Is there such a thing or am I imagining it?

[dave21478]

Ok, this has been an ongoing niggle for a few years, but its beginning to bug me enough now to the point where I might actually do something to remedy it.

When I built the bathroom here, someone* made a chuff of the plumbing. There are the standard fittings sticking out of the wall for shower head/tap and under the sink for the taps there. However the hot and cold pipes are plumbed the wrong way round.

No issue for the sink, the flexi hose tails can be swapped to give the "correct" way round on the sink tap, but the shower is a problem. Its a thermostatic mixer and it will not work if the plumbing is the wrong way round.

I can solve this by swapping over the feeds to the whole bathroom in a service space behind the bathroom where the pipes are accessible. This means the tap works properly, but I then have a luxurious hot-flush toilet.

I could fit a normal non thermostatic tap, but dont want to if I can avoid it.

I tried dismantling the tap to see if it could be rebuild the other way round, but its not possible with mine. The guy in Bricodepot got angry when he saw me dismantling a different model in the aisle to see if it could be swapped over.

The PROPER solution means ripping out tiles, plaster etc and swapping the feeds to the shower inside the cavity wall, but thats not going to happen.

A possible solution involves a way to swap over the hot and cold feeds as they exit the wall.

Have I seen, or did I imagine, such a thing?....a chrome finished horizontal unit that fits to the tap fittings and has internal waterways that swap the feeds over, then the normal tap fits onto it, spaced a further couple of inches away from the wall.

[HoneySuckleDreams]

so you want to reverse the thermostatic valve

http://www.nyrpcorp.com/shower-valve-thermostatic-cartridges

there must be a euro site you can find them but to be honest it's late and I can't be arsed to search for a French site or even a UK one, so I suggest you give them  a call.

and good luck, as my recent dealings with the U.S.of A have not been positive...computer says no..."we don't have the facility to post to France"... as if it's difficult writing a French address on an envelope

[sid]

Grohe do mitigeurs where the inputs are reversible. Expensive mind you!

Just as an example, this one http://www.grohe.fr/fr_fr/automatic-2000-compact-mitigeur-thermostatique-1-2-34364000.html

If you click on the informations techniques further down the page there are details in English, and it says on page 5 of 14 "Reversed union (hot on right cold on left). Replace thermoelement (T), see replacement parts fold-out page II, ref. No.: 47 282 (1/2”)"

So it can be done, but at what price?

Good luck!

[pomme]

When I had a "professional" French plumber do some work in the 1990s the feed in the kitchen was the "wrong" way round. He did it because it was easier as he only needed to install the hot feed. With ordinary mixer taps it hasn't mattered too much, except to visitors.

But I'm sure I've seen at least one thermostatic unit in a hotel mounted what I thought was upside down - I wonder why?

From a quick search it seems it might be possible to swap the valves of a Grohe 1000 - but you need to check with HansGrohe.

(edited so it should now be the last post - see Later posts not always showing as the last posting)

[sid]

[quote user="pomme"]From a quick search it seems it might be possible to swap the valves of a Grohe 1000 - but you need to check with HansGrohe. (edited so it should now be the last post - see Later posts not always showing as the last posting)[/quote]

If you look at my earlier post you'll see a link to the mounting instructions on the Grohe site. It is definitely possible to reverse some of the Grohe mixers; just a matter of choosing one of a suitable style and fits the budget. These are high quality items, and you see them most frequently in hotels where durability is important.

This one is now the last post! [Www]  Mine showed as the last post previously simply because I had edited the text. [geek]