Can I use this Hansgrohe product in the US?

[Sylva Leduc]

I need some help to determine if Hansgrohe products made for the European market will work in the US.

They have a relatively new 3-way shower selector with a concealed valve that's available in Europe but not yet sold here. It's the AXOR ShowerSelect Soft valve for concealed installation for 3 outlets
(see picture at the bottom of post)

Details on the Showerselect

• will not work with the iBox universal basic set with isolation valves #01850180

Hansgrohe uses a Universal i-Box and we had one installed for the diverter. But, the European Universal i-Box has a different model number than what's sold in the US, so I am thinking the threading may be different.

I'd like buy both the Showerselect and the European Universal i-Box from either the UK or Germany and have them shipped here. Before I complete the purchase, though, will I be able to use the unit in our bathroom? Is there something I haven't yet taken into consideration that will cause problems during installation? Or, not even allow for the installation to take place.

All thoughts appreciated.

Thanks,
Syl

 

[FullySprinklered]

I wouldn't touch it. The threads likely will not match, no one here has ever installed one before, much less serviced one. Now, if you knew someone who has had ten years of good service from one of these, trouble-free, that would make a difference. I wouldn't want to be the guinea pig on a foreign made plumbing device.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Sylva Leduc]

It's a new product (released in Nov. 2016) so there is no track record yet.
Thank you, great insight.

 

[Sylva Leduc]

Found a site which indicated both the threading and pitch are different between BSP (British Standard Pipe) and NPT fittings

BSP and NPT are the pitch (55 degree) and the TPI (threads per inch)

 

[Jadnashua]

Sometimes, Euro brands that are sold in the USA, come with the appropriate adapters so you can connect it to the US standard fittings. Without that, it might be hard. Then, you might be in a grey area about lead content...USA approved fixtures must be low-lead/no-lead, and this is true in some other places in the world, but harder to determine. US fixtures, depending on their function, also have flow limitations on them that a not-made-for-the-USA market, may not abide by (or, it could actually be restricted even more than ours!).

You might be able to find adapters, but it might not be all that easy. Repairs down the line could be nearly impossible, or at least time-consuming, if parts needed to be shipped.

 

[Sylva Leduc]

Sometimes, Euro brands that are sold in the USA, come with the appropriate adapters so you can connect it to the US standard fittings. Without that, it might be hard. Then, you might be in a grey area about lead content...USA approved fixtures must be low-lead/no-lead, and this is true in some other places in the world, but harder to determine. US fixtures, depending on their function, also have flow limitations on them that a not-made-for-the-USA market, may not abide by (or, it could actually be restricted even more than ours!).

You might be able to find adapters, but it might not be all that easy. Repairs down the line could be nearly impossible, or at least time-consuming, if parts needed to be shipped.

Thank you for the reply. Very enlightening. I'll check with Hansgrohe whether there are differences in lead content and flow rate for their European vs N.America bound products.

 

[Terry]

I see this on the Grohe site. It only has two outlets though.
https://www.grohe.us/en_us/grohther...static-trim-with-control-module-29141000.html

 

[Jadnashua]

Two different companies. And, while they both distribute to the USA, unless a product is designed to meet USA requirements, may not be properly used here. I'm sure that there are some that will easily work in either place. You just need to be careful. Remember, the majority of the world uses metric verses imperial (inches) sizes and threads. Why we don't, is one of those things that doesn't make much sense since we try to sell our stuff there, and thus, need to make two versions to do that successfully, or provide an adapter with each unit.