Have a cheapo Gainsborough 9.5 shower which has worked perfectly well
for some time.
But it has been running cool lately (not cold) and I wonder if it is
due to the weather and cold supply temperature. We might have too high
mains pressure - the dial temp adjustment has to be near the hot end
even in summer.
So the questions a
1 is there a simple way of rating the mains pressure without buying a
bit of kit, e.g rate of flow through a tap?
2 if it is high what is the best pressure reducer device to buy?

cheers
Jacob

On Mar 5, 9:41*am, normanwisdom wrote:
Have a cheapo Gainsborough 9.5 shower which has worked perfectly well
for some time.
But it has been running cool lately (not cold) and I wonder if it is
due to the weather and cold supply temperature. We might have too high
mains pressure - the dial temp adjustment has to be near the hot end
even in summer.
So the questions a
1 is there a simple way of rating the mains pressure without buying a
bit of kit, e.g rate of flow through a tap?
2 if it is high what is the best pressure reducer device to buy?

cheers
Jacob

Flow rate at kitchen tap is about 30 litres/minute. Could this mean
too high pressure for the shower, which I seem to recall requires a
max of 10 bar?

On 5 Mar, 10:05, jacob wrote:
On Mar 5, 9:41*am, normanwisdom wrote:

Have a cheapo Gainsborough 9.5 shower which has worked perfectly well
for some time.
But it has been running cool lately (not cold) and I wonder if it is
due to the weather and cold supply temperature. We might have too high
mains pressure - the dial temp adjustment has to be near the hot end
even in summer.
So the questions a
1 is there a simple way of rating the mains pressure without buying a
bit of kit, e.g rate of flow through a tap?
2 if it is high what is the best pressure reducer device to buy?

cheers
Jacob

Flow rate at kitchen tap is about 30 litres/minute. Could this mean
too high pressure for the shower, which I seem to recall requires a
max of 10 bar?

It's the rate of flow that determines how hot the water gets. Can't
you throttle it back by closing off a service valve a bit?

normanwisdom wrote:
Have a cheapo Gainsborough 9.5 shower which has worked perfectly well
for some time.
But it has been running cool lately (not cold) and I wonder if it is
due to the weather and cold supply temperature. We might have too high
mains pressure - the dial temp adjustment has to be near the hot end
even in summer.
So the questions a
1 is there a simple way of rating the mains pressure without buying a
bit of kit, e.g rate of flow through a tap?
2 if it is high what is the best pressure reducer device to buy?

Its not the pressure you need to reduce so much as the flow rate. Simply
partially turning off the showers service valve should do this (assuming
one is fitted; if not, that is what you need to buy!)


--
Cheers,

John.

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| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:45:50 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

Its not the pressure you need to reduce so much as the flow rate. Simply
partially turning off the showers service valve should do this (assuming
one is fitted; if not, that is what you need to buy!)

Or, if difficult/inconvenient/too bothersome to fit, a different shower head
with lower flow, or even a (googles) "hose washer"...

http://www.hardwarestore.com/media/product/275339_front200.jpg


Thomas Prufer

Ta for hints.
Closing the stop tap a bit does work, but then doesn't work if you
flush the loo etc. Pressure falls too low.
Have gone for the Comap PRV solution
http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/di...cing_valve.htm
Will let you know if it is the answer when I've fitted it.

cheers
Jacobn

jacob wrote:
Ta for hints.
Closing the stop tap a bit does work, but then doesn't work if you
flush the loo etc. Pressure falls too low.
Have gone for the Comap PRV solution
http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/di...cing_valve.htm
Will let you know if it is the answer when I've fitted it.

It may be you are fixing the symptom rather than the problem, but time
will tell ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Fitted prv. It now works perfectly. Left it at the factory setting of
3 bar. Might need to turn it up a bit in summer perhaps.
It has a gauge which you can fit as an optional extra.

I'll go and have a warm shower!

cheers
Jacob

In article
,
normanwisdom writes
Have a cheapo Gainsborough 9.5 shower which has worked perfectly well
for some time.
But it has been running cool lately (not cold) and I wonder if it is
due to the weather and cold supply temperature. We might have too high
mains pressure - the dial temp adjustment has to be near the hot end
even in summer.
So the questions a
1 is there a simple way of rating the mains pressure without buying a
bit of kit, e.g rate of flow through a tap?
2 if it is high what is the best pressure reducer device to buy?

Previous good performance followed by running cool may point to a
failure of one of the heating elements (there are invariably two) or the
associated controls. Does the shower have two power settings and is
there a noticeable difference in warmth between the two? You could also
check it is drawing the full 9.5kW using a timed test on your
electricity meter.
--
fred
BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs