Shower water pressure?

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rumccormick

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Joined
Apr 3, 2010
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17
Hey All!  Ru and I really appreciate this forum- and all of your help and suggestions.  Our first trip out with our new Aerolite was short and mostly sweet.  But why, when the water pressure seemed fine in all faucets, was the stream more like a drizzle when I showered.  I'll be upgrading to a better regulator (as advised by other threads), but is the problem possibly anywhere else?  Thanks again.  Bubba
 
The shower head could be clogged. Unscrew it from the wall and take it apart and clean it.
 
Well I am starting with the easiest fix first. Everything else will get progressively harder. I am lazy so I like to start with the easy stuff first.
 
Another thing that happens now days is they put a 'Flow Restrictor" in the blasted shower, This is nothing more than a washer with a tiny hole in it, too tiny.

However here is a list of suspects:

Water filters.  As they become clogged.. they don't pass water like they used to.

Regulators: YOU NEED A REGULATOR, no question here. but which one
Standard,  a cylinder, the outside is the same size as a female hose fitting, which is, of course, on one end, the other end is a male connection

This is far too restrictive,, Do not use this type

HIGH VOLUME or HIGH FLOW.. Like the above but has a brightly colored plastic or rubber "Grip" on the female end.. Might give you a good shower, will with the right shower head (Oxygenetics)

Watts or Valttrra "Whole House" type at least 1/2 inch inlet/outlet diamater

FANTASTIC

Sur Flow.. Also works well

I use two regulators in some parks.. The first is a Watts set to around 65=70 PSI.. This connects to the park's faucet. The 2nd one is a Sure Flo factory pre-set to 45 PSI.  This one is post-Filter at the inlet to the rig.
 
You can soak shower parts in plain white vinegra for 24 hours and it will clean it up like new again, removing any calcium or slime or scum.

Replce shower head with Oxygenics from Amazon. I did and it made a huge difference, both on 12 volt water pump showers and regular street water showers.

Here is the link, it's kind of long:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref_%3Dnb%5Fsb%5Fnoss%26field-keywords%3Doxygenics%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Daps&tag=motorhomeandrvstore-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957
 
My shower was pretty dismal too, until I followed the above recommendations: 
1. Remove restrictor gadget (piece of plastic with a tiny hole in it),
2. cleaned the shower head in vinegar,
3. blew out the water lines from the pump to the shower valve,
4.  and finally, the real problem I had, remove the anti-siphon valve from the shower hose.  I understand why that is there, to keep standing water in the shower from siphoning back into the water supply, but mine was a solid chunk of limestone because the coach had been sitting for a couple of years in Texas in a spot renowned for hard water.  I note any modification of equipment in my maintenance log so subsequent buyers are aware of the changes.

While I was blowing lines out and looking things over, I also found a little "o" ring and several plastic shavings in the line, and those could not have helped much either.  The pump still works fine, so the "o" ring is not missed.  I kept it anyway.

When boondocking now I watch my water flow, but with a single handle valve like mine, volume is easily adjusted, and turned off for "Navy showers".

Jack
 
You can also improve shower pressure by running your water pump and supplementing your water hookup with your fresh water tank.
 
Bobandpamlemay said:
I second the Oxygenics suggestion. We love the pressure it provides and it's available at Camping World for $40. Well worth it.

Bob
Click to expand...

The Oxygenetics head sold at CW has a flow rate of 2.5 gal/minute. (That's a lot of water wasted for the average American landlubber's shower.) Won't take long to fill up a holding tank at that rate. Oxygenetics also makes a 1.5 gal/min head. Some internet searching will find it.
 
I don't know what my shower flow is with my Oxygenics.  But I take short showers anyhow. I spent years on boats and in the Caribbean where water is so precious and we use so little.

What I like about the Oxygenics, is the pressure is stepped up so that I can rinse off quickly with good water pressure from the shower whether I am on 12 volt pump or street water.  Also, I don't wash my hair everyday, it's not at all necesarry if you keep it brushed often.  Brushing often moves the natural  oils from your head to the rest of the hair.  So I can take a shower with very little water when I am not washing long hair  *giggle*.

But I do like the nice stepped-up presure from the Oxygenics.

How to save water and get clean, if you are overly worried about filling up your gray water tank:

For a water-saving shower, soak your clean wash cloth in the sink. Add liquid soap. Get in the shower, and scrub down with the washcloth. Start with your cleanest parts and work towards the dirtiest parts of your body. This is so you don't wash the armpits first and then put that stinky on your face (besides, you could hurt your head this way when you pass out and fall down!)

Anyhow, now you just rinse off all the soap and dirt and scum (just how dirty do you get each day?) by making use of the handheld shower. You don't need to stand there for 10 minutes with the water spraying over you like you're at home with endless time and water. You can riinse off pretty quickly.

I spent 5 or 6 months living in my RV saving up money to repair the hot water heater, so I can also recomend that cold showers are a great way to save on water too! 

I now have hot water, but I only need to turn it on once or twice a day for a few minutes. The insulation in the tank is incredible, or else it is set to near boiling.  I turn it on when I am taking a shower or washing dishes, then turn it back off when I am done. I haven't run out of super hot water yet.

Besides saving on the shower holding tank, my poop holding tank goes a lot further because I never ever put toilet paper in it. I put all that in the garbage bag in the bathroom.

Since I use the same identical small plastic grocery bags for all my garbage in the kitchen and the floater can, I typically dump my small garbage daily anyhow. The grocery stores seem to provide me enough bags with the groceries to handle all my garbage and then some.  It means you can use all the toilet paper you need to, just don't put it down the toilet, throw it away in hthe garbage instead.




 
I don't know how you do it Mermaid, I have to wash my hair daily.  Otherwise I just can't do a thing with it.
 
DearMissMermaid said:
Also, I don't wash my hair everyday, it's not at all necesarry if you keep it brushed often.  Brushing often moves the natural  oils from your head to the rest of the hair.  So I can take a shower with very little water when I am not washing long hair  *giggle*.
Click to expand...

I showed this to my wife and said: "See?" I got the "look" plus it's nice and quiet around here now. :)
 
DearMissMermaid said:
I don't know what my shower flow is with my Oxygenics.  But I take short showers anyhow. I spent years on boats and in the Caribbean where water is so precious and we use so little.

What I like about the Oxygenics, is the pressure is stepped up so that I can rinse off quickly with good water pressure from the shower whether I am on 12 volt pump or street water.  Also, I don't wash my hair everyday, it's not at all necesarry if you keep it brushed often.  Brushing often moves the natural  oils from your head to the rest of the hair.  So I can take a shower with very little water when I am not washing long hair  *giggle*.

But I do like the nice stepped-up presure from the Oxygenics.

How to save water and get clean, if you are overly worried about filling up your gray water tank:

For a water-saving shower, soak your clean wash cloth in the sink. Add liquid soap. Get in the shower, and scrub down with the washcloth. Start with your cleanest parts and work towards the dirtiest parts of your body. This is so you don't wash the armpits first and then put that stinky on your face (besides, you could hurt your head this way when you pass out and fall down!)

Anyhow, now you just rinse off all the soap and dirt and scum (just how dirty do you get each day?) by making use of the handheld shower. You don't need to stand there for 10 minutes with the water spraying over you like you're at home with endless time and water. You can riinse off pretty quickly.

I spent 5 or 6 months living in my RV saving up money to repair the hot water heater, so I can also recomend that cold showers are a great way to save on water too! 

I now have hot water, but I only need to turn it on once or twice a day for a few minutes. The insulation in the tank is incredible, or else it is set to near boiling.  I turn it on when I am taking a shower or washing dishes, then turn it back off when I am done. I haven't run out of super hot water yet.

Besides saving on the shower holding tank, my poop holding tank goes a lot further because I never ever put toilet paper in it. I put all that in the garbage bag in the bathroom.

Since I use the same identical small plastic grocery bags for all my garbage in the kitchen and the floater can, I typically dump my small garbage daily anyhow. The grocery stores seem to provide me enough bags with the groceries to handle all my garbage and then some.  It means you can use all the toilet paper you need to, just don't put it down the toilet, throw it away in hthe garbage instead.
Click to expand...

Wow! You're scaring me! Are you some kind of hippie?!? Just kidding, of course!  ::)
 
I got my Oxygenics as CW for $29, on sale.  They discount fairly often and if you don't mind the white model, it is cheaper.  VERY good and does an amazing job.  Showering with just the pump, or low pressure at a campground, is no problem.  As far as being wasteful, it has an adjustment so you can lower the pressure if you like.  There is enough pressure that my wife adjusts it down all the time.

One of the best cheap new things we ever bought for the RV.  That and the Wingman.
 
Besides saving on the shower holding tank, my poop holding tank goes a  lot further because I never ever put toilet paper in it. I put all that  in the garbage bag in the bathroom.
Click to expand...

I don't understand - TP takes up very little space in the tank.

Look at the size of the roll.  That's how much tank space you're saving over the life of the roll by keeping the TP out of the tank.  In other words, about a quart per full roll.  Plus about the same amount of water to liquify it.  Or if you're generous, twice as much water.  Worst case, a full roll of TP and the extra water to flush it down takes up less than a gallon of tank capacity per full roll of TP.  Or 1/20th to 1/30th the volume of a typical black water tank.  Hardly enough to justify the bother of disposing of it separately.
 
I agree with Lou and would even add that it probably takes even less space than he estimated because there is air in the TP.  I would think that if one was to submerge a full roll of TP in a bucket of water that the displacement would be very minimum.  Not worth the hassle and smell of putting the used TP in the garbage.  But to each his own.
 
I think the sanitary issues of not flushing the TP is enough for me. Just the thought of it in my garbage makes me sick. And that's besides the smell.
 
How did a shower pressure thread get over to TP (TD I guess, Thread Drift)

There are many myths when it comes to both TP and Black tanks.. I'll not go into them but it is always fun reading threads about them.
 
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