Electric Shower pressure has dropped

[adamburton]

Hi,

I bought a 9.5kw electric shower just over a year ago. The pressure has been fine up until a couple of months ago when suddenly it started to come out much weaker. Now, when I have the shower turned onto a normal heat it just dribbles out of the head.

Would welcome anybodies suggestions as to what may be causing this? Am afraid that I am not very knowledgeable of DIY! But I am wondering if it could be caused by an airlock?

Thanks in advance,
Adam.

 

[BoxBasher]

Before you try anything else, check that the head is clean and not blocked up. Easiest way to see is just to unscrew the head from the shower hose and see what the flow is like there.

Also:

1)What's the pressure/flow like on your taps in the house?
2)Is your shower fed from mains pressure or tank + pump?
3) Have you done anything plumbing wise in the house before the problem started?

 

[adamburton]

Hi BoxBasher,

Thanks very much for your quick reply.

I have checked the head and its not blocked. After taking the head off the flow is pretty pathetic out of the hose. If I hold the hose vertically the water just dribbles out of the top.

To answer your questions:

1) The pressure has been pretty poor in two (out of four) hot taps in the house. I had assumed that this was related to the shower. But I have just fixed them this morning after reading about how to do it on these forums (airlock in the hot pipe). As they were mixer taps, I squeezed the tap and turned on hot and cold. Both taps are working fine now, but the shower still isnt.

2) Im not sure of this one. It comes off the cold but not sure whether its the mains pressure or tank. The original electric shower (prior to this one) was fitted by a plumber if thats any help.

3) Havent done any plumbing work (apart from that mentioned above, which was only this morning).

I will try and get up in the loft later to see where the pipe runs. But am suffering from a bad back at the moment, so it might be tricky!

thanks,
Adam.

 

[adamburton]

Ok, Ive checked in the loft and Im 99% certain that it runs off the mains pipe.

If you have any suggestions I would be really grateful.

Thanks,
Adam.

 

[Al-Glasgow]

If its an electric shower (and not a power shower) then it should be mains fed (make and model please).

Have you isolated the water supply and electrics to the unt ?

Al

 

[Bowsy]

Check the condition of the shower hose sometimes they collaspe on the inside and look ok on the outside

 

[adamburton]

Hi,

Thanks both for your replies. The hose is fine - its basically pretty new still.

The make is Gainsborough and the model 9.5 SDL.

With regards to:

Have you isolated the water supply and electrics to the unt ?

Sorry to sound dumb but is this something I should be doing to test it?

Thanks
Adam.

 

[Al-Glasgow]

If you isolate the electrics/water then you could disconnect inlet pipe and check if filter is blocked.

Al

 

[adamburton]

Thanks for your reply.

How would I go about isolating the electrics and water?

Adam.