Moen digital shower valve feed question

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Rod St John

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Hello Folks,
I am renovating my ensuite bathroom and will be installing a digital shower valve in the new walk in shower I'm building. Here is my question... This unit has 3/4" feeds for the hot and cold. ( and 4 1/2" outlets for shower/hand shower and body sprays). My house was plumbed with 1/2" wirsbo. I have removed a jacuzzi tub, so I have 1/2" feeds for that unit that are no longer used. I also have 1/2" feeds for the previous shower that was also removed. Soooo.... what I'm considering is getting a manifold or connector for the hot and cold water that will allow me to put both hot 1/2" feeds together and have a 3/4" outlet to run to my new shower valve. I would do the same for the cold water feeds. Basically have 2 - 1/2" feeds running into 1 - 3/4" feed. I realize that the pressure would not change, however, will this give me the volume that the 3/4" inlet feed requires ?

Thoughts ?

Thanks
Rod
 

Rod St John

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Hello Folks,
I am renovating my ensuite bathroom and will be installing a digital shower valve in the new walk in shower I'm building. Here is my question... This unit has 3/4" feeds for the hot and cold. ( and 4 1/2" outlets for shower/hand shower and body sprays). My house was plumbed with 1/2" wirsbo. I have removed a jacuzzi tub, so I have 1/2" feeds for that unit that are no longer used. I also have 1/2" feeds for the previous shower that was also removed. Soooo.... what I'm considering is getting a manifold or connector for the hot and cold water that will allow me to put both hot 1/2" feeds together and have a 3/4" outlet to run to my new shower valve. I would do the same for the cold water feeds. Basically have 2 - 1/2" feeds running into 1 - 3/4" feed. I realize that the pressure would not change, however, will this give me the volume that the 3/4" inlet feed requires ?

Thoughts ?

Thanks
Rod
Hello Folks,
Here is a pic of what I'm thinking of doing to merge the 2 hot and 2 cold 1/2" lines into a single 3/4" inlet. Do you think that this would be sufficient ?

Thanks

Rod
 

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Terry

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I think you're better off using pushfit connectors on the supply side.
I would not solder directly to the supply inlets. Using tees just a bit further down is a good idea though.

 

Rod St John

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I think you're better off using pushfit connectors on the supply side.
I would not solder directly to the supply inlets. Using tees just a bit further down is a good idea though.

Hi Terry, Thanks for the reply. My valve didn't come with the push on type fittings like the one in the video you shared. I took a snapshot from the video of the installation for the U-Moen valve.. they indicate that fittings need to be sweated on... Do you think I should use a sharkbite instead of sweating it on ?

Thanks

Rod
 

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Terry

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I think for this valve I would Sharkbite it. The control also should be accessible for working on later too. I did have to replace one recently.

io-digital-04.jpg



io-digital-03.jpg



io-digital-01.jpg
 

Jadnashua

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Depending on how your home is plumbed, combining two 1/2" lines may not buy you much of anything. IF they come out of a manifold that was fed by a larger line, then yes. If they branch off the same supply line, and it's not larger, no. Those multi-outlet devices almost beg for copper with it's larger ID. Even one 3/4" pex is not capable of flowing what a 3/4" copper line is. Smaller lines have more friction, so it can affect dynamic water pressure. Pex is better at that than say copper, but the more fittings you use on pex, the less flow you'll get.
 

Rod St John

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Thanks for the info Gents... Terry - I'll make the connection to my "T" setup with a sharkbite… I haven't used them before and was a bit leary, however, it sounds like they hold up well. Nice set up with the body sprays, etc. I hope that the unit lasted quite a while before you had to replace it.. I was a little apprehensive by going with the digital setup, however, we will see !! I still find it hard to believe the cost of this stuff !! you would think it was gold. Going with the manual valves, etc would not have saved me much in the grand scheme of things, so I opted to go with the high tech !
Jadnashua - Thanks also for the info.. I've attached a pic of my manifold setup.. it has 3/4" into the manifold and then 1/2" Wirsbo to each application.. this is how I ended up with 2 hots and 2 colds when I removed the shower and jacuzzi tub... Hopefully this setup will work as it would be a massive PITA to try and get dedicated 3/4" to feed the unit..
I'm sort of regretting going with the wirsbo when I built the house since it is a big challenge to find an expander when I need to make some changes.. no one rents them and I don't want to spend a 3-5 hundred on an expander that I will only use this one time !!
 

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Jadnashua

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They do make a manual expander, but you'll get a good workout.
 
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