plumbing question

[Michael Gibbons]

I need help. My wife and I put up a modular home 8 years ago and it's really nice. However the water pressure coming out of the shower head in the bathroom( my shower) connected to our bedroom is pretty dismal. Now the water pressure in the bathroom( my wifes) off our hallway is really good. In the basement you can clearly see all the plumbing and nothing looks suspicious. In fact the run of pipe to my shower looks even shorter and the way the house was designed, the bathroom are back-to-back. We both have the same brand faucet/control, so I'm wondering could there be something stuck in the works? Are there valves behind the faucet handle in the wall that might not be turned all the way ON??

.Thanks,Mike

[Todd Burch]

There certainly could be something in the lines that is clogging them.

There should be no valves inside the wall.

Did you take the shower head off to see if there is a restriction in it? When your wife is not looking swap the shower heads to see if yours gets better. If it does, you're done! LOL.

Todd

[Bob Rufener]

I also would suggest taking off the shower head. It is possible that some sediment or other objects may be plugging up the shower head. Try the shower with the shower head off and see what the water flow is like. If you have poor flow, then it is not the shower head.

[Joe Pelonio]

Are the pipes copper? Sometimes a blob of solder gets inside from installation then works loose over time and gets caught in an elbow. Running the shower for a while with the head off it may flush it through.

[David G Baker]

Mike,
Has the shower in your bath been this way since you built the modular? If it did have good pressure at one time and the pressure gradually went down, I would suspect the shower head as has already been suggested. If you are on well water you could have a lime or iron build up in the shower head or valves.

[Michael Gibbons]

I'll check tomorrow. It's a little late to be clankin' wrenches on the shower head. I'll post to let you know the outcome. Yes the house has copper plumbing and I have already replaced the shower head once since I've been here (moved in Dec,1999). Seems builders don't like to spend much money on the details unless you ask for and are willing to pay a premium. I was wondering also about lime,but like I said my wifes shower is only a few feet away and hers is balls to the wall. I can't beleive that mine would act up and hers wouldn't. I do have well water and it is softened.

[David G Baker]

Mike,
My well water has a lot of iron and lime in it. I have a water softener and add iron out type of salt when I fill the softener's storage tank. I still get some rust colored stains and lime build up. I also have have a whole house 5 micron filter in line after the softener that will slow the flow when it is time to change the filter.
I don't know if you have valves prior to your shower but any time I do any re-plumbing I install ball valves that isolate areas of the house so I can work on the plumbing and not be with out water in other parts of the house. You may have an isolation valve that has a washer that is loose and restricting the flow to your shower. Removing the shower head and checking the water flow is the best place to start as the other posters suggested.

[Chris Padilla]

Looks like you're well-covered here, Mike. Time to take it apart and look 'er over.

[Randal Stevenson]

Trying to catch up on my reading on this forum. One thing to add, how old are the shower heads? Are they from different time (using one older one)? The newer ones are low flow, water restriction ones.

[Mike Cutler]

There certainly could be something in the lines that is clogging them.

There should be no valves inside the wall.

Did you take the shower head off to see if there is a restriction in it? When your wife is not looking swap the shower heads to see if yours gets better. If it does, you're done! LOL.

Todd

Todd.
The middle statement is not 100% correct. I understand what you mean though;)

Michael
I have a Grohe Thermomix, anti scald, pressure compensating shower valve. It has two shutoff valves, hot and cold built into the valve body, as well as two slide valves. Additionally there are 2 mesh filters that are internal to the valve body, once again ,hot and cold, and the Bi-Metalic mixing valve that has an additional mesh filter. All of these parts are accessible behind the escutcheon, interior to the wall.
They are "valves", but not the "valves" Todd is referring too. Unfortunately though. These shutoff valves are external to the plastic barrier that interfaces with the cement backer board and the tile. So while they are behind the escutcheon, they aren;t "readily accessible. DAMHIKT

In my case what happens is that over time the sediment builds up in the cold side filter and valve. The hot is clear because the hotwater heater is acting as a giant seperator. As the filter on the cold side becomes clogged the pressure internal to the valve drops and the hot water slide valve closes to maintain a constant equalized pressure across the bi-metalic mixing valve. As the hot water throttles back the overall pressure drops on the outlet of the mixing valve, and then I get a dribbling shower.
I have looked at pressure compensating, anti scald valves by other makers, and there are similarities.
I don't know if you have these types of shower valves, just some additional info. I don't know why one shower doesn't have an issue, but the other does. Are they both the same shower valve?

[Michael Gibbons]

Thanks fore the replys gang. I first went out and bought a new shower head and that did the trick. Whoulda thunk it?