Check out some similar questions!

Milo Dolezal · Jul 4, 2009, 08:27 AM

Mark nailed it, no additional commentary needed here...

Perhaps one: Are you sure that body is NOT UPSIDE DOWN ? There is a sticker on it ( 1st photo) . It is upside down. Usually, they paste stickers on bodies in correct position.

Tonglebeak · Jul 4, 2009, 08:27 AM

I was going to remove it so that I could thoroughly clean it out... but... now that I think about it, I could just use a fitting brush and try to brush out as much as I can.

... Ok, I was born a blonde. Forgive me >_>

EDIT: Upside down? >:( Oh boy >_>

massplumber2008 · Jul 4, 2009, 08:32 AM

Remove all the guts and then flush everything by pulsing the water on/off. There should not be any real buildup here as there was not dissimilar metals joined at the shower... so bet you there will not be a major issue there.

I see the lettering now... valve could certainly be upside down... although, as long as the shower diverter is on the tub spout I think you will be fine!

Good eyes, Milo!

MARK

Tonglebeak · Jul 4, 2009, 02:13 PM

Well, it's done for now I suppose. I don't want to even get into the reason why I had to go to Lowe's 3 times today (Let's just say I couldn't do things the way they were before)...

So, here's a few YouTube videos of the water coming out of tub, shower, and showerhead hose. I think it's bad out of the hose because it's one of those "water-saver" showerheads. But the other two videos... what are you opinions? Should there be more pressure coming out? I would've expected more but that's just me...

Tub - YouTube - Water pressure - tub pipe

Shower - YouTube - Water coming out of shower pipe

Shower hose - YouTube - Water coming out of showerhead hose

massplumber2008 · Jul 4, 2009, 02:22 PM

The work looks great!

The shutoffs are completely open... right?

How about chasing the pipes downstairs to a place where you can see the pipes that feed this bathroom.. Then, see if there any more shutoffs associated with this bathroom.. The water volume/pressure is low, for sure.

Chase this out a bit more... could be more mickey moused plumbing.. *UGH*

MARK

afaroo · Jul 4, 2009, 02:34 PM

Hello Tonglebeak,

You done an excellent job it looks very nice but you still have low water volume/pressure, as Mark's says follow his instructions and I am sure you will find something, Thanks.

John

Tonglebeak · Jul 4, 2009, 03:07 PM

Well the piping is straightforward. Here's some more YouTube goodness...

YouTube - Piping in Basement - this comes right off the well pump

YouTube - Bathroom sink water - Ignore the toothpaste

afaroo · Jul 4, 2009, 03:31 PM

Looking at the You Tube the bath room sink faucet flow is OK.
One other thing I may be wrong, there still may be dirt in you supply lines and you valve, I would suggest to close both S/O valves disconnect the supply lines I have marked for you on picture below, get a bucket open one valve a time and see if there is any dirt coming out, I may be wrong but you may try it, Thanks.

John

Tonglebeak · Jul 4, 2009, 04:27 PM

Here's a very loud video of the cold water side... I'm just going to assume the hot water side is the same at this point... my faucet is severely clogged, isn't it...

YouTube - Cold water supply hose

massplumber2008 · Jul 4, 2009, 04:34 PM

I think you are hitting on something here John (Afaroo)... I think those flexible supply lines may be reducing the volume at least in some manner.

However, I think the volume of water at the sink is an illusion... ;) I think if you were to install an aerator at the sink volume would be low.

Tonglebeak... you have a flexible connector in the basement... I would replace that. That could definitely reduce the volume available to both the cold water to the house, and maybe also the cold water feed into the water heater!

When you have a chance, someday, it may be a good idea to finish this job by connecting all together with copper pipe. At a minimum... replace the flexibel connectors... they definitely aren't helping you here!

MARK

massplumber2008 · Jul 4, 2009, 04:36 PM

Tonglebeak...

I think it's what I suggested just before you posted that last video (great stuff by the way).

I'm pretty darn sure that you are seeing a reduced VOLUME as a result of the small flexible connectors... reduces the pipe size to like 3/8"...something we feed toilets and sinks with.

Replace ALL felxible connectors with solid 1/2" piping and then let me know what happens. Sharkbites are your friend here!

Let me know what you think...

MARK

Tonglebeak · Jul 4, 2009, 04:42 PM

Ok, I can try that... but... a gallon of water weights 8.34 pounds right? That bucket held around 21 pounds of water, and it was all put in there within a minute. Nearly 3 gallons in a minute, is that too low?

massplumber2008 · Jul 4, 2009, 04:49 PM

Most shower heads are restricted to 2.5 GPM today so fine there, but at the tub 2.52 GPM (21/8.34) is low. And since you are testing this without the shower head in place... problem is house wide.. I suspect.

I would still change the flexible connectors at the shower valve and in the basement!

PS... what pressure does you pressure gauge suggest at the pump?

MARK

afaroo · Jul 4, 2009, 05:00 PM

Tonglebeak,

Mark is correct those flexible supply lines may be reducing the volume, proceed with his advice, but before you do that I would suggest to clean the shower valve and see what happens, I am spending my 4th of July in the hotel here in Winston Salem NC, Thanks.

Regards,
John

Tonglebeak · Jul 4, 2009, 05:02 PM

I completely understand. I'm not trying to argue with you, just trying to learn more :) And I definitely am going to change the hose, because I see that they also have some rust in them.

But if I got 3GPM out of the cold water supply, why am I not getting that out of the tub faucet unless the faucet is bad?

Just tested, got 2.15GPM out of the tub faucet. Did some recalculating, and got 2.9GPM out of the supply (52 seconds is how long I had that valve open). Clearly there's nearly a 1GPM loss through the faucet...

Also, my pump shuts off at 51PSI. It kicks on at 40.

Again, I'm not arguing, in fact I'm very happy you're still responding to me, I'm just trying to learn.

massplumber2008 · Jul 4, 2009, 08:15 PM

Ahhh...

What we have here is probably a case where the pressure balanced tub and shower valve delivers cold water at one pressure/volume and the hot water delivers a lesser pressure/volume. In this case, the shower valve, being pressure balanced, would deliver the lesser pressure/volume...

My point is that the shower valve has a job that it performs.

I wonder if your hot water will deliver the same volume as the cold... care to test for us..?

Besides the cartridge assembly.. there just isn't much to clog up after all you have done here. You did FLUSH all pipes and the valve body/piping... right?

PS... I will respond as long as you do... :) Glad to help...

MARK

Tonglebeak · Jul 4, 2009, 08:27 PM

Sure, gimme a few minutes...

Tonglebeak · Jul 4, 2009, 08:37 PM

I got 2.84GPM out of the hot water side of the supply.

massplumber2008 · Jul 5, 2009, 05:57 AM

It's enough to get a shower, for sure, but if someone else uses any fixture in the home while someone is showering you're only going to get a trickle of water at your shower.

Last request... OK? I want you to try the volume test at an outside faucet... that should tell us if this is isolated to the bathroom or is system wide.

If confirmed low then there will be no question about those flexible connectors being the culprit.

Let me know and I think we will be able to draw final conclusion.

Tonglebeak · Jul 5, 2009, 11:34 AM

Out of the outside faucet, I had 34 pounds of water in one minute. Roughly 4GPM.

HOWEVER, something I had missed was that the pvc piping off the well pump actually splits BEFORE it gets to the flex hose. One leg of the split feeds the outside faucet, and the other leg feeds to rest of the house (goes towards the flex hose).

Looking at the tag, the flex hose is 12" long and is 3/4". Anything else you want me to try before going further?