Anyone with ideas on how to open this shower mixer?

azibux1

azibux1

azibux1

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Hi all,

Does anybody know how you would open the below? Today it has started to leak reasonably seriously, but it seems to be intermittent, a mixture of fiddling with it, turning it on and off (from here and the mains) seems to get it to stop and start again, not entirely sure where the water is coming from though, seems to leak/seep out from one of the joints where all the parts twist, which makes me think it is something loose or broken 'behind' what is shown in the picture.

Not sure where to go next to open it, which bits can and can't be opened. There are some more small grub screws in the unit near to the wall which will presumably release it from the wall (possibly allowing access to the issue from behind) but don't really want to undo those just yet (due to it being late now and currently it isn't leaking) and don't want to cause any issues with the pipes coming into the unit as we have no way (or materials like sealant etc) to get those back on if they need removing from the unit / come off in the process.

Extra info:
It has two pipes coming in (hot and cold) and one pipe out to a shower head. It is removed in the pic, but there is a cover over the front that allows adjustment for temperature. It is made by Bristan.

Any help would be great :)

EDIT: In the second pic, regarding the allen bolt behind the one already removed, it looks like there is one there if you look with a torch, but we tried various size ones in the hole and nothing seems to lock in to the bolt. Hard to see if there is one in the hole below (at the bottom) as there is water in this hole which shouldn't be there.

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Not sure that the big nut should turn with the knurled section. It looks like that's the bit that removes the control bit from the main block.
 
Ian_Eb said:
Not sure that the big nut should turn with the knurled section. It looks like that's the bit that removes the control bit from the main block.
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What you're saying makes sense, and would then make it a similar style to how a basin tap is if I remember rightly. But this is quite 'defined' in the way it turns, turns quite loosely (still requires a wrench around it) round to the left then stops suddenly and the same the other way clockwise.

I did turn it all the way clockwise (off position for the shower) and put a slight amount of pressure on it to tighten it, but it didn't seem like something that should be 'tight' due to the way it moved.

Will look into this more tomorrow to see if it is the cause of the problem.

Any other ideas too?

Thanks for the help :)
 
Thanks for the link

That looks very similar, if not identical, to what we have, that part that I'd removed (with the allen bolts) is also shown in that pic you linked to

I assume it does just pull out then, possibly (and hopefully) it is just one of the rubber washers that has broken away over time and just that can be replaced

EDIT: Great video too, will help a lot. The exact model of ours is slightly different, but the design looks 90% the same inside. Will take a look at this tomorrow. Thanks :D
 
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Had a look, can't see any service kits for any of them. So it's down to finding the mixer model then cartridge part number and hoping it's still available.
 
fornowagain said:
Had a look, can't see any service kits for any of them. So it's down to finding the mixer model then cartridge part number and hoping it's still available.
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Found this:

http://www.showerdoc.com/bristan-seal-kit-sk00400185

And another seal kit looking identical on the Bristan website. I've emailed them a pic to hope they can quickly identify the model and the appropriate seal kit, although the above kit seems 'standard' for ones with this design of cartridge

Will post back with how I get on :)

EDIT: All of the above is based on it being a broken seal, will have to see if they sell the appropriate cartridge itself if there is an issue with that rather than a seal
 
fornowagain said:
Ah that's better. A good clean and some new seals is a good start. Looking at those cartridge prices I'd be inclined to just get a new mixer valve.

Doesn't look like there's too many to choose from > http://www.showerspares.com/bristan...ixer_showers/bristan_thermostatic_cartridges/
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Yep

I see the cartridges aren't exactly cheap but it 'might' be better off in the long run, as I'm just guessing that the pipes coming out of the wall are not at a 'standard' distance from each other, or does such a standard exist so any mixer will fit?

It if will require cutting of tiles etc (which we have no spares of), then the cartridge might be the better option if it comes to it
 
They're all pretty similar, replaced a generic unit with a Mira a year back and went on the same mounting point and pipe/fittings. There's not much holding them on tbh. Have a measure, normal fitting iirc is around 148-154mm inlet centers. You may have to re-drill the tiles for the mounting plate holes.
 
fornowagain said:
They're all pretty similar, replaced a generic unit with a Mira a year back and went on the same mounting point and pipe/fittings. There's not much holding them on tbh. Have a measure, normal fitting iirc is around 148-154mm inlet centers.
Click to expand...

Cool thanks for the info

Will open it up tomorrow and have a look and see, hopefully just seals need replacing as it is probably 6 years old now

Edit: re-drilling the tiles won't be too much of a problem providing the old holes are covered up which they presumably would be if we get a similar design unit
 
Just so you know when you're cleaning there's flow regulators and inlet filters built inside the elbow fittings. The one's on mine were pretty much all scaled up, hard water area, ymmv.
 
Okay thanks

Hard water here also

The flow regulators are in the pipes going to the wall though, correct? Not in the cartridge

I was only planning on cleaning the cartridge as I didn't want to unnecessarily touch the solid pipes coming into the unit

Appreciate the help :)
 
No not in the cartridge, just the 90 degree bits on the sides. You may be able to see the inlets when you get the cartridge out. Mine were pretty badly scaled up, it was effecting the flow and functionality. So I just changed the whole unit to avoid coming back to it for another ten years, too lazy.
 
fornowagain said:
No not in the cartridge, just the 90 degree bits on the sides. You may be able to see the inlets when you get the cartridge out. Mine were pretty badly scaled up, it was effecting the flow and functionality. So I just changed the whole unit to avoid coming back to it for another ten years, too lazy.
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Haha alright will have a look then

If we do remove the unit from the wall, are the pipes coming into it likely to be quite short and solid, as in not much 'play'... Are they usually sealed onto these mixers or just with a nut holding them on with some PTFE tape? Something an average person good with diy could refit or it requires a bit more specialist knowledge / a plumber?
 
There's different mounting types. Looking at the pics I would bet once the backing grub screw is undone and any silicon seals broken, it will just pull forward enough to access a compression fitting. Stands to reason there must be enough play for it to have been fitted in the first place, really need to see what's under one of those flanges to be more accurate. There's other types you may see that have a mounting plate which bolts to the wall then a threaded collar with an olive that clamps down on the pipe, then the mixer screws up on the threaded collar. None of it's specialised, personally I wouldn't think a plumber is needed for a job like this, not with a bit of thought.
 
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fornowagain said:
There's different mounting types. Looking at the pics I would bet once the backing grub screw is undone and any silicon seals broken, it will just pull forward enough to access a compression fitting. Stands to reason there must be enough play for it to have been fitted in the first place, really need to see what's under one of those flanges to be more accurate. There's other types you may see that have a mounting plate which bolts to the wall then a threaded collar with an olive that clamps down on the pipe, then the mixer screws up on the threaded collar. None of it's specialised, personally I wouldn't think a plumber is needed for a job like this, not with a bit of thought.
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Alright doesn't sound overly complex at all, like you say also this must have some play in it to have been fitted in the first place.

Going to look at this later in the evening probably so will post back then :)
 
We tried to take this apart today and remove the cartridge but it was very stiff, nowhere near as easy as the video makes it seem. Couldn't manage to get it out, even with a lot of force.

Is it possible that it is a slightly different design? I assumed that the plate with the grub screws means it would be the same sort of design, it does look identical

But we just couldn't get it out
 
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