Low water pressure at tub

Tonglebeak · Jun 20, 2009, 11:30 AM

Hello. Tub spout recently replaced, as well as the showerhead (needed new ones of both anyways due to bad diverter valve, and I didn't like the old head).

Anyways, I find water pressure coming out to be very low. It's so low that when the shower is being used, and I turn the showerhead upside down, the water only goes a couple of inches in the air.

I started reading about repairing faucets and such. I got the handle off, and the compression nut, but I don't know where to go from here (in fact, I think I'm going the wrong way for this problem).

Behind the faucet are two valves that still let drips of water come out when fully closed (I hate that, old plumbing, etc).However, there are stainless steel supply hoses coming out of the valve and into a brass-looking body with 2 inlets and 2 outlets (hot/cold, tub/shower). After removing the hoses and aiming them into a bucket, and turning the water back on, I get a massive amount of pressure (that I would expect). This is true for both hot and cold. Also, not that it matters, but I get great water pressure out of the bathroom sink as well.

So I guess my next step is getting this brass body off. Am I correct? It appears the body is screwed into the tub's pipe, but the other three ports have the steel hoses and the shower pipe screwed onto them. The fitting on the shower pipe refuses to budge though, and I'm afraid of causing more harm than good.

It's an Aquasource single-handle faucet. If anyone needs pictures I can gladly supply them. Thanks!

Tonglebeak · Jul 5, 2009, 02:52 PM

Ok, I'll give in

I do have some questions.

A) what size pipe should I use? The flex hose is currently 3/4", should I use that?
B) I read that there's hard pipe and soft pipe. Should I buy hard pipe and the 90 degree elbows, or soft pipe and bend it?
C) If I screw up these compression fittings, ima hunt you down :P

Tonglebeak · Jul 11, 2009, 08:22 PM

Ok, these fittings are _extremely_ expensive. Spent $116 at lowes today on pipe, fittings, and 3 tubes of foam insulation (not related to this project). Of course I bought more than I needed to, and some of the fittings/adapters were the wrong fittings. Therefore, as of now, the flex hose is still there in the basement because I bought a 1/2" female adapter instead of a 3/4"

Also, I noticed that the coupling the flex hose ties to, is actually a 3/4" to 1/2" push-on reducer, and it leaks. Bah. I also need to buy a 3/4" x 3/4" x 1/2" tee (it's the first tee and it goes to teh sink, and the rest of the basement. If I'm going to do this might as well try to do it right D

. I have a 3/4" x 1/2" x 1/2" tee for the next split (goes to water heater, and bathroom).

On a side-note: they're called gatorbite at lowes

This job took me much longer than it needed to...so far all I replaced was the cold water side of the tub. I had a _perfectly cut_ length that would've worked if I bought an elbow with a screw-on coupling on one end of it...would've went straight into the ffaucet, but since I didn't I used a male adapter to go from the elbow to the faucet...it works, and I was able to perfectly cut the small length of tubing needed to make the connection. Thank god none of this is leaking.

That's what I have so far. Yes I replaced the shutoff as well, and am doing so for the hot-water side when I get to that.

I did a volume test. Without testing it I could see there was a difference, but I did it anyways (and holy was there a massive amount of iron crud blowing out of there. Not sure if it was from the tub faucet or the flex hose in the basement).

I got 27 pounds of water in one minute. That's now 3.21GPM, _OUT OF THE TUB FAUCET_, and my well pump would not shutoff the entire time. Therefore this test isn't completely accurate due to the fact that the well pump didn't have to run as much with the previous test, so my 3.21GPM test would've been at a lower pressure meaning less volume from the start...or maybe I'm just trying to justify my massive expense for this, who knows <_<. I'm happy to say that so far there is a difference...a very expensive difference, but a difference nonetheless. And no leaks, even though there's a fair amount of stress on the connections due to the lack of an elbow that has a male screw-on end. If I snag one of those I'll happily stick it on there and go straight into the faucet.

Milo Dolezal · Jul 11, 2009, 08:25 PM

Actually, it looks pretty good what you've done so far. Yes, SharkBite fittings are expensive , so is copper, but these fittings are HomeOwner friendly and are very easy to work with. They are certainly cheaper than having Licensed Plumber over with torch :-D. Thanks for the update ! Milo

afaroo · Jul 12, 2009, 01:33 AM

Great job and thanks for the update, Milo you are a life saver thanks for excellent advice.

Best Regards,

John

Tonglebeak · Jul 12, 2009, 04:09 PM

Well I did the basement part. Due to unexpected pipe shortages, I tried to stretch things out. So far it doesn't leak, although it does look like there's some stress on the joints, but not a terrible amount. Will this be alright?

massplumber2008 · Jul 12, 2009, 04:16 PM

Just get a couple hangers on the pipe and you'll be fine.

Tonglebeak · Jul 12, 2009, 08:14 PM

Well, what I could do so far has been done. All flexible hoses have been removed from my hose (except for what's under the kitchen sink, but I'm _really_ not worried about those right now). Tomorrow or when I have free time I get to gather all of my Lowes receipts, pieces I don't need/didn't use/don't need anymore, and have at it lol.

Another video from youtube. Pressure+volume is _tremendous_ out of the spout. It really is a night and day difference. However, shower is still to be desired...

YouTube - Great tub spout pressure/volume, lower shower pressure/volume

Out of the tub, 32 pounds of water was put down in one minute...3.84GPM. That's probably the best I'm ever going to get. However, out of the shower (not the shower head, but the shower pipe..see video). I got a measly 24 pounds of water..2.88. Not only is volume low, but pressure appears to be low as well. Anyone mind looking at the vid for their input? I could very well be too picky but the pulse feature on my showerhead is still ineffective as a result of this it seems.



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