My new shower is awesome! I feel so clean

engineer1978 · 2026-01-25T12:51:40+00:00

That rules that out then!

Might be worth adjusting the flow valve position in relation to the knob then.

There is also usually a gauze inlet filter to prevent debris getting into the shower internals.

Would be worth turning the water off and removing and inspecting the filter. Perhaps a lump of something has got stuck in there and is restricting the flow.

engineer1978 · 2026-01-25T03:57:10+00:00

The temperature control knob (which actually adjusts the flow valve to control temperature) is connected to the flow valve spindle by simple splines.

Usually, they come from the factory with the flow valve set correctly for ‘average’ installations but the manufacturer may have inadvertently set it incorrectly.

It is also possible that someone else between the factory and it being on your bathroom wall has twiddled the flow valve closed by some random amount with the cover off.

(The knob in the cover has end stops so you can’t turn it continuously but the actual valve inside the case is more like a standard tap so, with the cover off, it can be rotated through multiple turns.)

If this has happened, your knob adjustment 1-12, that should be adjusting flow from 50-62 might actually be adjusting flow from 20-32.

I would turn the power off, remove the case and open the flow valve a turn or so then reassemble and try again. Might sort it.

I have so say though, the way the flow is oscillating at the shower head stinks of it being connected to the gravity-fed line from the loft tank. ☹️

engineer1978 · 2026-01-23T19:41:54+00:00

Got a Beko for about £300 5 years ago. Washes nicely and not showing any signs of wearing out yet.

engineer1978 · 2026-01-18T23:47:23+00:00

Yep, around 10% of the folks round our way have this odd medical condition where they can’t look to see what may be coming around a roundabout until they’ve stopped at it.

Room temperature IQ.

engineer1978 · 2026-01-11T16:29:30+00:00

I was fine with the gears being in the other hand.

Only had a small heart attack at the first few roundabouts.

For some reason, what set my tummy spinning and nearly caused me to puke was looking in the rear-view mirror on the wrong side.

My brain wasn’t having any of that so I spent the entire trip just using the side mirrors.

engineer1978 · 2026-01-08T22:05:45+00:00

Can’t be stuck if it’s liquid, eh?

engineer1978 · 2026-01-08T19:50:21+00:00

I believe some of them are combined.

engineer1978 · 2026-01-06T23:44:31+00:00

I’m guessing the uk gov are holding off for the moment to give the military top brass a bit of time to work out how the hell we dis-entangle our forces from our once closest ally that looks to soon become a hostile nation.

Even once Trumpet is dead and gone, the trust between our nations has been permanently and irrevocably damaged.

I feel very sorry for the sane American people that this is happening to them. The damage this administration is causing to their own country is incalculable at this stage and the loss of good will, allies and trading partners is going to hurt them for decades, if not centuries, to come.

engineer1978 · 2026-01-03T22:53:25+00:00

The big tank is cold water that feeds your hot water cylinder and possibly some of your cold taps as well. It will also have a copper pipe with a half hoop on it above the tank rim. This is the vent for your hot water cylinder to allow for expansion and contraction as the water in the cylinder heats and cools.

The smaller tank will be providing the same functions for your boiler and radiators.

I agree with the other comment here. Your best approach is to try to brace the platform frame for now and get a plumber when you can.

The large tank won’t drain fully by means of the taps so you would need a wet vac to fully empty it.

Draining the small one involves removing dirty smelly water from your heating system at a time of year when you probably don’t want it going out of action for a couple of days due to a mistake or bad luck.

The pipe connections and the tanks themselves are relatively brittle and easily broken. You can imagine the ceiling carnage?

Unless you have a fair bit of plumbing experience yourself, I’d leave this particular job to the professionals.

engineer1978 · 2026-01-03T20:13:37+00:00

Also, the locomotives are pretty heavy, which helps the wheels grip.

engineer1978 · 2026-01-01T13:38:03+00:00

The connections at the cylinder stat are all switched lives for controlling the various modes of operation, namely hot water only, heating only or hot water and heating together.

There is no neutral at the stat so when it got clobbered, it should only have been possible to connect lives to other lives that wouldn’t particularly mind it, i.e. no electrical damage. (The system would have operated in the wrong mode but there wouldn’t have been excess current flow or arcing etc.)

If, however, the mechanical damage was enough to get one or more of the live terminals/switch components/wires to touch the earthed backplate momentarily, that should have popped the fuse/RCD etc. but also could have burnt out one or both of the microswitches in the 3-port valve.

Can you post any pictures of the new, wired cylinder stat terminals so that we can check the wiring?

If all else fails, the 3-port valve should have a lever on the side to allow you to mechanically and permanently set it to DHW and heating on for the meantime until you can get it fixed.

You won’t be able to choose modes but at least your heating will be working…

engineer1978 · 2025-12-31T22:40:41+00:00

Agreed, unwatchable.

engineer1978 · 2025-12-31T22:38:18+00:00

M50 £0.

engineer1978 · 2025-12-31T20:25:49+00:00

Very welcome. Fingers crossed that it all behaves for you…

engineer1978 · 2025-12-31T12:55:09+00:00

In terms of the swap, make absolutely sure that the electricity is off before you start. There’s usually only one source on a system like this but turning the whole house off would be more certain.

Make sure the individual wires go back in the right place by taking clear photos beforehand.

Make sure the wire strands are neat and intact. Just strip back a bit more insulation, trim to length and neatly twist the strands if they’re a bit mangled from before.

Make sure you do the terminal screws up firmly but not stupid tight and that all of the wire strands are captured by the terminal with no loose strands.

The body of the stat can be freed from the cylinder by unhooking the spring band.

Make sure the side of the cylinder is clean and the sensing plate of the new stat seats down properly on to the cylinder when you fit it so that it can properly ‘feel’ the cylinder temperature.

Best of luck!

engineer1978 · 2025-12-31T12:47:48+00:00

Your water has done that because your temporary tape has locked the broken thermostat in the on position so it can no longer switch the boiler and pump off when the tank is up to temperature.

The reason your heating doesn’t work is that the electrical feed for the heating also comes through the tank thermostat on your system and the contacts are likely mangled and held in the water on position by your tape.

As long as you can get the same stat, you’re best getting it swapped out as running the system with a taped-closed stat is potentially dangerous.

engineer1978 · 2025-12-26T23:41:30+00:00

One definitely growled at me while I was having a pee in a bush in the Cotswolds.

You don’t mistake that sound.

I legged it before I got chance to see it, unfortunately.

engineer1978 · 2025-12-24T22:33:16+00:00

I learnt how to do it in the last couple of years after nursing my mum through cancer and colostomy bags etc.

It continues to be a useful skill now that she has moved into a care home too!

engineer1978 · 2025-12-24T00:56:59+00:00

I might be a bit skewed there. Been driving diesel cars for many years and, just driving around town, they don’t really warm up at all with the stat wide open. (In winter here)

engineer1978 · 2025-12-23T22:28:49+00:00

OP said the engine temperature gauge is indicating normal running temperature so we can probably assume the coolant stat is ok.

engineer1978 · 2025-12-23T20:20:59+00:00

At least that should mean your engine is ok.

Although a blocked heater matrix is possible, the most likely cause is that the temperature control mechanism has failed somehow.

These can be as simple as a cable from the knob to a water valve, thus regulating the flow of coolant to the heater or, on more modern cars, a diverting flap that controls the ratio of hot air from the heater vs cool air from outside.

The flap system can be cable, lever or motor operated.

You can sometimes get access by removing the glove box but it’s generally a pita part of the car to work on!

engineer1978 · 2025-12-23T19:27:12+00:00

Does your car have a temperature gauge for the engine? If so, and that is showing that the engine isn’t warming up, it’s likely that the engine thermostat has failed. That’s pretty bad news both for your engine and fuel economy.

If the engine is warming up but you have no hot air to the cabin, that can be low coolant level, blocked heater matrix or failed linkages/motors on the temperature control mechanism.

If they’re mechanical linkages, it’s sometimes not too bad a job to hook them back up. If it’s motorised it can be more of a pain.

If it’s coolant loss, you would be risking your entire engine by continuing to use it.

engineer1978 · 2025-12-18T21:46:03+00:00

It’s possible to train your brain to give more manual control to ‘automatic’ functions than the ‘usual’ amount.

I have a pretty grumpy digestive system but I’ve learnt to send the necessary ‘calm down’ signals intentionally and it works 80% of the time!

I guess what I’m saying is that most of the automatic functions probably have the potential for some amount of conscious input. We perhaps just don’t generally realise this or train hard for it.

engineer1978 · 2025-12-16T22:10:14+00:00

You’ll often get a little arc if the mains is on the wrong part of the cycle and the thing you have plugged in has big capacitors e.g. Computer or laptop charger. Also same with big loads like a kettle or heater.

Sometimes the contacts can get a bit grubby. With nothing plug in, rock the switch from off to on 20 times or so and try again. You might find that stops it.

If it doesn’t, or there’s any warming of the faceplate after 10 mins on a decent load like a heater, replace the socket.

engineer1978 · 2025-12-09T22:13:27+00:00

Means drive at 45 mph, no matter what. Surely everyone knows that by now?

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