Bathroom faucet with shower: meditations in front of the

In this article we have to figure out how the bathroom faucet with a shower is arranged and what can fail in it during operation. The main goal is to learn how to choose from all the offers of the relevant sector of the market the most reliable device with a reasonable cost. Of course, we will touch not only the choice, but also the methods of repairing these plumbing fixtures.

Material

What can a shower faucet be made of, and which one is more preferable?

Here is a list of possible solutions:

• Brass is the most common material.. The combination of low cost and absolute corrosion resistance brought him deserved popularity among manufacturers and buyers. The disadvantages can be written except that it is not too high mechanical strength: with a sufficiently large force, brass threads can be easily torn off.

Useful: most brass mixers come with chrome or nickel chrome plating. Coating pursues purely aesthetic purposes: unprotected brass darkens somewhat over time.

• Stainless steel is noticeably stronger, but the price of this metal and, accordingly, of products made from it is proportionally higher.. The rest is perfect.

• The ceramic body is a rather peculiar solution; however, its drawbacks make the acquisition more than questionable.. Sealing its connections with kranbuksami and liner is quite problematic. In addition, a sharp change in water temperature with a sufficiently large delta can lead to the destruction of the hull.
• Finally, the most undesirable option - silumin. Extremely low mechanical strength does not always allow the silumin body of the mixer to survive the installation; about some long and happy speech and does not go.

Useful: chrome silumin shower bath faucets are easily distinguished from brass by weight. The density of these metals differs about three times in favor of brass (8300 g / cm3 against 2700).

Temperature and pressure control

It can be implemented in several ways.

Screw cranes

Habitual for faucets of the Soviet type taps remain on the market now.

However, to call them the best of the options is difficult:

1. They need periodic replacement of gaskets.
2. The gradual deterioration of the threads of the stem and body is inevitable, like the collapse of capitalism. Sooner or later the crane turns, that is treated only by replacing the axle box.

Ceramic Cranbooks

Ceramic kranbuksa, despite the same geometric dimensions with the screw, the device and functionality is very different from it. The water here is blocked by the mutual displacement of a pair of ground ceramic plates with cuts in them.

From here - some practical consequences:

• Resource boxes in normal mode - somewhere between the definitions of a huge and unlimited. Let's just say: the author never for his long experience as a plumber did not come across a ceramic Kranbuksa, failed due to natural wear.

To clarify: to break it with a certain perseverance is still possible. To do this, it is enough to try to force the crane to turn when the plates are stuck with sand or scale.

• The adjustment of the head becomes extremely accurate. Unlike rubber pads, ceramics are not inclined to change their linear dimensions when heated in a stream of hot water.
• The water opens and closes by turning the lamb 180 degrees, not several turns.

Cartridge

They are equipped with a single-lever mixer, in which the pressure and temperature of the water are regulated by a single handle. The cartridge, in fact, provides this adjustment. His device resembles a ceramic bush: inside the same pair of ceramic plates.

So what to choose, buying a bath shower with a mixer? Morally outdated screw axles are dismissed right away: why do we create extra problems for ourselves with their own hands?

Of the remaining two solutions, it is for the bathroom that a pair of ceramic boxes are more practical, and not a single-lever mixer.

Why?

1. If, in case of excessive force, in a sandbox stuck in sand, you can only split the ceramic plates, then the probability of breaking the plastic plate holders or the stem under the handle is added to the cartridge. By the way, for the plate to break it doesn’t have to be wedged: often enough, close the water with a sharp pop on the handle.
2. The cartridge is noticeably more expensive than the ceramic axle box (about 200 rubles against 60 - 90).
3. Over time, in both types of locking devices, silicone lubricant between the plates is fully developed. If in the case of the axle box its absence has practically no effect on working capacity, then the handle of the single-lever mixer begins to move with a noticeable effort: the plates in the mixer cartridge are noticeably larger in area and create greater resistance during friction.

Shower switch

Agree that a bath mixer without a shower or without a spout is the exception rather than the rule. What mechanisms does the water switch between the spout and the watering can?

Which switch is better to buy a faucet on the edge of a bath with a shower or a wall mounted appliance? Here the instruction is quite clear: our choice is a ceramic switch. It is exceptionally fault tolerant and may fail, again, only because of the application of a large force to the handle when the plates are jammed with debris.

Tip: if you install a coarse filter at the entrance to an apartment, you can forget about suspension in the water once and for all.

Mounting method

There are two options here:

1. The most common faucets for bathroom wall mounting, which are kept only on the liner or fixed on the main wall of the water outlets.
2. The mixer on board a bath with a shower is installed in about the same way as a kitchen one, and is completed with a pair of flexible connections for a water supply.

Here it is quite difficult to give an unequivocal recommendation on choice: faucets for an acrylic bathtub with a shower installed on the shelf allow you to completely remove the water supply from the field of view, which is an undoubted advantage.

On the other hand, the flexible connection under the bath, near its rear wall after the installation of the bath and sealing the joints with the walls will be difficult to access. Meanwhile, the replacement of it is usually required after 5-6 years of operation.

Problems and Solutions

So, let us state once again the description of the ideal bathroom faucet.

• Material - brass or stainless steel.
• Cranes are separate, with ceramic cranes.
• The switch to the shower is ceramic.

Useful: unlike the lever, this switch allows the handle to rotate 360 ​​degrees.

The number of faults of this sanitary device with water purification filters installed in front of it tends to zero.

However, we still mention a few problems that the owner may face.

• Low water pressure in the gander (outflow) at normal pressure in the shower. The reason - overgrown with lime deposits and passed through the filter of fine suspensions aerator with a grid. He unscrewed and cleaned.
• If the pressure in the shower has sharply weakened with a good pressure on the gander, the problem is most likely in shower nozzles overgrown with lime deposits. They are easy to clean with a needle.
• A leak from the shower hose armor means that the rubber core inside the armor has lost its elasticity and cracked. It is easy to find on sale; In extreme cases, you can replace the hose completely.

Conclusion

We sincerely hope that our simple recommendations will help the reader to buy a truly reliable product that will please him for many years. As usual, additional information can be found in the video in this article. Successes!