issue with mixer shower - do i need a cold flow restrictor? All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[bpascua]

Hello All,

I've had a shower fitted for a couple of years now and recently it seems not be very hot. I have a combi boiler and we have mains water presure. I can see if I look under the bath that the same pipes go to the bath taps as go to my shower mixer, but the hot bath tap runs very hot indeed. The shower is another story, its an odd mixer unit that requires you to turn a handle. This is not strange I know and as soon as you turn it 1/4 turn water comes out of the shower with lots of force - BUT you then need to turn the the lever for 3.5 full turns to get it to go hot, now even when you turn it all the way its not as hot as i'd like. I had a plumber look at the unit (from a distance) and he said the unit was probably broken and needed replacing. He may well be right, but a friend of mine mentioned he had had to fit a cold water feed restrictor on his shower to limit the amount of cold water that his mixer got. I wondered if this might help me as I have lots of pressure and cold water but not enough heat and also the fact that you need to turn this lever so far doesnt seem right. Does such a thing exist as a cold water restrictor exist ? and could this ease my probrem?

Many Thanks

Brian

[johnb]

hi brian if you didnt need one before you dont need one now, i think the mixer needs replacing all the best john

[ammo]

hi brian
Yes you can get a pressure reducing valve. but if it had been ok for a long time then you shouldn't need it as john said. firstly try and find the make of the shower because if its only two years old it may be under guarantee. most good shower firms have between 3 and 5 yr guarantees. Or if its not in guarantee then the manufacturer could sell you a service kit. Sounds like the thermostaic cartridge is sticking.
ammo