My apologies. I replied to your message last night from my work computer,
through Google Groups (since it doesn't have direct newsgroup access), and
forgot that my display name is slightly different there ("Ken" instead of
"Ken Moiarty"). So I'll paste and resubmit my reply to you below.
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Mike Grooms wrote:
Ken,
I noticed everyone and his mother has been giving you advice. This
is coming from the plumbing newsgroup.
Thanks. Finally a response suggesting credibility.
Increasing the feed pipes to 3/4" won't help.
Okay, this appears on the surface to be saying exactly what others
before you have been saying. Am I to be sure then that you mean to be
saying here that using 3/4" pipe in place of the current 1/2" pipe
*won't* result in less pressure loss (in relation to the main supply
line into the house)? If so, maybe you could indulge my curiosity and
explain how this can be so in light of the many references that appear
to say otherwise (such as the "Bob Villa" reference I quoted, for
example)? But somehow I'm inclined to to think you don't mean to be
saying this at all, but rather could be somewhat misunderstanding my
original post.
Incidentally, since water is not compressible, the smallest pipe or port
in the system
affects whatever's after it.
Thank you!. So a reduction in pipe diameter from, say 3/4" to 1/2" for
a travel distance of, say, 4" (the length of my PB valve) and then back
again, would definitely limit the pressure at the end to what it would
be if the entire line were just 1/2" in diameter to begin with?
Here's three thoughts..
#1 Is the shower the only place in your house where this low
pressure occurs? If this problem exists elsewhere, write back for more
advice.
No, the pressure is low throughout the house. (Bear in mind, however,
that when I say "low", I don't mean abnormally low; just lower than
what I've been used to from older dwellings I've lived in prior. I can
write back later and give you the actual psi value since my memory is
not so numerically precise, but I will tell you now that I recall
checking the water pressure at an outside faucet in the past and
finding it to be within the lower end of the normal range.)
#2 Since the problem isn't a clogged shower head (which was the
first thing to check), then, assuming some rust hasn't lodged in the
valve body, I'd suspect the balancing valve itself.
Okay, I don't have the valve installed yet. When I bought this house
there were no pressure balance valves installed whatsoever. Since the
time it was built however, local laws have come into effect that
require these be installed for each shower in all new (as well as legal
rental) dwellings. I have bought an inline pressure-balance valve
still waiting for me to install. But it's openings are only standard
1/2", as opposed to the 3/4" piping I have more recently been thinking
of installing for a separate and totally distinct reason (i.e. my
personal preference for increased overall pressure to shower - think
'President Lyndon Johnson with his 100 PSI shower in the White
House...', though not necessarily that extreme g)..., thus prompting
my original question.
If you're handy
enough, take the valve out and see if that doesn't increase the
pressure. If it does, then just get a new valve. BTW, you shouldn't
need a balancing valve. Something is awry somewhere. Perhaps you'll
end up repiping the main arteries that feed the fixtures.
This comes to me as a surprise. In every house I've ever lived in
prior to, as well as including, this one, people have had to time their
showers (or tell others before showering) in order to avoid being
scalded or cold-shocked while showering. I remember my Dad turning
down the thermostat of a new hot water tank that had just been
installed in his house, as a safety precaution to decrease the chance
of somebody getting seriously injured while showering in the event that
somebody opened or closed a tap somewhere unawares during.
#3 Don't ask plumbing questions in the "alt.home.repair" group,
unless you want a bunch of amateurish, faulty advice.
First do what I've suggested, then write the plumbing group if you
need more advice. Sice we're not there to look at things ourselves, it
might take a message or two.
Okay, thanks for your helpful feedback.
Ken
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