Can anyone help to identify this shower thermostatic cartridge?

[cjexpat]

seems to be a popular sport on this forum! 🙂

Same old story, bought a house a year ago, the vertical concealed shower unit has started to malfunction totally - no cold water at all entering the mix. No branding anywhere on shower, and no paperwork from previous owners. Would like to look at replacing the cartridge. Have also posted the pics on shower doctor. Any help much appreciated!

 

[moonlight]

Have you checked the filters on the incoming supplies? If you send a picture to shower doctor. They might be able to help identify.
Identify my Shower

 

[cjexpat]

Thanks Moonlight - by "filters" do you just mean the valves controlling hot/cold supply to this shower? If so, yes, checked them - the supply to the sink in the same bathroom is working fine. Already posted pics to shower doctor- waiting to hear from them this week hopefully. In the meantime any other help really appreciated! Thanks for your reply.

 

[Welder]

Or an alternative to Shower Doctors is National Shower Spares. They all know their stuff 🙂

 

[cjexpat]

Thanks YorkshireDave/. I just got a reply on this from National Shower Spares in fact! They can't identify it and think it might be "manufactured in China" (which TBH I'd have assumed pretty much all of them were ....?) 🙁 .... starting to think this may be a lost cause 🙁🙁

 

[JCplumb]

I have seen a couple of similar showers to yours that were made by TC Bathrooms. They went out of business a good few years ago so spares are pretty much non existant. You can occasionally find old stock of spares but you'll be lucky if it is a TC Bathrooms one.
Difficult to say though without seeing the whole valve (behind the chrome plate) or seeing it with the handles on. Here's a couple of images showing the TC Trend showers, does it look like this when assembled?

 

[moonlight]

Do you know who supplied it? They may know who the manufacter is.
I wish all makers put some markings on them.

I don't know yours but several have filters nside the unit. I wouldn't like to persume.

 

[cjexpat]

JCplumb - yes, when assembled the unit looks exactly like the one on the left (with the round handles).

Attaching a better photo of the full valve. Does this help determine if it's TC Bathrooms? If so, any idea where I might go for the spare

Also - I forgot to mention that I removed the thin silver collar that you can at the 10cm point on my original photo - see also new photo attached of it sitting in my hand. This collar was stopping the full movement of the central shaft in the cylinder - you couldn't get the handle to turn at all on the unit - but it's since removing it that the cold water has disappeared totally from the mix (despite the fact that full movement has returned to the shaft). Could this be the cause? (apologies in advance - this might be a completely stupid question)

moonlight - no idea who supplied it - I have sent an email to the company where the seller of my house works to try and see if he can help me (if i can track him down!) but it's a long shot

 

[cjexpat]

And another question (which i really should have started with!!!)

I have been assuming all along that I need EXACTLY the same part to replace the faulty cartridge - but is this necessarily true?

As it happens, I intend to get this shower ripped out and replaced in the next few months (it can't happen straight away for other reasons) - I'd be happy to live with a temporary solution in the meantime.

Would other cartridges offer the same threading and cylinder dimensions (I assume the fit within the valve has to be absolutely snug), and work perfectly well, even if the handle on the front was different, or did not fit perfectly (could even be operated with a wrench if necessary)?

Is this what is meant by cartridge "types"?

Been looking for the answers to the above on the main shower suppliers sites but they are frustratingly unclear.

Your help is hugely appreciated !!! thanks !!

 

[Welder]

JC. If it was TC then they have risen like the proverbial Phoenix from the ashes ... The new company is called Cubico and they have recently expanded into a new unit in Morley in Leeds.
FWIW, it looks to me more like a Hudson Reed. However, I could not be sure so kept quiet 😡

 

[moonlight]

As you don't have any cold water flow. It's more likely to be on the cold water in. Where does the cold supply come from, is this a pumped shower or is the shower supplied from a combi?

 

[Chalked]

Looks very similar to crosswater
Thermostatic Cartridge for Crosswater CP0000250 | GP0000250

 

[cjexpat]

Thanks everyone for your help - truly appreciated. To answer everyone in turn:

YorkshireDave - thanks - have scoured web for Cubico / Hudson Reed spares but still can't find a match. ShowerDoctor came back to me on Sunday, definitely identifying it as a Victoria Plumb part, but "imported from China", and they can't supply it.

Moonlight - cold water supply is via a pump - I had indeed closed off supply on the pipes into / out of the pump prior to dismantling the unit, but the valves on the supply pipes are definitely open again (cold water flows to another shower powered off the same pulp) and I have not touched anything on the casing / valves on the shower being worked on. Don't think I'm overlooking anything - ?

Chalked - yes thanks - I had come across this Crosswater part and I agree, it's definitely the closest thing I have come across that compares to my part. The only difference seems to be in the shaft at the top - which is longer on my part than on the Crosswater.

HOWEVER - am I right in thinking that, if the main barrel (with the mesh filters) matches my part exactly, it should work, even if the handle does not fit properly on the front? If so I could well go for this one.

 

[JCplumb]

JC. If it was TC then they have risen like the proverbial Phoenix from the ashes . The new company is called Cubico and they have recently expanded into a new unit in Morley in Leeds.
FWIW, it looks to me more like a Hudson Reed. However, I could not be sure so kept quiet 😡

Really? That's good to know. Any idea if they do spares for TC stuff?
The TC shower where I replaced the thermo valve, I ended up buying a full shower and just swapping out the valve as it was tiled in like this one and worked out cheaper than replacing the whole shower.

 

[Welder]

In that case OP try twitter. There's an importer of this generic chinese stuff on there. Unf cant recall their handle. You CANNOT know if its the same cart until you can compare complete dimension so buy at your own risk.

Cubico do do some replacements for the old TC as they use the same suppliers.

 

[Rogerf]

Looks like a cross water. Go to shower doc site which may help

 

[JCplumb]

If you can't identify it exactly you may end up wasting a lot of time and/or money so changing the shower for a known brand that will be easy to maintain/repair in the future may be the best option.
You'll be chipping at some tiles but if needed you can always get a larger chromed/stainless steel panel to cover the hole.
There was a post on here a year or so ago where that had been done with good results.

 

[cjexpat]

Hi everyone - just to update on this thread.

I seem to have got the old cartridge functioning again after a long soak in descaler (vinegar). It's not controlling the temperature well but I've left it in a position which is OK temperature wise and i'm just not touching it. This will be my temporary fix until I get the whole thing ripped out in a few months (see previous posts)

I'm pretty sure it's a crosswater and the close relative I have found on Shower doctor would work ... if the thing fails again i will buy a replacement under the 14 day return guarantee. They have told me i can send it back even if I've had to install and use it o test it.

And if my complete re-fitting of the bathroom can't go ahead, I'll follow your advice JCPlumb and try and go for a replacement of the shower in situ.

Thanks again everyone this was a real help - almost makes this kind of thing enjoyable ..... almost 🙂

Cheers!