My wall-concealed thermostatic shower mixer valve (hansgrohe) has seized
up and only emits cold water. Looking at the price of the closest
contemporary equivalent I can find (£300) I'm not confident I can get
an affordable spare. And it needs fixing before Xmas.

So I'll probably replace it with a new and cheap surface fitted one
(it's 12 years old). But I don't know which side is hot feed and which
cold.

And I can't run it to find out, because only cold water comes out

Is there a convention for this (eg hot on the left and cold on the
right?) and do most manufacturers follow it. Transposing them would be a
PITA given the way the feed pipes are cemented into the wall.

I could undo some of the connections and see what happens, but that'll
be a bit messy, so if there's a "standard" that would help a lot.
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:
Is there a convention for this (eg hot on the left and cold on the
right?) and do most manufacturers follow it.

Can't speak for Hansgrohe, but Mira allow you to reverse the
thermostatic module, so either is possible.

On Friday, December 7, 2012 3:22:41 PM UTC, Andy Burns wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:

Is there a convention for this (eg hot on the left and cold on the
right?) and do most manufacturers follow it.

There is a standard for sinks and so on which says you should have hot on the left - I don't know whether shower makers follow this, though it would make some sense in avoiding crossover of the pipes, assuming the plumber has followed the standard - the way they haven't in virtually every house I've owned...


Can't speak for Hansgrohe, but Mira allow you to reverse the
thermostatic module, so either is possible.


Though you should watch out, as what the manufacturers say you can do isn't always possible - my mother's shower was fitted according to the manufacturer's instructions, but was impossible to control, as you'd expect if it were fitted with the hot and cold the wrong way round. I thought from the info on the manufacturers website that it would be easy to change the thermostatic capsule - they even gave full directions for doing so. Unfortunately when we looked at the thing itself there was an extra lug not shown on the drawing, which prevented the capsule being moved. (we got round this by turning the whole unit upside down, in the end).

On Fri, 7 Dec 2012 08:05:34 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

There is a standard for sinks and so on which says you should have hot on the left - I don't know whether shower makers follow this, though it would make some sense in avoiding crossover of the pipes, assuming the plumber has followed the standard - the way they haven't in virtually every house I've owned...

It's a standard universally ignored by nearly every wrong-headed,
muddled ****wit that's plumbed nearly every house I've ever been in.
It makes sense to stick to it - hot on the left - but for some strange
reason, some peoples' brains don't work that way. I think they're
mainly arts graduates, wrongly sent to the post-grad plumbing courses.

On Fri, 07 Dec 2012 16:29:55 +0000
Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:

On Fri, 7 Dec 2012 08:05:34 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

There is a standard for sinks and so on which says you should have
hot on the left - I don't know whether shower makers follow this,
though it would make some sense in avoiding crossover of the pipes,
assuming the plumber has followed the standard - the way they
haven't in virtually every house I've owned...

It's a standard universally ignored by nearly every wrong-headed,
muddled ****wit that's plumbed nearly every house I've ever been in.
It makes sense to stick to it - hot on the left - but for some strange
reason, some peoples' brains don't work that way. I think they're
mainly arts graduates, wrongly sent to the post-grad plumbing courses.

It sounds as though most installations are the reverse of the
theoretical standard, so accepting that hot is on the right will
produce fewer surprises.
Simples.
--
Davey.

On Fri, 7 Dec 2012 17:19:52 +0000, Davey
wrote:

It sounds as though most installations are the reverse of the
theoretical standard, so accepting that hot is on the right will
produce fewer surprises.
Simples.

But it's not that simple, is it?
Actually, the majority of houses I've been in, have hot on the left,
but even in the same house I've found hot on the right, as a bonus
surprise. It's still a significant figure, anway.
No, if it actually is a standard, and not just use and custom, it
should be enforced if at all possible (some hope of that), as grabbing
a handful of what you think is cold water, only to have your palm
scalded might not be a barrelful of fun.

From what I can see, I believe that if someone is brought up with the
taps 'the wrong way round' that's what they'll do in any house they
plumb themselves or tell their plumber to do for them. They just don't
know or don't care, or are too wilfully stupid to learn the correct
way.

On Fri, 07 Dec 2012 16:29:55 +0000, Grimly Curmudgeon
wrote:

On Fri, 7 Dec 2012 08:05:34 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

There is a standard for sinks and so on which says you should have hot on the left - I don't know whether shower makers follow this, though it would make some sense in avoiding crossover of the pipes, assuming the plumber has followed the standard - the way they haven't in virtually every house I've owned...

It's a standard universally ignored by nearly every wrong-headed,
muddled ****wit that's plumbed nearly every house I've ever been in.
It makes sense to stick to it - hot on the left - but for some strange
reason, some peoples' brains don't work that way. I think they're
mainly arts graduates, wrongly sent to the post-grad plumbing courses.

Not just me who insists on this then. :-)

In message , at
08:05:34 on Fri, 7 Dec 2012, remarked:
Is there a convention for this (eg hot on the left and cold on the
right?) and do most manufacturers follow it.

There is a standard for sinks and so on which says you should have hot on the left - I don't know whether shower makers follow this, though it
would make some sense in avoiding crossover of the pipes, assuming the plumber has followed the standard - the way they haven't in virtually
every house I've owned...

The rest of the house is "hot on the left" (although this is the only
such shower), so I'm keeping my finger crossed.

--
Roland Perry

On 07/12/2012 15:05, Roland Perry wrote:
My wall-concealed thermostatic shower mixer valve (hansgrohe) has seized
up and only emits cold water. Looking at the price of the closest
contemporary equivalent I can find (£300) I'm not confident I can get
an affordable spare. And it needs fixing before Xmas.

So I'll probably replace it with a new and cheap surface fitted one
(it's 12 years old). But I don't know which side is hot feed and which
cold.

And I can't run it to find out, because only cold water comes out

Is there a convention for this (eg hot on the left and cold on the
right?) and do most manufacturers follow it. Transposing them would be a
PITA given the way the feed pipes are cemented into the wall.

I could undo some of the connections and see what happens, but that'll
be a bit messy, so if there's a "standard" that would help a lot.

Do you not have isolators on the hot and cold feeds? If so, turn them
off in turn and see what happens. The one which stops *all* flow must be
the cold.

I've just had a look at the photos which I took when I installed a bar
mixer a couple of years ago, and the hot is definitely on the left and
cold on the right. They must surely(?) all be the same, to make them
interchangeable.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

In message , at 18:07:47 on Fri, 7 Dec
2012, Roger Mills remarked:

Do you not have isolators on the hot and cold feeds?

There's one stopcock next to the pressurised hot water tank, but that
turns off both the cold and hot flow to the whole house (apart from the
cold supply to the kitchen sink).

Although all the basins, toilets and the bath have separate local
isolators, this shower seems the odd one out in not having any.

If so, turn them off in turn and see what happens. The one which stops
*all* flow must be the cold.

But with no flow at all to the hot, that would not get me any closer to
finding which of the two feed pipes is the hot. What I'd need is hot
water to flow, and heat up the pipe. I don't want to disconnect the
shower the "feed" side of the apparatus, because that would mean the
water would get everywhere, including down the cavity wall.
--
Roland Perry

In article ,
Roland Perry wrote:
My wall-concealed thermostatic shower mixer valve (hansgrohe) has seized
up and only emits cold water. Looking at the price of the closest
contemporary equivalent I can find (£300) I'm not confident I can get
an affordable spare. And it needs fixing before Xmas.

So I'll probably replace it with a new and cheap surface fitted one
(it's 12 years old). But I don't know which side is hot feed and which
cold.

And I can't run it to find out, because only cold water comes out

Warm both pipes (blowtorch, hair drier, etc.)

Run the shower.

One pipe will get colder quicker.

Gordon

In message , at 18:22:49 on Fri, 7 Dec 2012,
Gordon Henderson remarked:

Warm both pipes (blowtorch, hair drier, etc.)

Run the shower.

One pipe will get colder quicker.

That's a good idea, thanks.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 18:22:49 on Fri, 7 Dec 2012,
Gordon Henderson remarked:

And I can't run it to find out, because only cold water comes out

Warm both pipes (blowtorch, hair drier, etc.)

Run the shower.

One pipe will get colder quicker.

I started the shower from room temperature, and it turns out the hot
wasn't completely blocked, so showed up as being on the left, with the
cold (getting colder) on the right.

The new shower unit is completely symmetrical, so could be fitted either
way up, but was supplied with "hot on the left".
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:

My wall-concealed thermostatic shower mixer valve (hansgrohe) has seized
up and only emits cold water. Looking at the price of the closest
contemporary equivalent I can find (£300) I'm not confident I can get
an affordable spare. And it needs fixing before Xmas.

You only need a new thermostatic cartridge fitting. It's a 15 minute job
normally. Costs anything from £30 to £130.
www.showerdoc.com are the most helpful supplier for these things, and
may have a diagram on their site, but they are not the cheapest.
If you haev a model name/number, then it is easy to identify the part.

I've looked, and this gives you an idea:
http://www.showerdoc.com/grohe-allur...shower-mixer-1
-2-shower-spares

http://www.showerdoc.com/grohe-therm...idge-1-2-47439
000

Alan.


--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

In message , at 10:57:28 on
Sat, 8 Dec 2012, A.Lee remarked:
My wall-concealed thermostatic shower mixer valve (hansgrohe) has seized
up and only emits cold water. Looking at the price of the closest
contemporary equivalent I can find (£300) I'm not confident I can get
an affordable spare. And it needs fixing before Xmas.

You only need a new thermostatic cartridge fitting. It's a 15 minute job
normally. Costs anything from £30 to £130.
www.showerdoc.com are the most helpful supplier for these things, and
may have a diagram on their site, but they are not the cheapest.
If you haev a model name/number, then it is easy to identify the part.

I've looked, and this gives you an idea:
http://www.showerdoc.com/grohe-allure-34236-thermostatic-shower-mixer-1-2-shower-spares

http://www.showerdoc.com/grohe-thermostatic-compact-cartridge-1-2-47439000

The cartridge there is £132, and I've bought a whole new shower fitting
for that. Although mine's not a bar unit like that, it's a recessed one
with no part number visible.
--
Roland Perry

On Friday, December 7, 2012 3:05:39 PM UTC, Roland Perry wrote:
My wall-concealed thermostatic shower mixer valve (hansgrohe) has seized
up and only emits cold water. Looking at the price of the closest
contemporary equivalent I can find (�300) I'm not confident I can get
an affordable spare. And it needs fixing before Xmas.
So I'll probably replace it with a new and cheap surface fitted one
(it's 12 years old). But I don't know which side is hot feed and which
cold.
And I can't run it to find out, because only cold water comes out
Is there a convention for this (eg hot on the left and cold on the
right?) and do most manufacturers follow it. Transposing them would be a
PITA given the way the feed pipes are cemented into the wall.
I could undo some of the connections and see what happens, but that'll
be a bit messy, so if there's a "standard" that would help a lot.

Run the shower and the cold feed will get colder. Simples.


NT

On Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:05:39 +0000, Roland Perry wrote:

Is there a convention for this (eg hot on the left and cold on the
right?) and do most manufacturers follow it. Transposing them would be a
PITA given the way the feed pipes are cemented into the wall.


That's it: hot on the left, cold right, on all the showers I've come
across.
(Same as taps are supposed to be, as others have remarked)


--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

Religion is like a penis. It's fine to have one. It's OK to enjoy it on
your own or with consenting adults in private. But please don't wave it
around in public and DO NOT try to shove it down children's throats.

In article ,
YAPH writes:
On Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:05:39 +0000, Roland Perry wrote:

Is there a convention for this (eg hot on the left and cold on the
right?) and do most manufacturers follow it. Transposing them would be a
PITA given the way the feed pipes are cemented into the wall.


That's it: hot on the left, cold right, on all the showers I've come
across.
(Same as taps are supposed to be, as others have remarked)

Cold tap is on the right because most people are right handed
and old taps could be very stiff (even when new).
Hot taps didn't start appearing until about 50 years later.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Monday, December 10, 2012 4:55:43 PM UTC, Andrew Gabriel wrote:


Cold tap is on the right because most people are right handed
and old taps could be very stiff (even when new).
Hot taps didn't start appearing until about 50 years later.
Whatever the reason for the choice, it does make sense to have the position standardized, for the convenience of those who can't see.
It's also quite handy when fumbling about in the hotel ensuite in the dark because SWMBO doen't like the fan which comes on if you turn the light on...