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Author: Subject: Any plumbers in?
Norfolkluegojnr

posted on 5/4/17 at 01:24 PM Reply With Quote
Any plumbers in?

Afternoon all – I’m after a bit of guidance on some home plumbing.

Currently, I’m refitting an en-suite bathroom in our house, which was an extension built about 40 years ago or so. The house itself is pretty old (around 200 years or so) and as such is a myriad of ‘interesting’ solutions to problems…..

The cold water in gravity fed, hot water the same from a cylinder which is located at first floor level. Hot water provided by an oil fed boiler located outside if that’s relevant.

Anyway, the issue is the water pressure in the en-suite bathroom is very poor – it always has been, I can’t see how the bathroom was used previously. After fitting a modern sink and mixer tap, the flow is now almost non-existent form both cold and hot.

Previously, there has been a shower pump fitted to increase the flow for the shower, which I intend to replace and leave more or less as was. This appears to have been plumbed correctly, as it has a direct feed from the hot water cylinder. Cold water appears to be fed from the tank.

The issue is that to route the pipework to the extension, it goes out of the cylinder, up about 6ft into the loft, along the length of the house, and then back down again into the extension. I suspect this is what is causing the flow/pressure issues.

I’ll get to the point now…..

Can I fit a shower pump onto the basin feed to increase the flow/pressure? It’s a mixer tap, and the pipes are easily accessible as they run through the garage roof underneath.

Or do I have to use two separate pumps? Seems the expensive option….

Does it matter that the cold feed won’t be dedicated? It also feeds the bog, although this is before where the pump would be fitted.

Thanks as always for helping me continue the bodging tradition of our old house

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owelly

posted on 5/4/17 at 02:59 PM Reply With Quote
I fitted a cheapo shower pump to bump up the pressure to an extension at a mates bungalow just to see if it would work. It's still there doing sterling service 5 years later......





http://www.ppcmag.co.uk

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SteveWalker

posted on 5/4/17 at 03:40 PM Reply With Quote
It is probably just a case of the wrong tap - did you check the minimum pressure/head required - most these days are for mains fed systems.

Alternatively some shower pumps are suited to feeding even if only one side is required sometimes (whole house pump) and so could feed both shower and basin.

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r1_pete

posted on 5/4/17 at 04:40 PM Reply With Quote
So are the feed pipes which go through the loft, higher than the water storage tank? If so, running them under the first floor will help a lot, as to get over the loop you currently have you are dependent to an extent on syphonic action.
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avagolen

posted on 5/4/17 at 05:02 PM Reply With Quote
You could check the tap. Does the outlet have a filter gauze fitted?

My en-suite installation was also very slow - until I removed the gauze. Doubled the flow rate.

could still be better but at least it is useable now.





The Answer for everything, but never the last word....

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gremlin1234

posted on 5/4/17 at 05:41 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by r1_pete
So are the feed pipes which go through the loft, higher than the water storage tank? If so, running them under the first floor will help a lot, as to get over the loop you currently have you are dependent to an extent on syphonic action.
and would be very prone to air locks. off course, this can occur on any upward loop at any hight too.

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jacko

posted on 5/4/17 at 06:19 PM Reply With Quote
Not a plumber but can you lift the tank higher that way you should get more pressure
we had to do this at my dads
jacko

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Norfolkluegojnr

posted on 5/4/17 at 09:11 PM Reply With Quote
Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Raising the tank - no room I'm afraid, and this wouldn't solve the hot water issue.

Reroute get the pipes - possible but would be hugely expensive and cause a lot of additional work as the pipe work is already there from previous.

Wrong tap - probably, but it never worked before either! It's more than just a modern tap causing flow issues.

So I'm back to the pump idea I guess!

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hearbear

posted on 5/4/17 at 10:06 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by avagolen
You could check the tap. Does the outlet have a filter gauze fitted?

My en-suite installation was also very slow - until I removed the gauze. Doubled the flow rate.

could still be better but at least it is useable now.


Had exactly this with new kitchen tap removed the gauze and it was full of metal from the tap machining removed and flow a lot better. You do have to check the tap specs most sold are for mains pressure and gravity just dribbles through it, you need one that will work with low pressure. If there is a shower pump fitted at the hot water tank and the cold and hot to the shower is going to the sink also that will sort you problem but if the sink cold and hot are fed different from that you could may be connect the sink to the shower feeds and block the existing sink feeds off. With the shower pump fitted the pipes running up and back down won't be a problem.





3.9Ltr SSC Stylus should be fun

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chris

posted on 5/4/17 at 10:17 PM Reply With Quote
as said by steve a whole house pump would be the solution and also take out elbows where possible and replace with swept bends
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joneh

posted on 6/4/17 at 07:16 AM Reply With Quote
If the hot water cylinder is fed from the cold water tank (they normally are) then raising the tank would help on both hot and cold sides. If it was mains fed you wouldn't have a pressure issue but more likely an airlock as suggested or a restriction at the tap.

I built a platform at the top of the apex in my old house by bolting beams across the trusses and dropping additional supporting feet down to the floor. I then got a "coffin" style water tank to slot in. Worked a treat for increasing water pressure upstairs.


quote:
Originally posted by Norfolkluegojnr
Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Raising the tank - no room I'm afraid, and this wouldn't solve the hot water issue.

Reroute get the pipes - possible but would be hugely expensive and cause a lot of additional work as the pipe work is already there from previous.

Wrong tap - probably, but it never worked before either! It's more than just a modern tap causing flow issues.

So I'm back to the pump idea I guess!

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dmac

posted on 6/4/17 at 09:14 PM Reply With Quote
Do you have a vent in the upward loop, we have a similar loop and when the vent got blocked the flow got worse and eventually stopped due to an air lock. Our vent is easy to see as it goes above roof level and then is turned down at the top.

Dmac

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