Setup:
This is a double shower. I'm going to call one the LEFT and one the RIGHT.

Background:
Folks
I'm hoping you can help solve this. It seems complicated and it will be way
too expensive to have a stream of plumbers come by the check it out, nor
practical to start demo looking for a problem.


Setup:
This is a double shower. I'm going to call one the LEFT and one the RIGHT.

Background:
The RIGHT was the original shower. The LEFT was added on the opposite wall 7
ft away. New pipes were laid from the RIGHT under the shower pan and up the
outside wall to feed the LEFT. The RIGHT's components were replaced with
those described below.

Components:
LEFT: Artos-Westover -- 2 - F906-2 vol ctl's (1 for shower head; one for 3
body jets); 1 - F904-3 Thermo vlv (controls temp output from one or both
vol ctl's)
RIGHT: Same except 1 hand held spray instead of body jets.

Problem 1: LEFT shower: after approx 10 min the water temp slowly decreases.
Turning the temp control toward hot, or to the hot stop, makes no
difference. While running, turning on the body jets' vol ctl causes (1)
spitting and sputtering for 5-10 sec from the three jets (2) followed by a
very large water temp rise from both the shower head and body sprays, so
much so that I have to get away from the water. Then, turning off the body
jets vol ctl causes the temp to drop to its original level after approx
10-15 seconds.

Problem 2: RIGHT shower never reaches the temp of the LEFT with the LEFT
shower and jets on. This is the case whether LEFT's shower and jets are
runnung AND the RIGHT's shower and hand held are running OR just when any
component of the RIGHT is running.

Notes: 1. These thermo vlv's have some kind of complex sensor inside that
regulates temp. It's possible that the RIGHT thermo vlv is set so it cannot
put out as high a temp as the LEFT's. 2. When the jets are turned on, they
spit air and water for a bit. This occurs whether they are being turned on
for the first time or after being turned off for a few seconds and then
turned on again.

Finally, it appeared we were running out of hot water and needed a new water
heater. Now it seems something in the way this plumbed is the problem.

If you need more info, don't hesitate to ask. (MY pics are too largo to post but I could email them to anyone who's interested.)

Thanx in advance for the help!

it's hard to say without being there but i would replace the cartridge in the F904-3 Thermo vlv ...

Packy
Why do you think this would solve the problem?
I have attached apic that shows what I BELIEVE is how the contractor piped the left shower.
Thanx
Sparkman
[s1066.photobucket.com]

i doubt he used a 4 way tee for the sprays. he probably used a couple of tees. anyway, there is nothing wrong with the way he ran the piping.
the problems of temperature fluctuations and inconsistent how water makes me think the cartridge is bad...

OK, and I have sent a description of the problems to the mfr also to see what they think. Let you know. Thanx again...

Additional information...

This morning I used the RIGHT shower. Hot water output was fine, but after approx 7 minutes it seemed to be cooler. I turned the temp control to get more hot water and, in fact all the way to the end of its travel, and there was a minimal increase in temp. While the RIGHT was still on, I went to the LEFT shower and turned on both the shower head and body sprays. After a few seconds, very hot water came from both. Output from the RIGHT became ice cold.

In the last email I included a sketch showing what I believed was the plumbing arrangement for the LEFT. However, today I found notes given to the contractor that showed the body spray design should have been a continuous loop, as shown in Artos documentation. This is now what I BELIEVE was installed.