Aqualisa Quartz Digital Shower- Now only lukewarm

[jono2012]

Hi,
The Aqualisa quartz shower we have was installed before we moved into the house 4 years ago. It was originally installed for a gravity fed system, but we put in a combi boiler and had the shower control unit changed accordingly. This was about 3 years ago.

In normal operation the shower usually starts up at a specific flow rate whilst it heats the water, then increases the flow rate just before it would reach the set temperature. Since we had our kitchen done a few months ago, however, things have changed.

Now the shower only keeps to the one flow rate whilst in attempts to heat up the water to the set temperature, and it never reaches the set temperature. We are having to turn the dial up to max, just to have a lukewarm shower. This problem has been getting steadily worse (water colder and colder) over the last few months.
Is this a central heating issue? Or a shower issue? Can you help?

 

[seco services]

I take it the boiler is still firing up when shower run ?
Is remote still flashing constant ?

 

[Dan Robinson]

Make model of boiler?

Was it moved during the kitchen works?
Has the gas supply been altered as part of those works?

Have you tried powering down the shower?

I had this in my last house where we had a Mira Magna shower. Something scrambled its electrics and the blending valve was doing strange things. Cutting the power and effectively rebooting it sorted the problem (you can hear the motor shuttling back wards and forwards when the power is connected on the Mira - assume the Aqualisa does something similar?

 

[jono2012]

@seco services – yes the boiler still fires up when the shower runs. The shower thermostat (blue light) continually flashes as the water cannot reach the set temperate.

@Dan-Robinson – The boiler is a Glowworm Flexicom 30CX. And as far as I know the gas supply was not altered. I will try a power down.

By the way, the latest info is that if you flush the loo whilst the shower is on, the flow rate in the shower slows and the water warms up slightly for about a minute and then cools back down again.

 

[seco services]

Have you checked the filters and check valves ?

 

[jono2012]

@seco services. Yes, I checked the filters and they were clear. The check valves were present and the valves appeared to be working (I could push them in and they would spring back). They have been installed on both the hot and the cold inlet pipes.

 

[Dan Robinson]

What's the flow rate at the shower?

Does the boiler drive a bath too? If so what is the temperature of the hot water coming out of that?

 

[jono2012]

@Dan_Robinson

The flow rate of the shower is around 5.6L/min, which seems quite low.

The boiler does also feed the bath. I don't have a thermometer, but I can tell the temperature is low - not more than about 40 deg C...

So its looking like my boiler is the problem. Would you agree? And is a service the next step? Or is there something else I can do before getting out the wallet?...

 

[Dan Robinson]

Have a little search on here for combis with poor flow rates. Could be several things; but yes, it looks like the boiler rather than the shower.

 

[jono2012]

@Dan_Robinson Thanks for your help.