Shower issue, can anyone help me understand?

[User2638483]

I’m hoping one of the lovely knowledgeable posters such as @pigletjohn might be able to help me with this

I get really good pressure and temperature from the handheld attachment, but not from the overhead shower. In order for it not to be too hot I have to turn down the power and it’s dribbly.
The weird thing is I’m sure it used to be ok and I always used to use the overhead one.

I’ve attached a front pic of the shower and the mixer, and also what goes on behind.

We don’t have a combi boiler we have megaflo tanks.

show us a pic of the megaflo please

are you in a hard-water area?

Yes we are in a hard water area I think

Apologies in advance for messy dirty cellar!

Megaflos
But we don’t use the immersion heaters they’re for backup only. Have oil boiler

@User2638483

Yes we are in a hard water area I think

Have you ever descaled the shower head?

There’s also a pump, if that’s relevant.
I think this is it, the black bit at the bottom of the pic

Yes the old one one was pretty scaled but this is a new one

(Just the head is new) rest of the system was here when we moved in 7 plus years ago

Just don’t see why handheld shower would be fine (where i manually adjust the temperature mix on the taps, but the over head one isnt (where there’s just one lever for temperature and pressure). Is there some sort of mixer inside it that’s gone? Just unsure which bit we’d need to replace.

I have a very similar shower, I remember having to adjust the temperature once or twice by putting a long thin screwdriver in through the handle hole and turning it up a bit.

I think the procedure was to turn it on to where you'd usually have it then turn the screw up until it was the temperature you'd like it to be at that position.

@User2638483

There’s also a pump, if that’s relevant. I think this is it, the black bit at the bottom of the pic

the pump is a dark red red one so will (should) be for heating the cylinder, not for pumping water oit of the shower.

Have you got a pic of your cylinder?

OK, I see them now. Unusual to have two. What size is the house?

you could try squirting the drencher shower head into a bucket, time it to full, calculate how many litres per minute it delivers.

tst it

• hot only

-cold only

• at your preferred temperature

then unscrew the head, to thet the water gush out of the pipe, and test it again.

It might be scale in the head

it might be thermostat setting

might be something else.

In your pic 17:50:11 one of the T-bar valve handles is not fully open and has a bit of paper on it. Why?

It’s quite big, and there’s a little annexe that goes off the same system.

But not modern so not lots of bathrooms - just the one plus shower room in annexe plus couple of loos

The bit of paper pre dates us and says “1/2 open for shower”. I think it’s the hot pipe.

Temp is currently too hot when shower is completely on for max pressure.

Thank you I can try the bucket thing tomorrow

@c3pu

I have a very similar shower, I remember having to adjust the temperature once or twice by putting a long thin screwdriver in through the handle hole and turning it up a bit.

I think the procedure was to turn it on to where you'd usually have it then turn the screw up until it was the temperature you'd like it to be at that position.

Hmm interesting thank you

The bit of paper pre dates us and says “1/2 open for shower”. I think it’s the hot pipe.

Temp is currently too hot when shower is completely on for max pressure.

that suggests the cylinder is too hot, and/or the cold water supply is restricted so your mixer can't regulate it adequately because there is not enough cold to mix with the hot. I wondered if one of your white cylinders was an accumulator but I don't think it is. Do they both have the same number of pipes going into them?

Yes they’ve both got five pipes going in and out.
There’s also this red thing to the side that wasn’t in the pic before.

Ok weird… I just checked by touching the pipes and the one with the piece of paper on that’s not fully open is actually the cold one not the hot.

But that’s below the height of the top shower iyswim, so I think is feeding the taps too?

Slightly nervous about disobeying the piece of paper but wondering if I should just try opening up the cold T valve fully 🤔

Could your hotwater be too hot? I have a backboiler on a stove and the hot water can get ridiculousy hot if it's on all day. The overhead shower can't seem to get enough cold (pws so not great pressure) the handheld one works ok I think because it just needs less water.

Everyone has a bath on cold days :)

OP, I'm just here to say we moved into a house with loads of noted. A decade in and they're still here and there throughout the house! Hope you get your issue sorted.

Thank you!

The hot water certainly is nice and hot, scalding when it’s by itself. At the times of day it’s been heated.

@User2638483

Ok weird… I just checked by touching the pipes and the one with the piece of paper on that’s not fully open is actually the cold one not the hot.

But that’s below the height of the top shower iyswim, so I think is feeding the taps too?

"that suggests the cylinder is too hot, and/ or the cold water supply is restricted so your mixer can't regulate it adequately because there is not enough cold to mix with the hot."