Showerheads

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

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Problem is, aside from the rain showers, which are, I believe, still all metal, most of their actual spray heads are indeed chromed plastic now. High grade reinforced chromed plastic, but plastic nonetheless. Its called Grohe Starlite, if I remember correctly. Honestly, it lasts longer and is easier to clean.

It makes much more sense to have all the interior waterways done in plastic, since it doesn't corrode.

They used to be all brass - but its just too expensive for something that most people will never notice. How often do you take off your showerhead and weigh it? Not very often.

Not to mention that buying a showerhead for $250- $600 bucks is a little like spending $900 on sneakers. Nothing wrong with a little luxury - but seriously...

That being said, Grohe is nice. If you like the design, and are willing to pay for it - by all means, I won't stop you.

I for one like the Grohe Rainshower system. We have this one installed: Rainshower It gives quite sufficient waterflow. I believe that one of the main factors is the capacity of your boiler, i.e how much hot water throughput capacity, to be able to drive the shower.

Tokyo, I believe that the Grohe is brass.

Originally Posted by T4phage

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Tokyo, I believe that the Grohe is brass.

I said that.

^^^whoops^^^

Speakman.

And usually, water pressure has little or nothing to do with their water heater. Houae pressure is regulated down to about 30-35 psi at your utilities meter. From there, its a matter of how your water pipes are branched out and the size and condition of pipes. Of course, if your water heater is clogged or broken, it will affect the hot water side of things... but assuming its in good working order - it shouldn't affect pressure at all.

Tokyo,

I'm in the development/building/architecture industry...your knowledge of fixtures is great!

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

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And usually, water pressure has little or nothing to do with their water heater. Houae pressure is regulated down to about 30-35 psi at your utilities meter. From there, its a matter of how your water pipes are branched out and the size and condition of pipes. Of course, if your water heater is clogged or broken, it will affect the hot water side of things... but assuming its in good working order - it shouldn't affect pressure at all.

TS - I don't know sh!t about plumbing so sorry about the ultra-noob question, but our apartment has two bathrooms, both were done at the same time (4 or 5 years ago when previous owner completely renovated the place) and are on the same floor. One of the showers has strong pressure, the other one has weak pressure. What should I do? Do I need to change the head? Are there heads that increase pressure?

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

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Define old fashioned shower head. A 1990 model? Every showerhead sold in the US since late 91 has a flow regulator. Thank the EPA. Its Federal law.

People like Zoe Industries have been sued for trying to sidestep it, though since they are exploiting technical loophole in the law they are getting away with it as of right now. (each shower head puts out less than 2.5GPM to comply with the law, but they have 3 heads feeding off one pipe for a total output of over 6GPM)

Next thing you know, they are going to start building timers into shower heads that shut the water off after 20 minutes or something. Fascists.



The place I went to is like a warehouse full of old "stuff". They just have piles of old hardware and they knew what I was talking about when it came to a showerhead. I don't think it came in a box.

And, yeah, I bought it maybe 10-15 years ago. My dad has a showerhead that almost hurts, so much water comes out of it...

Originally Posted by gdl203

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TS - I don't know sh!t about plumbing so sorry about the ultra-noob question, but our apartment has two bathrooms, both were done at the same time (4 or 5 years ago when previous owner completely renovated the place) and are on the same floor. One of the showers has strong pressure, the other one has weak pressure. What should I do? Do I need to change the head? Are there heads that increase pressure?
Unfortunately you cannot really increase water pressure at the shower head unless it already exists in the pipe. Is the water pressure weak coming out of the tub filler and sink in that bathroom too? Or is it just from your shower? If its just your shower, there is a chance that something is wrong with your pipe from your mixing valve (where you turn your shower on) to your shower head, it could be clogged with debris, or depending on what kind of pipe was used, it could be pinched or rusted. But I'd likely check the shower head and the elbow that comes out of the wall (the shower neck, or arm, or whatever you want to call it) first and see if it is calcified or full of sediment, or if you can remove the flow regulator. That might make an immediate and beneficial impact. Otherwise you are looking at a tear out of the wall and shower valve to remedy the problem. If its the whole bathroom that is slow, it might be that the "run" of pipe (the length of the end of the pipe from the water source) is too great for adequate pressure. Or it could be a pinch or obstruction in the pipe somewhere in a floor or wall. If this is the case, there's not much that can be done.

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

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Unfortunately you cannot really increase water pressure at the shower head unless it already exists in the pipe. Is the water pressure weak coming out of the tub filler and sink in that bathroom too?
Or is it just from your shower?

If its just your shower, there is a chance that something is wrong with your pipe from your mixing valve (where you turn your shower on) to your shower head, it could be clogged with debris, or depending on what kind of pipe was used, it could be pinched or rusted. But I'd likely check the shower head and the elbow that comes out of the wall first and see if it is calcified or full of sediment, or if you can remove the flow regulator. That might make an immediate and beneficial impact. Otherwise you are looking at a tear out of the wall and shower valve to remedy the problem.

If its the whole bathroom that is slow, it might be that the "run" of pipe (the length of the end of the pipe from the water source) is too great for adequate pressure. Or it could be a pinch or obstruction in the pipe somewhere in a floor or wall. If this is the case, there's not much that can be done.

Thanks - never noticed that the pressure was low at the tap or sink but that's probably because pressure at the tap is not something that's very noticeable generally (or at least, not as noticeable as low shower pressure). That one is a hand shower so I guess I can check the head and tube fairly easily to see if there's clogging, rust or calcification. I don't know what the flow regulator look like so I'll probably stop there and call a plumber if that doesn't work.

Originally Posted by Lucky7

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Tokyo,

I'm in the development/building/architecture industry...your knowledge of fixtures is great!

Thx. I've sold and installed a lot of fixtures.

I've never designed any though - I leave that up to the engineers.

12 23 17 It's definately a piece of rubber in there: This is a crappy cheapo showerhead that came with my apartment and I don't really feel like spending money to replace it since I will probably be here for 6 more months (though removing the regulator sounded like a great free option). It looks like it is too restricted by the size of the metal hole which I can't do anythign about. I did the gallon bottle test and got these results: Bathtub faucet: ~12s Showerhead: ~23s Shower pipe (no head) ~ ~17s I didn't measure the showerhead with the rubber piece still inserted. at 23 seconds, I am getting a little better than 2.5gpm but it just feels like I have no pressure pushing out of the head (and it is far from the 5gpm at the faucet

Originally Posted by otc

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12 23 17 It's definately a piece of rubber in there:

This is a crappy cheapo showerhead that came with my apartment and I don't really feel like spending money to replace it since I will probably be here for 6 more months (though removing the regulator sounded like a great free option). It looks like it is too restricted by the size of the metal hole which I can't do anythign about.
Yeah, this is a non-removable option. I don't think there's much you can do. The upside is that a shower head is something easy to take with you. It unscrews. And they really aren't that expensive. You can get something that works better at Home Depot for like $20-$50 Six months of good showering is worth it, IMO. Best of luck to you!

I did the gallon bottle test and got these results: Bathtub faucet: ~12s Showerhead: ~23s Shower pipe (no head) ~ ~17s I didn't measure the showerhead with the rubber piece still inserted. at 23 seconds, I am getting a little better than 2.5gpm but it just feels like I have no pressure pushing out of the head (and it is far from the 5gpm at the faucet

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Its probably just because its a crappy shower head design. They aren't all like that.

Maybe I'll try to pick something up then when I buy supplies for my waxed-cotton jacket project...are showerheads something that you can return if it sucks?

Thanks

Originally Posted by otc

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Maybe I'll try to pick something up then when I buy supplies for my waxed-cotton jacket project...are showerheads something that you can return if it sucks?

Thanks

If you buy it from a big store like Home Depot or Loews - It won't take much to return it. I'd make sure it was dry and clean, that you open the package discreetly as possible, and save it, and that you don't scratch the fitting when you tighten it down with a wrench. (i use a smooth crescent wrench with a couple wraps of duct tape over the jaws)

You shouldn't have much of a problem.

Make sure to pick up some teflon tape for the threads. Should be less than a dollar.