The Shower Head Fiasco
Lately we seem to be doing more work on the pinball machine than the house, but things were in good balance for a change. We had a bit of a breakdown in the shower. There had been a small leak in the valve for weeks, causing a constant drip, and on Saturday morning the shower head self-destructed, spewing water most places but down. So it was off to Lowe’s (after visiting a local pinball place) to get a new shower head.
We chose a fairly fancy model, a $50 Ondine. Installed it, fixed the aforementioned valve leak with a rather simple “seat and springs” set, and admired our leak-less work. My first plumbing job that didn’t result in a pesky leak!
On Sunday morning we discovered that our fancy new shower head did not meet our specifications for a good shower. While its predecessor had delivered a strong spray (if a bit leaky with time), the new one was satisfyingly broad (one of the reasons we bought it) and shockingly limp, both in terms of water flow* and in the ability of its swivel mount to support its own weight.
So it was back to Lowe’s to return it on Tuesday night. The return was effortless, and we returned to the showerheads, where we contemplated Moen vs Waterpik. I opted for the Moen, because it seemed to me that Moen made good faucets, and Waterpik conjured images of toothbrushes.
The Moen could hold its own weight up, and it seemed to have a better spray, but it still didn’t feel like much. RAWWWRRR!!!
And so we went back to Lowe’s. Really, it was a true Groundhog Day: dinner, again, at Roly Poly (Jessica had the Santa Fe Chicken again), then Lowe’s, installation, and American Idol. The returns clerk at Lowe’s looked at us funny when we set the shower head down on his counter. “Didn’t you just return something?” “Yes, yesterday,” we said. He shook his head and processed the return.
This time, however, we had done some research. The problem, of course, was the flow regulator, which is in compliance with ASME A112.18. A112.18 mandates a water flow of no more than 2.5 Gallons Per Minute (GPM). The Moen model, disappointingly, seemed to have no method for removing the flow regulator. The Waterpik, however, has documentation on removing the regulator! (* We found out this evening that Ondine does too, on their website. It still had a limp swivel mount.)
The Waterpik, now installed, has passed the “hand in the shower” test (named by Jessica) with flying colors, and we’re looking forward to giving it a full evaluation tomorrow. At freakin’ six a.m.