My shower is killing me to death

I'm a frail, 127 lb. old man of 87. Recently, my daughter had my bathroom remodelled so I'd be "more comfortable." I liked it better the way it was. My first shower almost killed me. To get hot water, I had to turn the handle all the way left which resulted in a stream (of boiling water) that could have put out a forest fire. If I wanted to freeze, all I had to do is turn the handle right. Frankly, I'm not too big on freezing. How can I get out of this without hurting my family's feelings?

Why can't I have a little shut off valve between the pipe that sticks out of the wall and the shower? I could then turn the water down to keep from being stabbed to death by a million laser like pin pricks that came through the little holes. When I tried to adjust the holes bigger, the whole thing came apart and the water from the half inch pipe almost fractured my jaw.

C'mon somebody, save me from more of this. Tell me what I have to do so I don't die before my time. I need to cut the force of that water down. In the old days, all you had to do was turn H or C up or down to control the amount of water you got. If these new showers are progress, ha.

Packy, Packy, Packy,

Somewhere between the leftmost position of the shower valve and the right-most position of the shower valve is a Utopian middle ground known as "warm". I know you can find it without any one's help. You haven't lasted 87 years by being aloof to the real world.

Your shower head can be replaced with one that will be happy to succumb to all your commands and you can also install an in-line shutoff between your current goose neck and shower head if you wish.

Packy:

You should be able to adjust both the temperature and flow rate of your shower. If you have difficulty doing that, there may be something wrong with the shower faucet.

Maybe ask your son or daughter how to use the shower faucet because it might not be working properly.

I failed to mention that that type of shower valve will be full-on when the lever is pulled toward you and the water flow reduced when the lever is moved toward the wall, assuming we are talking about the same gadget. This (if everything is working properly) will control the pressure while the left to right movement of the lever will adjust the hot/cold mixture.:0

Holy mackerel — if Glasgow, Winnipeg, and Nebraska can't diagnose my problem, who can? However, Maybe, my brain, which is flirting with senility, failed to explain the problem properly — let me try again. To advance the dialogue I tried to identify the manufacturer. The company that made the damned product was too ashamed of it to proffer a name or a logo. Further, our plumber, a decent sort, stated immutably that the shower does what showers do, it showers — and well! he added.

Let's do this again. The shower handle does indeed control the temperature from cold through warm to hot — impecably. The problem is that the volume of water at all temperatures, is overwhelming huge except at cold in which instance the deluge of water abates from low to off. From warm on, the handle has no control over movement of water because from tepid, the volume is full blast. Why can't I take a hot shower with water emerging from the shower head in a gentle, soothing way? Indeed, I may want the water to barely flow (but hot) when I'm soaping up. As it is, if I don't want to freeze to death, I must adjust the handle to hot and risk being knocked down.

At the sink where I wash my hands, I adjust the temperature with a single handle that goes east and west. I then adjust the volume of water from a dribble to full steam ahead by moving the handle north and south. In my shower, I get from drizzle to Niagara Fall all at any temperature.

Is it possible to control my shower's volume and temperature by routing the water through my kitchen sink?

Well, Packy may be 87 years old and frail, but it's obvious from his writing that his mind is clear. I'd say it's a safe bet that he's tried doing everything with that faucet that any of us would try doing.

Packy:
Do you know the name of the contractor that renovated the bathroom? If so, you should call him and ask him to come down and check that faucet. Maybe the handle was installed wrong or maybe it wasn't installed correctly, but from what you're saying, you can't control the flow rate out of the faucet, and you should be able to do that easily.

I installed a new anti scald control in my shower and I found that it only took a little loose minerals to jam the anti scald mechanism. I took it apart twice and cleaned it before it finally started operating properly.

Packy I am sympathetic about your dilemma while on the other hand I wish my shower valve assembly worked that well and really can't understand your complaint. Take that sucker out and send it to me.

Some of my best memories in life stem from showers I have taken in various hotels around the country. Lotsa pressure, unlike what we get here on the farm.

Seriously tho...you could buy a little flow control/shut off device at WalMart to be placed between your showers goose neck coming from the wall and your shower head. About four bucks I think. This would let you shut off the water flow while not changing the settings of the main valve. I have one and use it to lather since my shower is so small and confining I can't get away from the spray without shutting it off for a minute.

Gentlemen,

I am happy to announce that amongst us, the tile contractor from Nebraska reigns supreme — he had his finger on the pulse from the outset. Unnerved by his own perspicuity, he failed to mention the handle was responsible. It not only is supposed to turn with or against the clock to regulate temperature, it is designed to go forward and backward to control the flow of water. My fixture appears to be firmly positioned wide open. I called our plumber, and while I failed to evince much enthusiasm from that weary fellow, he did agree to stop by tomorrow to hold my hand

Than k you one and all for your kind words and help. I will be shortly be showering with nuances and full boat as my whim dictates.

Tell him to bring a new "cartridge" with him, sounds like that one is screwed up.

OK, now I am going to go look up the meaning of the word: "perspicuity". Does it have something to do with sweat glands?

Packy said:

It not only is supposed to turn with or against the clock to regulate temperature, it is designed to go forward and backward to control the flow of water.

Click to expand...

Another "Eureka!" moment.

Dear Bud,

Thank god someone's going to look it up, I've been meaning to do it for years.

Thank you for providing me with a new perspective on Nebraskans who have trouble with their showers. It's hard to believe that plumbers are required to put showers out of their misery with a "new "cartridge when an old one would be equally fatal. Be-that-as-it-may, we easterner don't fool around — we shoot the plumber.