New Shower Trick

[Hawkeye]

I believe some hand-held shower control heads are designed to add cold to the desired mix to keep from scalding. Maybe run the water without going through the shower head to see if you get the same pulsing.

 

[The Other Gary]

I had exactly the problem you describe with a ParMax pump and an acumulator tank.
I removed the accumulator tank and pump and installed a variable speed pump with no tank.
No more problems.

 

[FlyWright]

Hi Everyone,

THANK YOU for all your suggestions. Greg, the pressure does not change and the pulses do have a consistent rhythm. I would guess the pulses to be two to three seconds in duration.

Thanks again everyone and Happy Holidays.

Lucky

I think if you feel pulses in the shower flow, then the accumulator isn't doing it's job.

 

[The Other Gary]

You will not feel pulses but the pressure will vary a few pounds as the pump cycles through the accumulator tank. The problem is that there is more restrictions in your hot supply than in your cold supply which is always more direct. As I said in my previous post you need a variable speed pump and no accumulator tank for happy showers.

 

[R lucky]

Thanks

Hi All,

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I don't seem to have an accumulator tank (at least not one that's visible.) I've consulted my boat guru and he in turn spoke with Jabsco. Both of them believe the water heater is at fault.

The water heater is now coincidentally leaking from the bottom, so its days are numbered anyway. Only time and a fairly large check will tell if it was actually the problem...

Stay tuned.

Lucky

 

[Irish Rambler]

I hope I'm not teaching my granny to suck eggs but just my two penn'orth to the chat about water, it does have relevance to the subject.
To help keep our fresh water system, mixer valves and shower heads etc from scaling we fitted an electronic water softener.
I'm sceptical of 'gadgets' with exotic 'promises' but thought we'd give it a try. Fitted on the main feed from the water tank (before it goes into the calorifier) they are very simple to fit.
The first marine/motorhome one we tried had a slight effect, so we bought one to suit a 4 bedroom house, whilst it doesn't completely eliminate scaling it certainly is 95% effective at keeping the system virtually limescale free, the admiral has sensitive skin and she swears by it, as well as using less washing powder in the washing machine and more lather from showering.

To keep the tanks initially clean we use 1 tablespoon of Bi-carbonate of soda dissolved in a quart of hot water and add it to the fresh water as we refill on a ratio of quart to 100 gallons.
Any calcium in the kettle ? We fill the kettle with 12% strength white vinegar and let is stand for an hour, then pour it down the toilet, flush the toilet until the water is just visible, leave to stand overnight, this will descale your discharge pipe. We treat the toilets once a month with vinegar and never have calcium blocked pipes.
The kettle of course is thoroughly rinsed.

 

[Ambition ll]

It probably is the pressure balance valve in the mixer.Go on line to manufacture, they will surely send you a new one with directions on how to install it.

 

[catalinajack]

Setting the correct pressure on your accumulator is very important. It should be set at 2psi below the cut-in pressure of your pump. The tank should be completely empty before resetting the prssure. Bleed air if too high. Add pressure with a compressor or bicycle pump.

We had exact same problem turned out to be incorrect pressure at our accumulator tank for what it's worth

 

[catalinajack]

Better yet, install a 120VAC Grundfos pump. Did that on our DeFever while doing the Loop. Best fix we have done in five years of ownership. Open a faucet, pump comes on with strong and steady flow. Just like home and a bullet-proof pump.

You will not feel pulses but the pressure will vary a few pounds as the pump cycles through the accumulator tank. The problem is that there is more restrictions in your hot supply than in your cold supply which is always more direct. As I said in my previous post you need a variable speed pump and no accumulator tank for happy showers.

 

[R lucky]

Epilogue

Hi All,

Many thanks for your thoughts and suggestions.

My boat, an '82, has neither accumulator tank nor mixer. The problem was a Groco check valve which was installed vertically when the instructions specifically called for horizontal mounting -- eventually it failed (go figure ). Solution was a new check valve which is happy working in either direction.

Well, that and a new water heater which was rusted and leaking...

Cheers, Lucky

 

[Seevee]

Better yet, install a 120VAC Grundfos pump. Did that on our DeFever while doing the Loop. Best fix we have done in five years of ownership. Open a faucet, pump comes on with strong and steady flow. Just like home and a bullet-proof pump.

Would that pump be available in 12v?

 

[Ralsy]

Have a look at this thread on another forum. They talk about the pumps in 12v, 110v and 240v configuration.
https://forum.solar-electric.com/di...undfos-running-off-12v-with-step-up-converter