How NOT to plumb a power shower... and more...

[DNS]

My girlfriend moved into a house a few years ago, which had previously been owned by an incompetent muppet who thought he was a DIY expert.

There was a power shower above the bath, connected up by yellowing plastic pipes with push-fit elbows. It looked a right state, but we just though, oh well, at least it's there.

Until we tried to use it...

Water would flow at first, but would quickly stop, stutter and get cold. The pump would whirr like crazy as it tried to pump non existant hot water.

Did a little investigating and found that both the hot and cold supplies to the shower ran from the loft, across the ceilings and into the bathroom. The cold was taken from the rising main to the header tank, no problem there.

The hot however, had been taken from the cylinder vent pipe, by a tee 10 feet above the hot water cylinder!

This is the same house where:

- The electric feed to the garage ran through the flower bed in a PVC pipe, with a 13amp plug on the end which plugged into a socket in the understairs cupboard

- They had removed an internal door... Or not... They'd trimmed the frame off, left the wooden door in place and just papered over it

- The bathroom extractor in the ceiling above the shower has no ducting attached, it sucks nice steam straight into the loft!

- Sockets in the master bedroom spurred from the hot water circuit and wired THROUGH furniture...

Photos to follow...

[thescruff]

The pressure in the vent pipe is the same as any other pipe at an equal height.

Also the water level in the vent pipe will be at least equal to the level of the water in the storage tank and possibly higher.

[DNS]

Pressure, you're quite right, I'm talking rubbish... However...

You're assuming the feed to the shower was at a lower level than the header tank :p

[thescruff]

I wasn't assuming anything, in fact we had a poster only the other day whereas part of the pipe feeding the shower was higher than the water level.

I never said it was good practice ether, quite the contrary, a stupid idea if you expect the pump to last more than a few months.

[DNS]

I never said it was good practice ether, quite the contrary, a stupid idea if you expect the pump to last more than a few months.

Yep, that certainly explains why the pump in our shower was so totally and utterly knackered!

Just been looking at your profile which says you're a plumber, so got a quick question for you!

Fitting a new bathroom into my girls 1950s house, the new toilet will be about a foot from the metal soil stack, but the entry to it is at a funny angle.. What do you think of those flexi pan connectors? Good idea? or should I faff with conventional soil pipe and get it to fit?

[thescruff]

I hate the things, but they do a job.

Unless you box it in they are a pig to clean as well, they're not really suitable for exposed surface work in other words.

[wine~o]

There was a power shower above the bath,


Did a little investigating and found that both the hot and cold supplies to the shower ran from the loft, across the ceilings and into the bathroom. The cold was taken from the rising main to the header tank, no problem there.

The hot however, had been taken from the cylinder vent pipe, by a tee 10 feet above the hot water cylinder!


- The bathroom extractor in the ceiling above the shower has no ducting attached, it sucks nice steam straight into the loft!



Photos to follow...

No problem with taking the cold feed from the main??? I would beg to differ..and as for the fan..of course it doesn't need ducting....

The shower don't work

[DNS]

No problem with taking the cold feed from the main???

Oh yeah... good point, it's a power shower... I was a bit slow on the uptake last night