Mixer shower & Combi boiler help

[ellemcee]

I am having a problem with the mixer shower I inherited from the previous owners of my top floor flat. I have a combi boiler and the shower pressure is OK as long as I have a shower very early in the morning, but any later and I either get a scalding hot trickle or an icy blast (usually both!). At the weekend it is worse with the pressure sometimes being so bad that it's not strong enough to push through the holes in the showerhead. I have had a look at the pipework and I'm guessing that the cold feed is coming from the loft tank rather than the mains so it looks like as long as I get up before everyone else in the tenement then i'll be OK (great!?!). The shower was OK when I first moved in so was wondering about getting another mixer shower as I'm not sure if it's problem with the shower or with the set up. Should the cold feed be from the mains or should a loft tank feed be ok? - alternately should I just get one of these bath taps that has an inbuilt shower attachment as at least this will be mains pressure? Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

 

[ChrisR]

Both the mixer's sources should be the same pressure - in this case the mains as the combis output (hot) is mains(ish). Probably your bath tap is off the loft tank so no use to you.

What's the combi, and what sort of mixer is it - thermostatic?

The best solution is sometimes to remove the flow restrictor from the combi and just use the hot at the right flow-rate to give you the right temperature: faster = lower.
If things really have changed, you might have some scale somewhere critical, or the O ring in the flow restrictor could be swollen.

Also, if you're in a conversion flat it's very likely that the whole lot is fed from an inadequate 1/2" lead supply. So when someone under you turns a cold tap on, your mains supply stops.

Common problem, lots of factors. Mostly cos you're in a top flat. Just move?

 

[ellemcee]

Don't know what type of mixer shower it is as I inherited it from the previous owners - looks cheap, so presume not thermostatic! Combi boiler is a Vokera.

Think I'll just replace the bath taps for one of those mixer types that has a shower attachment......less stressful than moving house!