ports. Both hot and cold just dribble. Other settings work OK,
but none of them give really good volume. I'm thinking that i'm the victim
of a water mizer shower valve, and that replacing it will fix the problem.
This is one of those valves where you have no control over volume - it's on
or off, and all you can do is adjust the temperature.

Question: Will 50 feet of 1/2 pipe reduce the flow of water such that I
won't get good volume at the shower head? Or should it work fine and I need
to look somewhere else for the problem (like the shower valve)?

I can be easily convinced to plumb my house with 3/4 pipe, but I'd like to
avoid drastic measures like that if not really necessary. The only place we
really need good volume is the shower, and if 1/2 pipe will give us that, I
don't need to start gutting my plumbing.

I guess you didn't watch Seinfeld. Usually the 'water mizers' are in
the showerhead itself.

see here for a way to deal with it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5189790_remo...ower-head.html


I carry tools and a shower head when I travel. I got good at quickly
changing them in and out, some have little socket head set screws, I
have them covered too. *snicker*

TDD

[Zootal[_7_]]

Oren wrote in
:

On Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:52:25 -0600, Zootal
wrote:


To be honest, I'm leaning towards just biting the bullet and getting
rid of the plastic. I have the time and money to do so, and I hate the
idea of plastic pipe in my walls.

In another thread, PEX and sharkbite connectors or crimps were
suggested.

My walls have PEX / Manifold / lines in the walls and the attic.

NOT a single leak in five years. I'm the second owner and the PO lived
here 7 years or so.

The best PEX connector imo, is the expanded type. In recent years I'm
seeing PEX lines in lawn irrigation in the Mojave desert.

I 2nd the PEX idea.



I went to HD and listened to a nice sales pitch about PEX. The pipe itself
seems to be a good idea. Then I found how much the connectors (sharkbite)
cost and about wet myself. Compared copper + cheap f/f coupler, versus pex
+ expensive sharkbite. Came home with a load of copper pipe.

Seriously, are those things lined with gold? Copper may not be cheap, but
holy crud the cost of sharkbite connectors for what I am doing would have
cost more than all the copper I bought. And for a job this small, it's not
realy worth buying the tool and pieces parts to make my own connectors.

Maybe next time I'll consider pex. Maybe when the price of connectors comes
down...

[DD_BobK]

On Feb 8, 10:34*pm, Zootal wrote:
Oren wrote :



On Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:52:25 -0600, Zootal
wrote:

To be honest, I'm leaning towards just biting the bullet and getting
rid of the plastic. I have the time and money to do so, and I hate the
idea of plastic pipe in my walls.

In another thread, PEX and sharkbite connectors or crimps were
suggested.

My walls have PEX / Manifold / lines in the walls and the attic.

NOT a single leak in five years. I'm the second owner and the PO lived
here 7 years or so.

The best PEX connector imo, is the expanded type. In recent years I'm
seeing PEX lines in lawn irrigation in the Mojave desert.

I 2nd the PEX idea.

I went to HD and listened to a nice sales pitch about PEX. The pipe itself
seems to be a good idea. Then I found how much the connectors (sharkbite)
cost and about wet myself. Compared copper + cheap f/f coupler, versus pex
+ expensive sharkbite. Came home with a load of copper pipe.

Seriously, are those things lined with gold? Copper may not be cheap, but
holy crud the cost of sharkbite connectors for what I am doing would have
cost more than all the copper I bought. And for a job this small, it's not
realy worth buying the tool and pieces parts to make my own connectors.

Maybe next time I'll consider pex. Maybe when the price of connectors comes
down...

Sharkbites are a bit spendy bit they;re quick and easy. You can rent
a PEX crimper or an expansion tool.

PEX connections can be completely made up (expansion style) faster
than cutting and cleaning copper....forget the sweating.

Hell....if oyu pay the shipping I'll rent you my hand expander for a
couple weeks.

I was / am pretty "old school" about a lot of stuff, I agonized of
the choice of copper vs PEX. My PEX re-pipe is coming up on 3 years
now, no problems. I'm glad I used PEX, only four joints per fixture.
And it snakes great through an old house...minimal demo.

I used the home run design. So I have minimal joints.

I dont know the layout of oyur plumbing system but 1/2 copper can
carry a fair amount of water. I'd guess the problem is not the
tubes / pipes.

cheers
Bob

[Stormin Mormon]

Do other water devices in the house have good flow? Garden
hose, fill the mashing machine, sink, etc?

You didn't mention what type of pope. Galvanized is noted
for closing down, but PVC and copper less likely.

As a quick and easy test, I'd suggest to take the shower
head off the angled pipe. Turn the water on, and see if you
have good water flow. It won't be very good for showring.
But, it will help with the diagnosis. Others have suggested
ways to clear a restricted shower head.


--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Zootal" wrote in message
. 97.131...
The water pipes for my house are mostly attached to the
ceiling of my
basement (which makes it super easy to get to!). It starts
out 3/4", and
gets reduced to 1/2". My shower valve has 1/2 threads on it,
so I see the
need to reduce it at some point.

In the shower, the water flow seems to be diminished. One of
my shower head
settings is some sort of water blast, where the water comes
out of a half
dozen large ports. Both hot and cold just dribble. Other
settings work OK,
but none of them give really good volume. I'm thinking that
i'm the victim
of a water mizer shower valve, and that replacing it will
fix the problem.
This is one of those valves where you have no control over
volume - it's on
or off, and all you can do is adjust the temperature.

Question: Will 50 feet of 1/2 pipe reduce the flow of water
such that I
won't get good volume at the shower head? Or should it work
fine and I need
to look somewhere else for the problem (like the shower
valve)?

I can be easily convinced to plumb my house with 3/4 pipe,
but I'd like to
avoid drastic measures like that if not really necessary.
The only place we
really need good volume is the shower, and if 1/2 pipe will
give us that, I
don't need to start gutting my plumbing.

[Stormin Mormon]

Did you try running the water with the shower head removed?

If the shower head truly isn't the problem, the next things
come to mind are bad valves at the tub, bad diverter if you
have shower or tub. Or, of course, the reduced pipe
interior.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Zootal" wrote in message
. 97.131...

I replaced the shower head. It's not the problem.

[Stormin Mormon]

I should read the rest of the posts before suggesting to try
the water with the shower head removed. Does the bath tub
fill properly?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Zootal" wrote in message
. 97.131...

Just to make sure (because I've done stupider things than
this...) I just
now walked into the bathroom and removed it. Turn water on.
Bah - I can
just about pee better then the stream that came out of the
pipe. And at my
age, I don't pee anywhere as far as I used to when I was
younger...

Now that I think about it. When the pipe in the wall broke,
we had a most
serious water spout coming out of the wall. It appears that
there is more
than adequate cold water delivery, it's just not making it
through the
valve.

[jamesgangnc[_3_]]

On Feb 9, 7:01*am, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
I should read the rest of the posts before suggesting to try
the water with the shower head removed. Does the bath tub
fill properly?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
*www.lds.org
.

"Zootal" wrote in message

. 97.131...

Just to make sure (because I've done stupider things than
this...) I just
now walked into the bathroom and removed it. Turn water on.
Bah - I can
just about pee better then the stream that came out of the
pipe. And at my
age, I don't pee anywhere as far as I used to when I was
younger...

Now that I think about it. When the pipe in the wall broke,
we had a most
serious water spout coming out of the wall. It appears that
there is more
than adequate cold water delivery, it's just not making it
through the
valve.

Bob's right about the hot water delay, it is longer in my masterbath.
There is a garden tub and I turn that on hot for a minute before I
shower. But it's a waste of water.

Pex is really designed with the professional plumber in mind. It's
the fastest to install in new work with a minimum of on hand parts. A
pro can do a new house in a fraction of the time it took to do
copper. Plus pex pipe can adapt to poorly drilled and misaligned
holes better as well. If you go pex you probably should just buy a
crimper. They are cheaper online and you can find them with
exchangable heads.

There really is nothing wrong with cpvc. It's been around a while.

I agree, it sounds like your valve has built in restriction. You may
be able to disassemble it and get more thru flow by enlarging
openings. I've done that on valves and shower heads.

[Stormin Mormon]

That's likely to get you arrested by the same cops who
inspect matress and pillows to see if the tags have been
removed.

Perhaps one of us should read Zootal's old messages, and see
if the shower ever did function well. Could be valve, or
piping restriction, now. Or, water meter, or partial frozen
lead in pipe from the street, or... or....

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"jamesgangnc" wrote in message
...


I agree, it sounds like your valve has built in restriction.
You may
be able to disassemble it and get more thru flow by
enlarging
openings. I've done that on valves and shower heads.

[blueman]

The Daring Dufas writes:
Limp Arbor wrote:
On Feb 8, 1:27 pm, Zootal wrote:
The water pipes for my house are mostly attached to the ceiling of my
basement (which makes it super easy to get to!). It starts out 3/4", and
gets reduced to 1/2". My shower valve has 1/2 threads on it, so I see the
need to reduce it at some point.

In the shower, the water flow seems to be diminished. One of my shower head
settings is some sort of water blast, where the water comes out of a half
dozen large ports. Both hot and cold just dribble. Other settings work OK,
but none of them give really good volume. I'm thinking that i'm the victim
of a water mizer shower valve, and that replacing it will fix the problem.
This is one of those valves where you have no control over volume - it's on
or off, and all you can do is adjust the temperature.

Question: Will 50 feet of 1/2 pipe reduce the flow of water such that I
won't get good volume at the shower head? Or should it work fine and I need
to look somewhere else for the problem (like the shower valve)?

I can be easily convinced to plumb my house with 3/4 pipe, but I'd like to
avoid drastic measures like that if not really necessary. The only place we
really need good volume is the shower, and if 1/2 pipe will give us that, I
don't need to start gutting my plumbing.

I guess you didn't watch Seinfeld. Usually the 'water mizers' are in
the showerhead itself.

see here for a way to deal with it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5189790_remo...ower-head.html


I carry tools and a shower head when I travel. I got good at quickly
changing them in and out, some have little socket head set screws, I
have them covered too. *snicker*

Do you also bring teflon tape?
Also, be careful about carrying tools on airplanes... I once had a small
allen wrench confiscated because the sign said "no tools" -- I tried to
explain that an L-shaped 3" long piece of blunt hexagonal metal is not a
weapon but I guess the droid thought that my pale-white, American family
traveling together on vacation was obviously more of a danger than the Middle
Eastern travelers with turbans and burkhas... go figure...

[Oren[_2_]]

On Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:34:59 -0600, Zootal
wrote:

I went to HD and listened to a nice sales pitch about PEX. The pipe itself
seems to be a good idea. Then I found how much the connectors (sharkbite)
cost and about wet myself. Compared copper + cheap f/f coupler, versus pex
+ expensive sharkbite. Came home with a load of copper pipe.

Seriously, are those things lined with gold? Copper may not be cheap, but
holy crud the cost of sharkbite connectors for what I am doing would have
cost more than all the copper I bought. And for a job this small, it's not
realy worth buying the tool and pieces parts to make my own connectors.

Maybe next time I'll consider pex. Maybe when the price of connectors comes
down...

Just for clarity, "sharkbite" connectors are not an essential
component or part of a PEX system - just something folks use, if they
like.

I can see your shock about cost, but they are not needed...

[Robert Neville]

Oren wrote:

Just for clarity, "sharkbite" connectors are not an essential
component or part of a PEX system - just something folks use, if they
like.

I can see your shock about cost, but they are not needed...

And an additional point - the economics of PEX have to be looked at as a system
- and that includes labor, not just material. If a two man crew can plumb an
entire house in a day with PEX, but sweating copper would take a week, paying
more for the material makes sense.

[Bob F]

Zootal wrote:
DerbyDad03 wrote in
news:daf395c1-8698-4412-bad7-
:

On Feb 8, 2:39 pm, Zootal wrote:
I guess you didn't watch Seinfeld. Usually the 'water mizers' are
in the showerhead itself.

see here for a way to deal with it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5189790_remo...ower-head.html

You couldn't pay me to watch Seinfeld....

I replaced the shower head. It's not the problem.

...unless you replaced it with another water mizer shower head...


No no no - it's one of these water wasting water blasters .

Just to make sure (because I've done stupider things than this...) I
just now walked into the bathroom and removed it. Turn water on. Bah
- I can just about pee better then the stream that came out of the
pipe. And at my age, I don't pee anywhere as far as I used to when I
was younger...

Now that I think about it. When the pipe in the wall broke, we had a
most serious water spout coming out of the wall. It appears that
there is more than adequate cold water delivery, it's just not making
it through the valve.

Another possible solution. Replace the shower head with a really good "low-flow"
head. Because it is designed for low flow, the shower valve limitation might not
be a problem for the low-flow head. It will naturally have better pressure on
the low flow.

[auggie]

On Feb 8, 12:27*pm, Zootal wrote:
The water pipes for my house are mostly attached to the ceiling of my
basement (which makes it super easy to get to!). It starts out 3/4", and
gets reduced to 1/2". My shower valve has 1/2 threads on it, so I see the
need to reduce it at some point.

In the shower, the water flow seems to be diminished. One of my shower head
settings is some sort of water blast, where the water comes out of a half
dozen large ports. Both hot and cold just dribble. Other settings work OK,
but none of them give really good volume. I'm thinking that i'm the victim
of a water mizer shower valve, and that replacing it will fix the problem..
This is one of those valves where you have no control over volume - it's on
or off, and all you can do is adjust the temperature.

Question: Will 50 feet of 1/2 pipe reduce the flow of water such that I
won't get good volume at the shower head? Or should it work fine and I need
to look somewhere else for the problem (like the shower valve)?

I can be easily convinced to plumb my house with 3/4 pipe, but I'd like to
avoid drastic measures like that if not really necessary. The only place we
really need good volume is the shower, and if 1/2 pipe will give us that, I
don't need to start gutting my plumbing.

i had a similer problem with pressure and it seemed the hot was not so
hot even with the heater turned up beyond recomondations ... turned
out a rubber gromet piece inside the valve on the hot side behind the
mixer had broken off and blcoked more than half the flow, the mixer
slowed down to componsate .. one of those no scald valves