Shower tap is stuck, won't turn

[eem2am]

Hi,
Please help in finding ways to make my shower tap work?
At the moment the shower is much too hot to stand under. This is because
only the hot tap works. The cold one is stuck.
I suspect it may be limescale. I live in Luton, where the water is known to be very hard.
Ive only just moved in to this rental flat.

Can I somehow squirt descaling liquid into the gap of the tap?

 

[Wayners]

Your going to have the take the insert out and replace.

 

[johnny2007]

Sometimes taking the cap off and spraying WD40 works, although it's a temporary solution.
It's the unfortunate reality of hard water areas.

 

[Madrab]

Erm, confused. I presume the shower turns on? That's a bar shower, the control on the left turns the water on and off (probably 1/4 turn) - the one on the right alters the temperature. Turn the shower on, left, then turn the right hand one away from you and it should go cooler.

 

[oldbuffer]

Rental flat = landlord problem. He/she has an obligation to provide hot and cold water services and heating (as well as various other services). I'm a landlord (well, my wife is, I just do the work), and my reaction would be to change the whole bar shower. New Bristan is about £110, and can be fitted in 20 minutes provided water can be turned off. Note that the landlord is not obliged to provide instant repair, but is obliged to do so in a reasonable time. Same as if it were your place and you had to find and hire a plumber.

 

[eem2am]

Thanks, you are correct its a Bristan shower...i can turn it on with the right hand tap....but the left hand tap is pretty well stuck......the temperature is too_hot or nothing.

At the moment, i am filling the shower foot tray up with super hot water from this shower...then adding a bucket of cold to that, then using that as a kind of bath of sorts.....so as to get a wash.

I dont yet have access to the valve to turn off the water to the flat, so i wont be able to do any repair yet it seems......though i am wondering about going to bristan.com and getting a youtube video on how to solve this.

 

[Madrab]

OK - so you aren't actually turning it on - the left hand control is the on and off. The right hand control is the temp control and by turning that it is then allowing water through as it gets to the set temp but it shouldn't get too hot as there should be a temp limit control that shuts it off if it gets too hot to stop scalding.

As suggested - time for the landlord to get a new shower fitted - they're not expensive and it is his responsibility.

 

[Wayners]

Bristan I think? I'm sure it was them that do a one off repair charge and you get a shower warranty for a period after.
I met the guy some years ago.
Parts get delivered to self storage unit overnight if he never had on van.
I thought it was a good offer.

 

[Rodders53]

Landlord repair and/or shower operating instructions are needed. You need to find the dwelling's Hot and Cold water isolators to tackle the shower bar... Or leave it to the Landlord's people to fix.

As already stated the LH knob should control flow (both H & C) via a 1/4 turn and the RH knob is the thermostat (with a push in temperature over-ride).
Perhaps the cold water feed to the shower has been isolated and therefore the hot only flows when the stat is at max over-ride?

Looks a lot like the Bristan Cacade from Google lens - which is a "no frills" trade unit from them.

https://www.bristan.com/product-files/548478/fitting-instructions.pdf is a Bristan manual for a shower bar that will be similar, although not identical, to the one you have. But you need to be sure H & C are both isolated before disassembling the valve(s).

Removal of the knobs from the control spindles alone is less hazardous of course.

 

[RrogerD]

Thanks, you are correct its a Bristan shower...i can turn it on with the right hand tap....but the left hand tap is pretty well stuck......the temperature is too_hot or nothing.

At the moment, i am filling the shower foot tray up with super hot water from this shower...then adding a bucket of cold to that, then using that as a kind of bath of sorts.....so as to get a wash.

I dont yet have access to the valve to turn off the water to the flat, so i wont be able to do any repair yet it seems......though i am wondering about going to bristan.com and getting a youtube video on how to solve this.

What do you mean, you don't yet have access to being able to turn the water off? This is a concern. What happens if you have a leak today? This is one of the first and main things your landlord should have shown you.
Do not attempt a repair yourself. It is the LL's responsibility. If it goes wrong he's going to be pretty miffed!