JamesB
New Member
I am new to this forum, and to plumbing in general. I hope someone might have some insight into a problem that has me stymied!
The water pressure in the shower/tub is very low. It takes 15 seconds to fill a 32oz glass with water from the tub spout (about 1 gallon per minute). The flow rate is approximately the same from the shower head. The diverter is a gate-type diverter located in the tub spout (two handle faucet set-up). The rate is the same for hot water only, cold water only, or both fully open.
The flow rate from the bathroom sink is 1.5 gallons per minute. The bathroom is upstairs, and the sink and shower are fed by the same set of copper pipes (1/2" I believe). I also get 1.5 gallons per minute in the kitchen sink. It is an older home (some iron pipe in the basement) on a public water system.
I have done a test by removing the hot water faucet cartridge, and cold water cartridge, one at a time. In each case I get a strong flow of water directly from the wall into the shower. It certainly seemed much stronger than the tub spout output. No time to measure as it was making too much of a mess.
Here is my question. Is it possible that the seemingly innoculous "mixing chamber" within the faucet can get obstructed? I would think it is just a hollow chamber that connects two inputs (hot and cold) with two outputs (tub spout and shower head). The diverter is on the tub spout.
Anybody have any ideas on this? I am completely bewildered. Thanks in advance!
James B
The water pressure in the shower/tub is very low. It takes 15 seconds to fill a 32oz glass with water from the tub spout (about 1 gallon per minute). The flow rate is approximately the same from the shower head. The diverter is a gate-type diverter located in the tub spout (two handle faucet set-up). The rate is the same for hot water only, cold water only, or both fully open.
The flow rate from the bathroom sink is 1.5 gallons per minute. The bathroom is upstairs, and the sink and shower are fed by the same set of copper pipes (1/2" I believe). I also get 1.5 gallons per minute in the kitchen sink. It is an older home (some iron pipe in the basement) on a public water system.
I have done a test by removing the hot water faucet cartridge, and cold water cartridge, one at a time. In each case I get a strong flow of water directly from the wall into the shower. It certainly seemed much stronger than the tub spout output. No time to measure as it was making too much of a mess.
Here is my question. Is it possible that the seemingly innoculous "mixing chamber" within the faucet can get obstructed? I would think it is just a hollow chamber that connects two inputs (hot and cold) with two outputs (tub spout and shower head). The diverter is on the tub spout.
Anybody have any ideas on this? I am completely bewildered. Thanks in advance!
James B
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