Bristan Sonique problems

[Nita]

Hi Guys,

I own a B & B near Bath which I gutted last year and am now up and running. I had 7 Bristan Sonique shower valves fitted therefore around April/May 2010. I opened in June and by October had noticed several sticky valves. I chose them to be idiot proof for my guests eg. One lever action to mix hot and cold and increase decrease pressure. Brilliant I thought. I used the same plumbing/heating firm I've used for many years and they are brilliant.

The valves in the turned off position is "6 o'clock" and full on "9 o'clock". 3 showers became worse and worse becoming harder and harder to operate until one guest called me to say she could not turn it off. By then a lot of them were off in the 4 to 5 o'clock position and feeling all gritty. Went back to Plumbase and cut a long story short they supplied 3 new valves and 3 repair kits. Plumbers back and replaced the 3 worse ones and I kept the repair kits as the others did not seem too bad. One of the replaced new ones will now hardly turn off. Bristan sent their subbied out repair firm to look into the problem but all he said was "come to replace a shower cartridge love". Works for now but others are going down. Been on again to Bristan as have my plumbing firm and Plumbase continually to get them out to look so they sent same firm with another dam kit but I told them not to bother but to report back to Bristan and get someone out to investigate. First subbied out guy said pressure was too high but valve is supposed to work between o.5 bar and 5 bar and we're in that range. I also rang my plumbers when the bloke arrived and thought he could pass me off and handed phone to my fitters. I'm still waiting for Bristan to send their troubleshooter but that was 2 weeks ago and they said he was very busy (I bet he is!!!) I'm about to annoy them again and ring plus write to them at head office.

Can anyone else enlighten me please before the B & B season kicks into action very shortly.

Thanks guys
Nita

Has anyone else come across the valve doing same as mine. I've had 3 replaced 2 cartridge replacements and 2 more now playing up?

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

Hi there

Is it limescale?

Was this system flushed prior to fitting?

Are the pressure balanced?

 

[Nita]

Hi Tom

Can't be limescale as the pressurised system was new last year and I'm using softened water to the showers. pretty sure the pressure is balanced as I heard them talking about that. If it wasn't balanced could it have caused that gritty feel. When the showers were removed and on the floor ready to go back for inspection, I could tell which ones came out of which rooms by the "gritty spots". When the subby bloke came and put in the brass repair kit I asked to see old one. The brass seemed undamaged and perfectly unpitted and no grit or flux either.

Am I the only one out here with Sonique problems????

Thanks Nita

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

i would err to it being an install error due to the age and number of products

have the filters been fitted correctly? was the system flushed prior to fitting?

 

[Nita]

I doubt if it was flushed Tom as it was new system with only a fraction of old pipework re-used. I brought this up with my plumbing team and asked if flux etc could be blocking it but as they pointed out if the filters supplied by Bristan are fitted (which they are) then Bristan must be happy that any micro sized piece of flux etc that passes through the filter and is not trapped by it should be small enough to filter through.

As I write Bristan called back. Soniques have a problem they have admitted. They are replacing all of them with Rio. Not what I wanted, I wanted one action idiot proof shower but at least they'll work for now. Will post again when I get actual date and fittings. This will probably be of interest to you plumbers struggling to find the problem.

Nita

 

[stuartmeldrum]

Hi there,

I too have a Sonique shower and have had exactly the same problem with the shower, though I haven't yet contacted Bristan for advice - I wanted to check with you that they are indeed replacing the showers before I get fobbed off with a replacement part.

Have they replaced your showers yet?

 

[Gray0689]

Nita thanks that is an interesting post please keep us informed
Thanks
G

 

[Nita]

Hi Stuart and Gray,

Yep, I had to be very patient and persistent. They know about the problems and the valves are definitely faulty. They have replaced all 7 valves with Bristan Rio which means the outer case could stay in place (thus not disturbing the plumbing) and simply the cartridge was replaced. This is still very annoying as I had chosen a one action valve(The Sonique did pressure and balanced hot a cold with one movement) but now the Rio is an on/off for pressure with a separate hot and cold so it's not what I wanted. They sent out their "trouble shooter" who agreed there was a major problem with these valves. They have promised to replace them later once they have discovered the problem in the manufacturing process.

It's definitely not a plumbing fault so breath easy!

If you get stuck guys email me on [email protected]

Regards Nita

 

[stuartmeldrum]

thanks Nita.

I might get in contact with you if I don't hear from Bristan soon!

Stuart

 

[michelle69]

I also have trouble with my Bristan Sonique shower which was fitted in May 2011, within 2 weeks I was unable to turn the shower off as the control had gone stiff. My plumber came out and replaced the shower with an identical model and we now have the problem again that we cannot turn the shower off. The shower is also making a humming noise. I have contacted Bristan and they have suggested my pressure is to high although my plumber informs me that it is only 3 bars. The shower is designed to work for pressure between 0.5 and 5 bars. Bristan suggested that I pay to get a pressure reducing valve fitted.

My plumber has an identical problem with another Sonique shower he fitted recently for another customer.

I contacted Bristan again yesterday to request an engineers visit which I can only get if I fax a copy of my receipt and give them my card details to have £125 authorised to be deducted it they find that the problem is not a manufacturing fault. I have mentioned to them Nita's case and they advised me that the fault is not with the shower but with the cartridge (which is very amusing as the cartridge forms a large part of the shower). Despite sending all that has been asked for I have received no phone call from them to book an appointment. I will update my thread as soon as I hear anything.

Michelle

 

[tackleburger]

I stopped fitting bristan mixers a few years ago after having horredous problems with a valve. This particular one had two pistons on springs for controling flow just a nightmare to sort out. I bet that is the same problem you are having.

 

[tinafrancis]

Hi

My problem with this shower is that it starts to run fine and then cuts out after about 20 seconds and then after around 30 seconds starts up again. Does anyone know what could be causing this to happen?

Thanks