Had a call today from a bloke asking if I could help with a problem.

The hot water from the monoblock mixer in the kitchen has a very low
flowrate. Couldn't really help, mine is the same & I've never got around to
sorting it.

Would it be that most 'shed' taps are designed to be used on a combi boiler,
rather than mains cold & gravity hot?



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

MONOBLOCK :-(


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Had a call today from a bloke asking if I could help with a problem.

The hot water from the monoblock mixer in the kitchen has a very low
flowrate. Couldn't really help, mine is the same & I've never got
around to sorting it.

Would it be that most 'shed' taps are designed to be used on a combi
boiler, rather than mains cold & gravity hot?

I think that's a large part of the problem. Certainly most cheaper
monoblock mixers are designed to be used with combis and you have to pay
more for one that got better flow charateristics for gravity fed HW.

Another factor might be the insistence on fitting non-return valves in the
HW feed if the H&C mix inside the tap. I don't know how much resitance
these non-return valves add but it can't help flow. I rather suspect ours
might get the heave-ho once our kitchen is finished. ;-)

Tim

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Had a call today from a bloke asking if I could help with a problem.

The hot water from the monoblock mixer in the kitchen has a very low
flowrate. Couldn't really help, mine is the same & I've never got
around to sorting it.

Would it be that most 'shed' taps are designed to be used on a combi
boiler, rather than mains cold & gravity hot?

Yes - pretty well all of these fancy kitchen taps come from abroad where
high pressure water is the norm. The easy answer is to add a pump - that's
what I did.

--
*Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Tim Downie wrote:
I think that's a large part of the problem. Certainly most cheaper
monoblock mixers are designed to be used with combis and you have to pay
more for one that got better flow charateristics for gravity fed HW.

Can you say where one can be bought?

--
*If God had wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Tim Downie wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Had a call today from a bloke asking if I could help with a problem.

The hot water from the monoblock mixer in the kitchen has a very low
flowrate. Couldn't really help, mine is the same & I've never got
around to sorting it.

Would it be that most 'shed' taps are designed to be used on a combi
boiler, rather than mains cold & gravity hot?

I think that's a large part of the problem. Certainly most cheaper
monoblock mixers are designed to be used with combis and you have to
pay more for one that got better flow charateristics for gravity fed
HW.

My thoughts exactly.

Another factor might be the insistence on fitting non-return valves
in the HW feed if the H&C mix inside the tap. I don't know how much
resitance these non-return valves add but it can't help flow. I
rather suspect ours might get the heave-ho once our kitchen is
finished. ;-)

First I've heard of that? Any details?

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Tim Downie wrote:
I think that's a large part of the problem. Certainly most cheaper
monoblock mixers are designed to be used with combis and you have to
pay more for one that got better flow charateristics for gravity fed
HW.

Can you say where one can be bought?

I'm going to try my local independant plumbers shop...


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Tim Downie wrote:

Another factor might be the insistence on fitting non-return valves
in the HW feed if the H&C mix inside the tap. I don't know how much
resitance these non-return valves add but it can't help flow. I
rather suspect ours might get the heave-ho once our kitchen is
finished. ;-)

First I've heard of that? Any details?

If the H&C mix inside the tap, there is the potential for cold water being
forced back up the HW supply if the nozzle gets blocked/obstructed.

Consequently, as I understand it, unless the H & C water channels are
completely separate right up to the nozzle, then a non-return valve must be
fitted to the HW supply to the tap to comply with regulations.

Tim

On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:07:46 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Tim Downie wrote:
I think that's a large part of the problem. Certainly most cheaper
monoblock mixers are designed to be used with combis and you have to
pay more for one that got better flow charateristics for gravity fed
HW.

Can you say where one can be bought?

I'm going to try my local independant plumbers shop...

Don't buy one if they can't tell you what the manufacturers minimum supply
pressure is. That alone will get rid of all the unbranded poor quality
units from Fook Yu & their ilk.

Then you need to go for one that is happy with 0.5 bar supply pressure or
less. Peglar is a quality make which will I know for sure has some models
which will be suitable.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html

Tim Downie wrote:

If the H&C mix inside the tap, there is the potential for cold water being
forced back up the HW supply if the nozzle gets blocked/obstructed.


T'other way round, surely? The worry is that water from bug-infested HW
systems (perhaps all those people with luke-warm supplies to prevent
scalding? :-) ) will be drawn into the mains supply to which the kitchen
tap is attached, and thereby contaminate water for other people. Seems a
little far-fetched to me, but there you go.

Pete

Pete Verdon wrote:
Tim Downie wrote:

If the H&C mix inside the tap, there is the potential for cold
water being forced back up the HW supply if the nozzle gets
blocked/obstructed.


T'other way round, surely? The worry is that water from bug-infested
HW systems (perhaps all those people with luke-warm supplies to
prevent scalding? :-) ) will be drawn into the mains supply to which
the kitchen tap is attached, and thereby contaminate water for other
people. Seems a little far-fetched to me, but there you go.

Well yeah but the regs (as told to me by my plumber) only require the
fitting of a non-return valve to the hot supply.

Tim

Tim Downie wrote:

Well yeah but the regs (as told to me by my plumber) only require the
fitting of a non-return valve to the hot supply.

I wonder if anybody has experimented to see how much difference
the removal [or doctoring ;-) ] of the valve makes, on a
marginal installation.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

Chris J Dixon wrote:
Tim Downie wrote:

Well yeah but the regs (as told to me by my plumber) only require
the fitting of a non-return valve to the hot supply.

I wonder if anybody has experimented to see how much difference
the removal [or doctoring ;-) ] of the valve makes, on a
marginal installation.

I will as soon as all our plumbing's finished. ;-)

Tim