Hi Chaps,
I have a wickes bath mixer tap with a shower hose outlet which may be
scaled up. The flow to the tap outlet is fine but the pull up diverter
lever is very stiff and results in a much reduced flow from the shower
head. This thankfully is not our main shower.

Am I right in thinking the diverter valve has become scaled up? We are
in a very hard water area, and the shower hose is not much used,
especially now the flow is so poor.

Is there any way I can de-scale the tap, or is there some other fault
that this is symptomatic of.

Any suggestions (except the angle grinder one!) or links to how to pages
greatfully accepted.

dedics

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Ian & Hilda Dedic wrote:

Hi Chaps,
I have a wickes bath mixer tap with a shower hose outlet which may be
scaled up. The flow to the tap outlet is fine but the pull up diverter
lever is very stiff and results in a much reduced flow from the shower
head. This thankfully is not our main shower.

Am I right in thinking the diverter valve has become scaled up? We are
in a very hard water area, and the shower hose is not much used,
especially now the flow is so poor.

Is there any way I can de-scale the tap, or is there some other fault
that this is symptomatic of.

Any suggestions (except the angle grinder one!) or links to how to
pages greatfully accepted.

dedics

Well, there's a blockage somewhere - but it could be in any one (or more) of
3 places - so a bit of investigation is required.
1. The diverter part of the tap
2. The shower hose
3. The shower head

When you remove the head, how much water comes out of the end of the hose?
When you remove the hose from the tap, how much water comes out of the
nozzle to which it attaches?

Answers to those questions should give a clue as to the root cause of the
problem.

The shower head is perhaps the most likely candidate because it has a lot of
small holes which are easily blocked. Soaking it overnight in vinegar
sometimes helps by dissolving the scale - even better if it comes to bits
easily - otherwise just soak the whole thing.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Roger Mills wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Ian & Hilda Dedic wrote:

Hi Chaps,
I have a wickes bath mixer tap with a shower hose outlet which may be
scaled up. The flow to the tap outlet is fine but the pull up diverter
lever is very stiff and results in a much reduced flow from the shower
head. This thankfully is not our main shower.

Am I right in thinking the diverter valve has become scaled up? We are
in a very hard water area, and the shower hose is not much used,
especially now the flow is so poor.

Is there any way I can de-scale the tap, or is there some other fault
that this is symptomatic of.

Any suggestions (except the angle grinder one!) or links to how to
pages greatfully accepted.

dedics

Well, there's a blockage somewhere - but it could be in any one (or more) of
3 places - so a bit of investigation is required.
1. The diverter part of the tap
2. The shower hose
3. The shower head

When you remove the head, how much water comes out of the end of the hose?
When you remove the hose from the tap, how much water comes out of the
nozzle to which it attaches?

Answers to those questions should give a clue as to the root cause of the
problem.

The shower head is perhaps the most likely candidate because it has a lot of
small holes which are easily blocked. Soaking it overnight in vinegar
sometimes helps by dissolving the scale - even better if it comes to bits
easily - otherwise just soak the whole thing.

Thanks for that.
I checked the obvious bits, the hose and showerhead before I started
they are all fine. Recently replaced for brand new in fact.

It really seems to be the internals or the diverter valve where there is
a problem. The pull up knob is very hard to move.

Does anyone have a link to an exploded diagram of a telephone style
mixer tap with a pull up diverter knob?

I've looked in all the usual web places, but they are all about changing
the cartridge rather than pinpointing trouble in the diverter valve.

dedics

On Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:22:25 +0000, Ian & Hilda Dedic
wrote:

Hi Chaps,
I have a wickes bath mixer tap with a shower hose outlet which may be
scaled up. The flow to the tap outlet is fine but the pull up diverter
lever is very stiff and results in a much reduced flow from the shower
head. This thankfully is not our main shower.

Am I right in thinking the diverter valve has become scaled up? We are
in a very hard water area, and the shower hose is not much used,
especially now the flow is so poor.

Is there any way I can de-scale the tap, or is there some other fault
that this is symptomatic of.

Any suggestions (except the angle grinder one!) or links to how to pages
greatfully accepted.

dedics

Have a similar problem.

I intend to seal the outlet to the bath using duck tape or something
similar and then fill the 'fitting' with a diluted descaler through
the shower hose fitting. Have to wait and see whether it will do the
trick. I can foresee the problem will be to efficiently seal the
outlet to the bath