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Tony Hwang Tony Hwang is offline
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Default Question about water pressure in relation to valve and feederpipe diameters...

Ken Moiarty wrote:

My shower lacks pressure so I want to replace the existing 1/2 inch copper
pipe that leads up to it with 3/4 inch copper pipe. Obviously, if done
correctly this will increase the water pressure available at my shower.
However, I also (long time ago) purchased an inline pressure balance valve
which my shower needs to prevent myself from getting either scalded or
cold-shocked everytime someone in my family turns a tap on or off elsewhere
in the house. But this inline pressure balance valve I have (and I had a
hard time finding an _inline_ one ...*) provides only 1/2 inch diameter
passages for the water to flow through it. With the water having to flow
through this smaller diameter before reaching my shower, I'm concerned about
whether or not this will hinder or undo the pressure increase resulting from
my installation of the 3/4 inch pipes?

Any information, enlightenment, advice, or experience in regards to this
would be much appreciated.

{* Explanation regarding "inline" choice: I specifically wanted an _inline_
pressure balance valve as the commonly available ones, which are integrated
into a complete faucet-tap-fixture unit, would require me to have to mess
with my shower's ceramic tile in order to install.}

TIA,
Ken

PS: My apologies if I in error I might have crossposted this to the wrong
group.

Hi,
How many showers in your place? If more than one, do they all have
problem or only one you use? I am almost certain pipe size has nothing
to do with it. Problem is caused by some other factor. 1/2 inch pipe is
plenty for home use.