Replacing solenoid valve assembly on a Heatstore Aqua Profile Plus shower.

[Patty0Dore]

Have been hearing a "buzzing" sound when running the shower ( sounds more mechanical than electrical but the buzz is definitely a 50 Hz one.) Contacted technical support who said it would appear to be the solenoid failing. While waiting for delivery of a replacement, I had a look at how it's installed and discovered that because the valve assembly is "L" shaped and slots midway into a moulded support bracket, this bracket would seem to prevent the vertical pipe of the assembly from being pulled downwards and out of the flow valve above. ( I discovered that the replacement consists of the complete valve assembly, which I felt I ought to change in case the valve mechanism itself was contributing to the buzzing. )

I wondered about pivoting it forwards out of the bracket but technical support are saying that I need to unclip the copper cylinder and loosen the internal switch/lever panel in order to pull the lot forward so I can then pull the solenoid valve assembly downwards. ( Their instructions regarding this were all a bit unclear and ambiguous. )

Has anyone any experience of this problem as I'm a bit nervous about loosening the entire switch/lever panel and the tech support agent's guidance as to how to remove the copper cylinder's retaining clip doesn't seem to work. ( He said push a flat bladed screw driver "down the sides" to free the latches.)

I'd be really grateful for any advice. Thanks in advance.