Delta 22000, 2 shower heads / Poor water pressure

[Justin Thomas]

Looking for advice before I spend any more money.
I recently remodeled my upstairs bathroom. Put in a 1 piece shower with a rainfall water head and traditional wall shower head. The valve is a Delta R22000 Multichoice rough in. I notice that when both shower heads are used , the wall shower pressure isn’t acceptable. Took a reading outside at the hose, and pressure read at 42 PSI. (City water for my neighborhood should be around 49 PSI) A local plumber recommended putting in a booster pump. Seems excessive to me. 1-1/4” galvanized main to 3/4” PEX to Viega manabloc to 1/2” runs to upstairs bath. I was considering putting a Tee directly off the hot water heater and running 3/4” PEX hot to the shower valve directly. Or, Possibly bypass the manabloc, tee off the hot water heater and reduce to 1/2” line from the hot water heater?

I guess my question is :
Will increasing PEX from 1/2” to 3/4” increase pressure to the shower ?
Regards,
-J.

 

[Reach4]

Probably. It would increase the time for hot water to arrive.

Does one control control both showerheads? If there were independent controls, you could run a new 1/2 inch hot to each.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jadnashua]

The valves typically have two outlets, one designed for a tub filler and one for the shower. The unused one tends to have a plug in it, and the upper one, usually going to the shower head, tends to be somewhat restricted versus the tub outlet. It is designed for one head, and may not provide enough volume for two. Also, those heads are specified with 60psi...when it's lower, their outlet volume will decrease. If your outlet is the restricted side of the valve, replumbing it to the tub spout outlet might solve your problem, but a booster pump would also help. If things are acceptable with a single head running, it's more likely a volume issue than pressure, but they are related. Heads don't work at optimum unless there's enough volume and the more pressure available, the more volume you can deliver. Less restriction also allows more volume.

 

[Justin Thomas]

Probably. It would increase the time for hot water to arrive.

Does one control control both showerheads? If there were independent controls, you could run a new 1/2 inch hot to each.

Probably. It would increase the time for hot water to arrive.

Does one control control both showerheads? If there were independent controls, you could run a new 1/2 inch hot to each.

The lower control is for the mixing valve for hot water. The upper control selects one shower head or the other or both.

 

[Justin Thomas]

The valves typically have two outlets, one designed for a tub filler and one for the shower. The unused one tends to have a plug in it, and the upper one, usually going to the shower head, tends to be somewhat restricted versus the tub outlet. It is designed for one head, and may not provide enough volume for two. Also, those heads are specified with 60psi...when it's lower, their outlet volume will decrease. If your outlet is the restricted side of the valve, replumbing it to the tub spout outlet might solve your problem, but a booster pump would also help. If things are acceptable with a single head running, it's more likely a volume issue than pressure, but they are related. Heads don't work at optimum unless there's enough volume and the more pressure available, the more volume you can deliver. Less restriction also allows more volume.

The valve has 3 outlets. Top position goes to wall shower. Left outlet goes to overhead shower. Right outlet gets plugged and is used for 6 position setting. (Different option trim kit) The two lower inlets are for 1/2” Pex connections, hot and cold.

 

[Justin Thomas]

I was considering adding a 3/4” PEX hot line directly to this valve tapped off of the 3/4” hot from the Hot water heater.

 

[Justin Thomas]

https://media.deltafaucet.com/SpecSheet/DSP-B-R22000_C.pdf


Spoke with Delta today and their recommendation was to go with an upgraded trim kit, which they claim will up the gallon per minute to each shower head. Their “T17T” series is explained in the bottom right of this document.

 

[LLigetfa]

The valves typically have two outlets, one designed for a tub filler and one for the shower.

The picture inserted by Terry (I presume) shows that a tub filler is not a part of it so there should not be any built-in restriction.

The service pressure is marginal to run two shower heads particularly when one is a rainfall head. The way rainfall heads are designed, they have very little flow restriction. Think of the water coming out the end of a garden hose. Putting your thumb on the end creates a restriction which raises the pressure through the restriction.

While your 1-1/4" service should provide enough volume, the fact it is galvanized is of concern. I've seen lots of galvanized pipe constrict to the size of a pencil. You can test how much volume you have by seeing if running water at another fixture seriously affects the shower. If it does, then up-sizing the line will give you marginal gain. A booster pump at the service entrance may provide the most gain.

 

[Justin Thomas]

The picture inserted by Terry (I presume) shows that a tub filler is not a part of it so there should not be any built-in restriction.

The service pressure is marginal to run two shower heads particularly when one is a rainfall head. The way rainfall heads are designed, they have very little flow restriction. Think of the water coming out the end of a garden hose. Putting your thumb on the end creates a restriction which raises the pressure through the restriction.

While your 1-1/4" service should provide enough volume, the fact it is galvanized is of concern. I've seen lots of galvanized pipe constrict to the size of a pencil. You can test how much volume you have by seeing if running water at another fixture seriously affects the shower. If it does, then up-sizing the line will give you marginal gain. A booster pump at the service entrance may provide the most gain.

Running water at another fixture does not fluctuate the shower pressure. I’m trying to avoid the booster pump and replacing the main from the curb stop at the street. Booster pump will use a lot of electricity. I saw a 1hp Grundfos model that was almost $600. Plus electricity over time. I was also thinking about tapping off the 3/4” hot before the manifold and reduce to the “home run 1/2” hot” to possibly increase pressure?

 

[Reach4]

.I was also thinking about tapping off the 3/4” hot before the manifold and reduce to the “home run 1/2” hot” to possibly increase pressure?

Good move to be able to get good flow from your showerheads.

You could use the existing 1/2 as the return for a recirculation system. There are various ways to do that, but the most energy-efficient is to have a high volume recirc pump that you have turn on for a period before starting your shower. Re-circulation would be more important in a water shortage area.