Low pressure from shower head AND faucet!!

[nards01]

I have a Moen bathtub faucet/shower head. It has the pull handle with the cartridge inside. Last year, I replaced the cartridge because it was leaking and was the original (installed in 1976). The leaking stopped, all seemd fine. I never use this shower, my sons do. They are off to college etc. So, yesterday I used it for the first time in years. I immediately noticed low pressure from the shower head, unlike in our (wife's too) bathroom right behind this bathroom. So, I experimented and found that it is NOT the showerhead because the pressure is low even when switched to the faucet. If the water isn't on for a while (like first thing in the morning when taking a shower) and the faucet is turned on, there is very good pressure for about 3-4 seconds then it reduces, 3-4 seconds later it reduces even further and remains like this. It's enough to shower but isn't what it should be, like mine. I'm assuming it's a cartridge problem but find it unusual since, as I said, I just replaced it last year. Any help would be appreciated.

[Mike Swearingen]

You wouldn't think it would be the cartridge, although it may be.
Have you tried taking the cartridge out and checking for debris in the faucet from the lines?
Mike

[nards01]

It's not the cartridge, I checked and tried a new one. So, what else is in there (doesn't appear to be anything) that could cause this pressure decrease that isn't apparent anywhere else in the house - just on this particular shower/faucet??

[shannonhamilton]

First of all, nothing short of spending thousands of dollars on new pumps, pressure tanks, and ripping all of your old pipes out of the wall and replacing them with all new larger diameter pipes will actually increase ones water pressure, and even then all these measures may not really do that much. There has is no such thing as a shower head that will increase your water pressure and anyone who tells you anything differently simply does not know what they are talking about. Certain shower heads CAN increase the velocity {force} of your water, which does in fact give you a better shower. The problem is that most people who suffer from low water pressure have absolutely no clue what shower head to buy. Just going out and buying a shower head and removing the flow restrictor does NOTHING. Removing the flow restrictor only increases the flow rate and not the velocity. The secret to getting a good quality shower if you have low water pressure is this:
1. you have to buy a shower head that is engineered from the drawing board for low water pressure. Don't fall for a simple sales pitch that says that a shower head will work for low pressure. 99% of the shower heads that claim to give you a better shower with low water pressure do absolutely nothing other than empty your wallet.
2. Most consumers are clueless when it comes to buying a shower head. They purchase shower heads without any idea as to what they are actually buying.
3. When buying a shower head you MUST purchase it from a company that specializes in this item that has tested hundreds of shower heads, and has been in business for a long time. A guy selling shower heads out of a closet in his apartment isn’t the person that you would want to do business with.

I live in Maine and have a well. My water pressure has always been bad. My wife and my children have always complained that they can not rinse the soap off their skin or the shampoo out of their hair. I think that I bought and tried every shower head that I could ever find in every home center and hardware store in New England. They were all junk!!! Finally I found the solution at a small home show in Portland. A company was there that specializes in shower heads for low water pressure. Their name was Water Management in Boston, MA, and their website address is TAKEASHOWER.COM. They sold me a shower head that worked so well with my low water pressure that it almost felt like we had drilled another well. IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Unlike all the other shower heads we bought this one actually worked. If you are suffering from low water pressure you MUST visit this website. I only wish that I had found this company 10 years ago when I first moved to Maine because I would have eliminated a decade of suffering in the shower for me, my wife and my family.

[mh_riley]

First of all, nothing short of spending thousands of dollars on new pumps, pressure tanks, and ripping all of your old pipes out of the wall and replacing them with all new larger diameter pipes will actually increase ones water pressure, and even then all these measures may not really do that much. There has is no such thing as a shower head that will increase your water pressure and anyone who tells you anything differently simply does not know what they are talking about. Certain shower heads CAN increase the velocity {force} of your water, which does in fact give you a better shower. The problem is that most people who suffer from low water pressure have absolutely no clue what shower head to buy. Just going out and buying a shower head and removing the flow restrictor does NOTHING. Removing the flow restrictor only increases the flow rate and not the velocity. The secret to getting a good quality shower if you have low water pressure is this:
1. you have to buy a shower head that is engineered from the drawing board for low water pressure. Don't fall for a simple sales pitch that says that a shower head will work for low pressure. 99% of the shower heads that claim to give you a better shower with low water pressure do absolutely nothing other than empty your wallet.
2. Most consumers are clueless when it comes to buying a shower head. They purchase shower heads without any idea as to what they are actually buying.
3. When buying a shower head you MUST purchase it from a company that specializes in this item that has tested hundreds of shower heads, and has been in business for a long time. A guy selling shower heads out of a closet in his apartment isn’t the person that you would want to do business with.

I live in Maine and have a well. My water pressure has always been bad. My wife and my children have always complained that they can not rinse the soap off their skin or the shampoo out of their hair. I think that I bought and tried every shower head that I could ever find in every home center and hardware store in New England. They were all junk!!! Finally I found the solution at a small home show in Portland. A company was there that specializes in shower heads for low water pressure. Their name was Water Management in Boston, MA, and their website address is TAKEASHOWER.COM. They sold me a shower head that worked so well with my low water pressure that it almost felt like we had drilled another well. IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Unlike all the other shower heads we bought this one actually worked. If you are suffering from low water pressure you MUST visit this website. I only wish that I had found this company 10 years ago when I first moved to Maine because I would have eliminated a decade of suffering in the shower for me, my wife and my family.

Dishonesty is no way to sell your product.here

[Fistor]

... There has is no such thing as a shower head that will increase your water pressure and anyone who tells you anything differently simply does not know what they are talking about. Certain shower heads CAN increase the velocity {force} of your water, which does in fact give you a better shower. The problem is that most people who suffer from low water pressure have absolutely no clue what shower head to buy. Just going out and buying a shower head and removing the flow restrictor does NOTHING. Removing the flow restrictor only increases the flow rate and not the velocity.

Wrong on several points of physics here!

Certain shower heads CAN increase the velocity {force} of your water

Velocity is not related to force. Newton's Second Law: F=M*a

(a = acceleration)

Removing the flow restrictor only increases the flow rate and not the velocity.

Again, wrong. Flow is a volume per unit time... cu.ft/sec, for example. Velocity is feet/sec. Divide that out, you have the cross-sectional area of your pipe. Given that that remains a constant, if the flow increases, then so too does the velocity of the water.

There has is no such thing as a shower head that will increase your water pressure and anyone who tells you anything differently simply does not know what they are talking about.

Obviously, you are the one who doesn't know that of which you speak.

Pressure is simply a force over an area... P = F/A

(A = area)

What adjustable shower heads do is open or close the holes, thereby increasing or decreasing the cross-sectional area. Assuming that your supply remains at a relatively constant pressure, then the force of the water in the supply line leading to the shower is constant. By reducing the area, the "pressure" on the water the moment before it exits the shower head is increased.

Think about it - there is a reason why if one tightens the shower stream to a point it feels like it chisels into your skin. You haven't adjusted the house water pressure, just the pressure in the shower head.

[Redwood]

This Take a Shower outfit wanders the web forums posting this drivel cause there junk can't support an advertising budget!

Be ready for a back up posting to appear...

They usually post in pairs having a discussion!

Maybe Terry needs to add take a shower dot com to the ********* list!

[Mikey]

I think I've recommended this before. It's an aerating showerhead, with a shutoff, low-flow, but feels very forceful. Highly recommended (by me, anyway; I've got 2 of them). Available from lots of places, I suppose, but here's one fairly reputable site:

http://www.gaiam.com/product/eco-hom...+showerhead.do

[Mikey]

It sounds like you've got a restriction in the pipes somewhere upstream. This restricted flow creates the illusion of low pressure (see Fistor's post above for the physics involved). There are two fixes for this:

1) Use a showerhead that will produce a satisfactory shower given the available flow, or

2) Overhaul the plumbing.

Does the problem exist in both hot and cold water? Can you trace the plumbing back from the shower to the main line(s) and see where the restriction might be?