Hi all,
When we moved into our house (1994 build) around 2.5 years ago, there was no shower for whatever reason. We had one installed, which is a Bristan mixer shower powered by a Salamader RSP 45 pump.
We have a gravity fed system; cold water tank in the loft, thick jacketed tank in the airing cupboard, and the Salamander sits in there with it.
One night this week I was taking a shower and I could feel the temperature starting to rise pretty rapidly without my intervention, so I twisted the temperature control right down to cold, and that seemed to kick the cold back in and I put the control back to an acceptable level. Finished my shower and didn't think any more of it.
Last night I was in the shower and had the opposite problem - the shower kept losing warmth and it felt slightly less pressured. However, if I turned the shower off (via the control on the mixer bar) then back on, it would rectify itself for a minute or so, then once again begin to get cold. This was more concerning, but as I couldn't see or hear anything unusual I left it and decided to check in the morning.
This morning, fiancee was showering and it seemed ok until toward the end of her shower the same thing started happening - she managed to finish her shower using the same trick I mentioned above. When it was my turn, the shower really seemed to be struggling to provide any heat at all, but the hot water pipe was very hot to the touch, so I thought perhaps there was a problem with the mixer bar - disconnected the shower hose and indeed, the problem seemed to go away. Re-connected the hose but took off the shower head and once again, the shower seemed fine - re-connected the head and continued on with my shower but after a few minutes, this time the cold water seemed to vanish and the hot water that was coming out was at a very low pressure, almost trickling. I tried the turn off/turn on trick but that had no effect this time, and my fiancee said she thought the pump sounded like it was sucking/pumping air, or bubbles - then the pump went off without any intervention. I turned the shower off at the mixer controls, left it a while and turned it back on, but the alternating temperature/pressure scenario continued though the pump stayed on this time.
The pump itself sounds like it usually does to me (apart from that sucking/pumping air sound described above), but the shower head seems quieter and less powerful than usual. So, is it likely to be the pump has packed in? Or the shower itself? Or is there something else I can check to do with the water supply or anything?
The hot water continued to flow freely from the taps throughout this, which is why it seems directly connected to the pump and/or shower system.
Thanks for any help or advice!!
When we moved into our house (1994 build) around 2.5 years ago, there was no shower for whatever reason. We had one installed, which is a Bristan mixer shower powered by a Salamader RSP 45 pump.
We have a gravity fed system; cold water tank in the loft, thick jacketed tank in the airing cupboard, and the Salamander sits in there with it.
One night this week I was taking a shower and I could feel the temperature starting to rise pretty rapidly without my intervention, so I twisted the temperature control right down to cold, and that seemed to kick the cold back in and I put the control back to an acceptable level. Finished my shower and didn't think any more of it.
Last night I was in the shower and had the opposite problem - the shower kept losing warmth and it felt slightly less pressured. However, if I turned the shower off (via the control on the mixer bar) then back on, it would rectify itself for a minute or so, then once again begin to get cold. This was more concerning, but as I couldn't see or hear anything unusual I left it and decided to check in the morning.
This morning, fiancee was showering and it seemed ok until toward the end of her shower the same thing started happening - she managed to finish her shower using the same trick I mentioned above. When it was my turn, the shower really seemed to be struggling to provide any heat at all, but the hot water pipe was very hot to the touch, so I thought perhaps there was a problem with the mixer bar - disconnected the shower hose and indeed, the problem seemed to go away. Re-connected the hose but took off the shower head and once again, the shower seemed fine - re-connected the head and continued on with my shower but after a few minutes, this time the cold water seemed to vanish and the hot water that was coming out was at a very low pressure, almost trickling. I tried the turn off/turn on trick but that had no effect this time, and my fiancee said she thought the pump sounded like it was sucking/pumping air, or bubbles - then the pump went off without any intervention. I turned the shower off at the mixer controls, left it a while and turned it back on, but the alternating temperature/pressure scenario continued though the pump stayed on this time.
The pump itself sounds like it usually does to me (apart from that sucking/pumping air sound described above), but the shower head seems quieter and less powerful than usual. So, is it likely to be the pump has packed in? Or the shower itself? Or is there something else I can check to do with the water supply or anything?
The hot water continued to flow freely from the taps throughout this, which is why it seems directly connected to the pump and/or shower system.
Thanks for any help or advice!!
