Sudden loss of shower pressure
 

So, one of the showers in my house has lost a lot of the pressure it used to have, or at least the flow. This showerhead has been installed for about a year, and no other work has been done to the plumbing.

We have had problems with lime buildup before on areators, but we've already lime-awayed the shower head (without removing it), but no good. I don't think it's in the head itself, as one day there was no water coming out of that thing at all, and the pipes just shook and made noise. Other days, it's just a lot weaker than it used to be, making showers a hassle in there.

Any ideas on what's causing this, and how to fix it?

How's the pressure at the rest of the faucets?

Also, you can't really do a good job of lime-awaying the thing unless you remove the shower head and pull all the innards out and soak them in Lime Away.

What type of pipe is in the house? I have seen Galvanized pipe actually clog up due to corrosion. Best to replace with copper. Also always take the heads apart, as lots of little crap can get in the aerator and clog it.

Pressure in the rest of the house is fine, this is the only thing giving me trouble. As far as I can tell, most of the pipes in the house are copper. You sure that lime could explain the complete lack of pressure that one day and ensuing pipe shaking?

It could be some sediment has built up. Especially if there has been work done on, or the municipality has flushed the water lines in your area.
Take off the showerhead. Soak it in vinegar or lime away (vinegar works if your water isn't too hard.)
If you can do this without flooding your bathroom, while the showerhead is off, turn on the water to flush out the pipe. Hopefully this is the problem and it will do the trick.

Inside supply piping I've found beads of solder, faucet washer screws, faucet washer fragments, etc. Remove the shower head and see if you can get a good flow from the open pipe. If not, shut off the supply lines and disassemble the hot/cold/diverter valves and look for an obstruction, as well as a loose valve seat (assuming older style valve assembly-not applicable to newer fixtures).

Well, if inside pressure is fine on all other outlets, you know it's between your showerhead and the connection of your shower line to the main water line. Start from the showerhead (believe it or not, this is often the cause) and work from there.

I was going to suggest this as well.

Last year the rubber seal (washer?)on my hotwater tap started to deteriorate and the bits of rubber ended up getting caught in the shower head. Pulled the head off, removed the bits of rubber and viola... water pressure.


(I also had to replace a damaged seat that tearing into my rubber washers...)

i'd have to agree with belkins. you can't do much not taking the head off

I'll third this. My shower faucet didn't work, but the tub faucet did. Took the diverter apart, and found a chunk of rust wedged in there.

I always done this ,if I couldn't figure something out,start with the easier problem work your way up.Removing a showerhead isn't that hard,start with that then move to next step.

Removed the showerhead, that's not the problem. It's like there's just not enough water getting up there, basically. Also, I played a bit with the tub faucet more (my roommate primarilly uses this shower, not I) and the pressure out of that feels a little weak to me. From this and what you guys tell me, it's probably the pipes. Only way to fix this is to replace the pipes feeding the whole deal?

What about the sink in the bathroom ?

You still haven't verified what was suggested. If debris is at the faucet seat area, there will be inadequate flow from the tub filler and the shower head.

Sink in the bathroom is fine. I'm waiting a few more days when I have some more time to look at this closer. Thanks for the ideas so far though.

Must be the pipes then ,because where I live in suburbs I lose lots of water pressure from the sink to the toilet to the shower at certain times during the day,like at 6am and 6pm.I figure it must because of peak hours when lots of people using the water.

Took a closer look at everything, looks like the pipes to me too. What a hassle, but thanks for pointing me in the right direction you guys.