Tribune HE pressure issue - complete novice

[Mrfmund]

Hi guys

I live in a 2 year old property with a Tribune HE boiler. The builder explained that it was a 3.5 bar system and it would have no problem running the showers on the ground and top floor.

The top floor shower is fine, however the ground floor shower is a bit of a trickle (warm though, so hot water is getting through). A quick call to my Dad (standard procedure, lol) and he advised it was the pressure.

I checked the boiler and there are 2 needles - a red one reading 1 and a black 1 reading just under 2, from which I deduce that my system is running at just under 2 bar (not 3.5 as per the builders comments).

How can I increase the pressure? I've attached some photos and would really appreciate some advice on this

Low pressure

• Mrfmund
• 27 Jul 2013
• 1

Haven't a clue what all this does, lol

• Mrfmund
• 27 Jul 2013
• 1

 

[picasso]

Your dad has got it wrong (as dads sometimes do) the top shower would be affected if there was a problem with the pressure, its more likely to be blocked filters in the shower,

The gauge your looking at is to do with the pressure in the boiler/pipework and nothing to do with the pressure of the hot water/showers ect.

 

[Mrfmund]

Thanks Picasso

I doubt it's blocked filters in the shower, as it has been used less than 10 times since we bought the house (it's a guest shower and we have people staying with us this weekend).

There is a separate boiler unit in addition to the Tribune - it's wall mounted and has a digital control unit attached for hot water, radiators etc. - would that need adjusting at all to increase the pressure?

I'm going to visit the show house today on the development which is identical to mine - if their shower works better, I will take some snaps of the boiler etc. and post here for comparison.

 

[picasso]

The fact that the top shower works fine points to everything working ok except for the downstairs shower its self, try taking the head off the shower to see if the flow rate gets any better, I still think it will be a filter problem but lets eliminate the obvious stuff first.

 

[Mrfmund]

Ok, just took the head off and let the shower run - no improvement in flow, I would describe it was weaker in strength than a tap flows.

Will take a wander to the show house now - I'm sure it had a good rate of flow, as it was one of the reasons we went for that type of house.

 

[Doggit]

Picassos right, you need to understand the different types of pressure. You have a boiler on the wall that heats the radiators, and the Tribune hot water tank that runs from the mains water and gets heated by the boiler. The pressure gauges you are looking at are for the central heating pressure and have nothing to do with the flow of water to the showers. When the builder quoted you 3.5 bar pressure, we don't know whether he was referring to the maximum pressure that the central heating can run at (as controlled by the small red tank), or whether he'd checked the pressure of the incoming mains.

Picasso is right when he points out that if the upstairs shower works fine, then the overall system is okay, so you need to check out the downstairs plumbing, but it's unlikely to be a shower head problem if it's down to a trickle; this implies a more serious problem. Has someone done any plumbing work recently, and forgotten to turn the isolation valves back on. Is it a thermostatic shower downstairs, as the thermostat could have become faulty, although unlikely.

 

[Mrfmund]

Hi doggit

We've not had any plumbing work done as it is a new house.

Where would I locate the isolation valve and how can I tell what type of shower I have?

(Sorry if these seem stupid questions, computers is my bag, not plumbing lol)

 

[picasso]

I did not think there was a problem with the shower head, I asked the OP to take the head off as some shower head/hoses have a filter combined with the rubber washer and choose this as a starting point.

 

[Doggit]

Okay, so you've taken the head off the shower, and you still only have a trickle, so that says the problems up stream. And if you've had no plumbing work done recently, then you can ignore the isolation valve issue.

You didn't say what sort of shower setup it was; shower cubicle, or over bath. If it's over the bath, then do you have a diverter handle on the taps. If it is a bath setup, then do you have a good flow to the bath. If you do, then the diverter tap's faulty.

If it's a shower cubicle, then is it a manual shower, or a thermostatic one. With a manual shower, you adjust the jot and cold to get the temperature right, and then hope no one flushes the loo. With a thermostatic shower, you adjust the temperature control, then just turn on the water each time you use it.

And sorry Picasso, no insult intended, but none of the shower heads I use have any filter in them, that's why I discounted it.

 

[picasso]

There you go

http://ghrams.webplus.net/shower washer.html

they are normally fitted at the mixer/shower but can be fitted at either end of the hose so always worth checking.

 

[Mrfmund]

Hey guys

It's a shower cubicle with a power and a single temperature control, therefore it's a thermostatic one.

Just checked the show house - the shower is much stronger than mine. their boiler reads at 1 bar which is less than what mine reads. The only difference was the 2 small black taps on the braided house were turned at right angles to the hose, whereas mine were turned in line with the hose - I've changed mine to match theirs, but no difference in pressure etc.

Shower aside, is there no way of resetting or repressuring the boiler? There are red plastic caps that when pushed appear to release some water somewhere, but they are not labelled. See below - there is also a brass tap which again I am not sure of what it does.

As far as I can tell, there is no reason why the shower shouldn't be working, so naturally this is driving me nuts.

Untitled

• Mrfmund
• 27 Jul 2013
• 1

Untitled

• Mrfmund
• 27 Jul 2013
• 1

Untitled

• Mrfmund
• 27 Jul 2013
• 1

 

[picasso]

You think its driving you nuts ! try explaining to a poster that the pressure in their boiler is in no way shape or form related to the pressure of their shower and have them still ask how to pressurise the boiler

 

[Mrfmund]

Lol, might as well ask the question so I know how to do it in the future should the system need it.

 

[picasso]

Put the two black handles back in the position you found them, this opens the waterway that repressurises the boiler, when you get to 1 bar close them, when the handles are across the pipe its closed.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Ignore the fricking boiler.

You have a blocked filter somewhere.

Maybe a guffed pressure reducing valve.


Anyway.

This is a new build.


It is under warranty surely?