Hi.
We have had an Italian made Vitaviva Dodona combination corner bath/shower for about 10 years and recently the thermostatic valve has started giving problems.
The feed for both hot and cold water is from a header tank in the loft - cold direct from the tank and hot through a large capacity hot water cylinder to keep both supplies at the same pressure. The water is then fed through a 7 year old 3 bar pump which comes on when either the separate bath or shower controls are opened. The temperature for both is controlled through a single thermostatic valve which has recently started leaking and now seems to have stopped working. The only way that we can get the pump to work is to set the valve to the coldest setting and slowly turn it to warm - the temperature that the pump stops has gradually reduced and now will only start at the lowest.
The pump seems ok as it will pump and water from both the hot and cold systems flow through it when the valve does work, but we are now reduced to half filling the bath with luke-warm water and a shower is out of the question. Water will still flow through at warmer temperatures but only fed by gravity, not with the pump.
We cannot find out the type/style or manufacturer of the valve as it came built into the bath.
Can anybody help with the following -
1. Is the valve likely to be the only culprit.
2. How can we find out which valve cartridge we need to source to replace the one on the bath.
3. Is it possible to replace the valve from the outside or will we need to remove the bath panel (difficult job).
Thanks in advance for any help as there are three women in the household (wife and 2 daughters) that are not best pleased with the situation
We have had an Italian made Vitaviva Dodona combination corner bath/shower for about 10 years and recently the thermostatic valve has started giving problems.
The feed for both hot and cold water is from a header tank in the loft - cold direct from the tank and hot through a large capacity hot water cylinder to keep both supplies at the same pressure. The water is then fed through a 7 year old 3 bar pump which comes on when either the separate bath or shower controls are opened. The temperature for both is controlled through a single thermostatic valve which has recently started leaking and now seems to have stopped working. The only way that we can get the pump to work is to set the valve to the coldest setting and slowly turn it to warm - the temperature that the pump stops has gradually reduced and now will only start at the lowest.
The pump seems ok as it will pump and water from both the hot and cold systems flow through it when the valve does work, but we are now reduced to half filling the bath with luke-warm water and a shower is out of the question. Water will still flow through at warmer temperatures but only fed by gravity, not with the pump.
We cannot find out the type/style or manufacturer of the valve as it came built into the bath.
Can anybody help with the following -
1. Is the valve likely to be the only culprit.
2. How can we find out which valve cartridge we need to source to replace the one on the bath.
3. Is it possible to replace the valve from the outside or will we need to remove the bath panel (difficult job).
Thanks in advance for any help as there are three women in the household (wife and 2 daughters) that are not best pleased with the situation
