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Mains vs tank shower query

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  • 17-01-2009 10:29pm
    #1
    Myxomatosis
    Closed Accounts Posts: 429 ✭✭


    We currently have a Triton T80i in the upstairs bathroom. It gets its water from a small pump (0.5 hp) which is connected to the water tank. The shower is above the level of the water tank, which is why it's fed by a small pump.

    The shower never seemed to deliver any great pressure and recently has stopped working. So I'm going to either repair it or replace it.

    The T80 is designed to run straight off the mains, and since our T80 is only being run off of a small pump up beside the water tank, I was wondering should we get something like a T90 which is designed to run straight off the tank.

    I've had a look at the pump and it's model number is WPP15B.

    Q = 8 - 35 liters/min
    H = 31 - 5 m
    HMAX = 39 m

    I presume H stands for head pressure and Q for flow rate.

    So, what type of shower SHOULD be there? Apparently various plumbers and electricians which have visited over the years have conflicting points of view.

    Is that pump delivering pressure high enough for a T80 to work properly off of?


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    #2
    ART6
    Registered Users Posts: 2,632 ✭✭✭ART6


    If the pump is rated at 31.5 metres head then that means it should be developing about 3 bar, which is quite a healthy pressure for a shower. A shower designed to run off the tank rather than a pump or mains would need the tank to be at least one metre (and preferably more) above it. On the basis of your description, there are three things to check. Take off the shower head flexible hose and see if you then get good flow -- the rubber liner inside the flexibles sometimes perishes and collapses, stopping the flow. If that's OK, see if there's a filter in the unit and check if it's blocked. If that too is OK, then the pump isn't pumping. Is it turning? It it is, check that the impeller hasn't come adrift.


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    #3
    Myxomatosis
    Closed Accounts Posts: 429 ✭✭Myxomatosis


    ART6 wrote: »
    If the pump is rated at 31.5 metres head then that means it should be developing about 3 bar, which is quite a healthy pressure for a shower. A shower designed to run off the tank rather than a pump or mains would need the tank to be at least one metre (and preferably more) above it. On the basis of your description, there are three things to check. Take off the shower head flexible hose and see if you then get good flow -- the rubber liner inside the flexibles sometimes perishes and collapses, stopping the flow. If that's OK, see if there's a filter in the unit and check if it's blocked. If that too is OK, then the pump isn't pumping. Is it turning? It it is, check that the impeller hasn't come adrift.

    Thanks for that

    The pump is wired up to the shower in such a way that when you press "on" on the shower, the pump also kicks in.

    I took the shower off completely, to check for a blocked filter but there is not filter at all and nothing was blocked.

    I then wired the pump up to it's own plug to test it in isolation of the shower and it turned out to be a simple airlock within the pump so I bleed it and the water coming out of pipe going to the shower seems nice and strong.

    I'll put the shower back on tomorrow to see if the previous lack of pressure has something to do with the shower itself.

    Thanks for the help


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    #4
    johnnyrotten
    Registered Users Posts: 3,593 ✭✭✭johnnyrotten


    The T80 is designed to be connected to mains only IINM


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    #5
    SimonC3000
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1 ✭SimonC3000


    I have a Triton 70si, with the same pump, and am having the same problem.

    How was the pump wired to the shower?


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    #6
    Joey the lips
    Registered Users Posts: 10,262 ✭✭✭✭Joey the lips


    T80/T90 To be or not to be question.


    Always been a contentious issue. As you rightly guessed the T80 is a mains fed shower. it is also the only shower that can be used in an attic conversion but thats skirting. If you phone triton they will actualy tell you not to use a t80 anywhere but Dublin or Galway city. Thats because the pressure is crap everywhere else.

    However! To combat the problem of bad pressure they have come up with the T450i PUMP. This is used to pump water at pressure into the shower. Now to get complicated. There is rules about boosting mains pressure you cannot boost anything over.25 h.p so what plumbers usually do is take a new seperate feed from the tank and pump it useing the T450I direct to the T80. However my view here is if your going to go to this trouble why not just use a T90. Except as pointed out you cannot use a T90 in an attic conversion shower and most of these problems are afterthought and its easier to fix the problem than get a new set up.

    Hope this helps any questions just ask.


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