No Water Pressure in the tub/shower.....

The plumbing in this house is atrocious. I spent all last summer dealimg with plumbing issues (septic) and bathroom (toilet and sink) and it never seems to end.

I've got great water pressure in the bathroom toilet and the kitchen, bathroom sinks; drainage on the kitchen sink is another issue. But the bathroom tub/shower has barely any pressure at all. It is actually one of the first appliances that gets fed water.

My guess is it's the mixing valve, probably gunked up with lime and calcium deposits. Going off of previous issues both the toilet and bathroom sink were replaced due to being completely gummed up with hard water deposits.

If not the mixing valve any other ideas?




Oh, and the well has been working great, we went from a $400 electric bill because the pump was running 24/7 to a $90 bill this month. It was awesome.

Clogged up with lime deposits. I had similar problems here before I installed the water softener. The toilet wouldn't flush properly, all the little openings under the rim were partially clogged. I connected a hose to hot water, filled the tank several times to warm the china up, added phosphoric acid and let everything soak.
The water around here is very high in lime content.

That's what happened to me last summer. Which is what prompted me to replace the toilet and sink. Toilet wouldn't flush and the sink would drip.

We were looking into a softner and filter system but they are $$$$ which we don't have. So, I'll just pick up a new mixing valve and replace it for now. One day when I'm rich I'll get the softner... whom I kidding, if I ever get rich I'm burning the bitch to the ground and moving.

I lived with the problem for years until I could afford a water softener. You don't have to replace everything, lime deposits are easy to remove.

How would I remove them from the mixing valve; at least I think that's where the issue lies since there's a lot of moving parts with lots of places for buildup.

I know I'd have to remove it and then soak it.

An overnight soak in white vinegar might do the job, but I'm not optimistic you will ever get it working like one that never got clogged. CLR or Limeaway work well for removing deposits, but I have no idea if they are compatible with the materials used inside the shower valve.

The money you are saving on your electric bill would pay for a softener very quickly. Use less soap, and have a lot less appliance problems.

I could talk to the wife about a softner again, but we just paid $2400 to fix her Subaru, my truck is still in the shop and that may run $3k for repairs and we budgeted like crazy to get that done, a softner may not be possible till next summer. In the meantime I'm going to replace the old valve I guess since cleaning it may not help.

???? kind of a tub shower valve do you have

I'm On Fire wrote:If not the mixing valve any other ideas?

The first thing I would do is pull the shower head. There may be a screen in there that is plugged up with scale. The small holes in the shower head itself may be plugged to. I have to clean mine every couple of months to keep it flowing well.

jim d wrote:???? kind of a tub shower valve do you have

It's one of those pull out turn to one side for cold, turn to the other for hot and keep it in the middle warm. As for tge make I dunno. Plumbed backwards comes to mind. Whomever installed it back before we bought the house has the cold going to the hot side.

Coaled, I didn't even think of that. I do believe there is a screen in the shower head. Still doesn't explain the lack of pressure from the tub side. I pulled the spigot off and there was no screen. I'll check the shower head tonight though.

The newer single handle tub faucets all have anti scald protection built in, as far as I know. I don't know how they act when plumbed backwards.

The water lines to my clawfoot tub are reversed also, was that way when I bought the place. It's been that way for so long I'm used to it, but it's a surprise to guests who chose to take a shower.

IOF, your pump running 24/24 could have ""washed"" the bottom of the well and sent some dirt/small particules to the smaller parts in the house like the mixing valve??? Maybe just take it apart and see if dirt in it or other things???
If all was workink before the pump problem, lime is probably not the problem, lime deposits form on a longer time. But iron fouling can get in the plumbing faster. Do you have brown/red deposits in the toilet bowl and reservoir? Lime is a white product and iron more brown. If you have iron problems (ferric or ferrous iron), make a simple test: take a glass of water( wait untill the pump stars) add 1/2 cap of chlorine(bleach) and wait a few minutes. If the water turns brown you have ferrous iron, you converted the ferrous iron(invisible) to ferric iron. Ferrous iron can usually be removed easily with a water softner and easier when the PH of the water is more acidic.
If you take the water directly from a cold tap( again after the pump starts) and fill a WHITE container like a yogourt white one and the water is already brown/red colored , you have ferric iron and the a water iron filter is needed.
As you can see finding the right water solution is not a so simple thing. What works fine in your neighbor's house having a water looking like your's can not work in your house ( but it also can). That is why before going to a water solution, better to find an HONEST water Pro. Like in most area, you will have lots of advises from everybody, but ask them: OK I do what you told me to do but could you please sign me an attestation so if YOUR solution doen't work you refund me the total cost of it?
An other option in certain cases is to rent a water treatment ( from a pro. and after a real water analisis), ask for a iron removal in house test: The person takes the iron PPM content fron the cold water tap and after connect a small demo water softner at the same tap, run the water a few minute and re-take the iron reading. Supposed you had 2 PPM in the raw water and 0.3PPm after the mini water softner you'r OK with a softner. If the result is more than 0.5 PPm after the mini W.S. take care to the Pro's solutions

My bathroom sink has fancy french handles and one day my wife's cousin comes over and turns on the cold water and was shocked that it was hot. She started yelling at me that the fancy French word on the handle means cold and the other one means hot. She wanted me to flip the handles around. My reply was, "Why? I know it's hot as does everyone in my house." to this day, the handlesare still reversed.

I'll know how the mixing valve on my shower is supposed to be hooked up when I take it out this weekend.

nortcan wrote:IOF, your pump running 24/24 could have ""washed"" the bottom of the well and sent some dirt/small particules to the smaller parts in the house like the mixing valve??? Maybe just take it apart and see if dirt in it or other things???
If all was workink before the pump problem, lime is probably not the problem, lime deposits form on a longer time. But iron fouling can get in the plumbing faster. Do you have brown/red deposits in the toilet bowl and reservoir? Lime is a white product and iron more brown. If you have iron problems (ferric or ferrous iron), make a simple test: take a glass of water( wait untill the pump stars) add 1/2 cap of chlorine(bleach) and wait a few minutes. If the water turns brown you have ferrous iron, you converted the ferrous iron(invisible) to ferric iron. Ferrous iron can usually be removed easily with a water softner and easier when the PH of the water is more acidic.
If you take the water directly from a cold tap( again after the pump starts) and fill a WHITE container like a yogourt white one and the water is already brown/red colored , you have ferric iron and the a water iron filter is needed.
As you can see finding the right water solution is not a so simple thing. What works fine in your neighbor's house having a water looking like your's can not work in your house ( but it also can). That is why before going to a water solution, better to find an HONEST water Pro. Like in most area, you will have lots of advises from everybody, but ask them: OK I do what you told me to do but could you please sign me an attestation so if YOUR solution doen't work you refund me the total cost of it?
An other option in certain cases is to rent a water treatment ( from a pro. and after a real water analisis), ask for a iron removal in house test: The person takes the iron PPM content fron the cold water tap and after connect a small demo water softner at the same tap, run the water a few minute and re-take the iron reading. Supposed you had 2 PPM in the raw water and 0.3PPm after the mini water softner you'r OK with a softner. If the result is more than 0.5 PPm after the mini W.S. take care to the Pro's solutions

Where would I pour the chlorine? This is all really good info.

IOF, you put the bleach in the cold glass of water( don't drink it ).
If it wasn't a real opinion, I wouldn't have you and me losing time. If I was near you, I would sing what I wrote for you and correct the problem. Some times a water softner dealers can get a very good used/ rebuilt unit and make you save lot of $$$$$$$ with exactly the same results.
Feel free to ask questions about the systems brand or other questions. Some are very good systems but out priced, some are oversea scrap imitations.....One model is better than the other ones if you get occasionnal sand, gray clay, rust particules in your water...
Pierre