Water pressure making shower screech...

[Justalittlebitblondie]

Water pressure is too high - shower screams when you use it if you don't have another tap on... Does anyone know how to turn it down?

have you got a combi boiler?

How many knobs and levers on the shower mixer?

If you have a stop cock on the main water pipe into the house give it a turn or two and it will reduce the pressure. If you think its too high though get it measured by a competent plumber who will tell you exactly what it is and what the rating of your shower is

Yes - a combo boiler - about six months old Worcester...

There is only one dial on the shower (controls both temperature and on/off - there is no pressure control on it)... Have contacted the shower company and they have said as the screeching goes when you put on a tap it isn't the washers/mechanism in the shower...

Just annoyed as the same plumber fitted both - grrr

Thanks for your help

Is it an electric shower?

No - two inlet pipes - one for cold and one for hot... If we run the cold tap in the sink/bath then the screeching stops - so annoying...

my mother's does this

to solve it, there is a delicate dance between not having it "full" on, having the tap on in the basin...sometimes hot, sometimes cold and finally adjusting the height of the shower head.

just for fucks sake.

Our kitchen tap screeches whenever the shower is on. It's very unpleasant. I have no idea what to do about it.

It's usually something worn or loose in the tap or valve. An ordinary tap is easy to take apart, examine and re-washer. A thermostatic mixer, especially if it has a joystick not knobs, may be more tricky. Noise will be exaggerated if there are pipes that are not firmly clamped to the wall to prevent vibration. It could also be a service valve or stopcock vibrating, especially if it has been screwed partially shut.

If you have a standard fitting of mixer, and the plumber had the foresight to fit it on a wallplate adaptor and not to encase it in tiles, it is quite a quick and easy job to take it off and swap it for another. I am a great fan of Aqualisa mixers.

If you have abnormally high water-pressure in your house, you can have a pressure-reducing valve fitted. Caleffi are a reliable brand. A plumber should have a gauge to measure the pressure.

Turning down the stopcock is the wrong thing to do. It might hide the fault but it reduces flow, not pressure.

We had this in our old house after having a new boiler fitted. The plumber came back and fitted a pressure -reducing valve which solved the problem. He only charged for materials and it cost about £20.