Leaking handheld bidet ("Bum Gun")

[tesber]

Newbie here.

I have one of those "bum gun" portable bidet things, which has worked fine for the last 18 months since it was installed. It consists of a tap on the wall, connected via a flexible shower hose to a handheld shower unit with a spray trigger. The other day it started leaking (fine in the morning, unusable by afternoon, with no use in between), with water running down the flexible hose.

At first I assumed the hose itself was faulty, but after unscrewing the trigger/shower section, the hose had no leaks at all. When the trigger is pressed, the leaks from the body of the unit stop (as the pressure is released, I guess?)

When I removed the shower section from the hose, a little perished orangey-brown mess fell out, which I can only assume is some kind of washer (or, Google tells me, possibly a "friction ring", whatever one of those is?).

The rubber washer in the hose seems fine, and the O-ring at the trigger end seems OK too (both have been replaced and made no difference). So I can only assume this orange brown thing is the culprit. However, I have no idea what I'm actually asking for in a shop, as I don't have the old one to compare. When I asked the guy who'd worked in the plumbing shop for 40 years, he had no idea what a friction ring was, so internet research not much use there! He suggested it might be a fibre washer, so I tried the only one of those I could find in the shops that actually fit (though I couldn't determine the thickness of the original, so that may be a factor?) I also tried some PTFE tape around the thread, but that also had no effect on the leakage.

Can anyone shed any light on what the required component is likely to be? Is it indeed a friction ring? Where in the assembly would such a thing fit (in the hose or on the shower section, or directly in between)? Or even a way of identifying the actual problem? I guess it is possible that during the disassembly another crucial part may have fallen out and out of sight somewhere.

Thanks for reading. I spent hours puzzling over this the last few days, and thus far only succeeded in getting repeatedly soaked, so any help is most welcome !

 

[Newboy]

From your description it sounds like a damaged fibre washer - a photo of where the leak is coming from would help.

It'll be interesting to see the unit - very few of these type of installs meet water regs requiements.

 

[tesber]

From your description it sounds like a damaged fibre washer - a photo of where the leak is coming from would help.

It'll be interesting to see the unit - very few of these type of installs meet water regs requiements.

Thanks for the reply!

I can try to get some photos later, but from what I've been able to find (carefully positioned tissue to see where the first spots of water emerge) the leak is from the base of the "cuff" at the end of the hose that screws onto the shower head (the hose side of the cuff rather than the bit that actually ends up flush against the head).

When I first disassembled the system and the orange-brown mush fell out, I did notice that there was the same colour residue at the top of the thread on the showerhead.

The system was not a DIY job, but part of a full bathroom reinstall. I'm not sure about the water regs, but I hope that the builder was!

 

[John D v2.0]

The system was not a DIY job, but part of a full bathroom reinstall. I'm not sure about the water regs, but I hope that the builder was!

As long as it has a break tank with an air gap that should prevent the risk of contaminated water entering the drinking water supply. Unless the tank is in the loft it would need to be pumped.

 

[fezster]

If it's running off of mains pressure, get a Pressure Reducing Valve fitted on the pipework leading to it.

EDIT - although, as others have said (and Im not a plumber), it sounds like these things shouldn't run off of the mains anyway.

 

[John D v2.0]

Yes, the risk is if mains pressure is lost due to a burst or other reason, the contaminated water can flow back through the pipes to other outlets or other properties.
For warm water ie from a Combi boiler that's not a big problem, from a hose pipe in the garden would need a double check valve to reduce the risk of back flow. But the next category is water that could be contaminated from the toilet and given the previous sanitation issues in this country and high level of deaths there used to be they are extremely strict about that in the regs.

 

[just pumps]

https://www.google.co.uk/aclk?sa=l&...hUKEwjP1OSis4LbAhXLasAKHb0YAUEQ9aACCDQ&adurl=
Remove the shower head /gun from the hose and fit a new rubber washer. You won`t need PTFE tape and the connection is hand tight so no tools required. They don`t conform to UK water regs due to risk of cross contamination.

 

[dilalio]

Faecal matter in the potable water supply.... sounds like Cholera waiting to happen as more and more of these things are fitted, to satisfy the no-wipe brigade

 

[Hot&Cold]

When I first disassembled the system and the orange-brown mush fell out

Faecal matter in the potable water supply....

Could be an idea to call in an approved plumber to check its installed correctly,do you have any paperwork from the installer the installation is a notifiable work.
The leak could just be a washer or a hairline crack in the hose or the shataff,have seen them leaking when the wall on-off valve is not turned off after use like a lot of products there are cheap shataff imports from china

 

[muggles]

Builders are very rarely clued up on water regs - they tend to just launch things in with an attitude of "if it works and the customer is happy, that's all that matters" when it comes to plumbing.

In order to comply, these devices must be connected to a tank in the loft via a dedicated supply (IE with nothing else connected to the pipe supplying it). They must never ever under any circumstances be connected to the mains water supply. If your bum wash residue ends up in the pipework it'll make you very ill, land you with a bill to have your pipework disinfected, and lead to a large fine from the water authority if they have to disinfect the main in the street

 

[tesber]

Thanks for the reply. I don't think the original (working) installation had a rubber washer at that point, but what is the difference between a rubber and fibre washer for this purpose? I've never been able to find an explanation for that! And getting a fibre washer to even fit over the thread was difficult and made no difference to the leak (possibly because it was too thin?), so I'm not sure the ones in your link would fit?

Since installation, the device has always been turned off at the valve when not in use.

To everyone posting about contamination, how would that work? It's essentially a shower that sprays into the toilet bowl, so where does the contamination risk come from? This is a genuine question by the way, not just being facetious!

 

[John D v2.0]

The risk is backflow. Basically if the pressure is lost for any reason, the supply must remain safe even if you try to use the risk appliance.
As an example just covering your own house, basically if you turn off your main stop tap, then open your kitchen tap, not much happens. But if you go upstairs and open the bum spray, air, and water from the head of the spray will run back through the pipes.
Extend the scenario to the whole Street and the are hundred of people at risk
If the water is just dirty ie garden hose, a double check valve is classed as good enough to reduce the risk. Even if one valve is faulty, hopefully the other should stop any back flow.
But for super high risk bugs, there has to be no physical path for the contamination.

 

[just pumps]

Getting fibre washer over the thread made me choke on my pint

 

[Madrab]

Legally, and it is legally BTW, if there was a break out of contamination water found in the cold mains system then it would be traced back to the source. If it was found to be incorrectly installed fixture on the mains, then the responsibility initially would lie with the owner of that fitting. That would then have to go back through to the installer etc and you would be involved in a huge procedural nightmare.

More info here - https://www.wras.co.uk/news/wras_news/categories/installer_news/dont_be_a_douche_about_hand_showers/

 

[DaveHerns]

What do the no-wipe brigade dry their botties with?