Somewhere in a previous post we spoke of Circe's interior cosmetics suffering from 'benign neglect' so, in keeping with our plans to reverse that situation, we decided to start our refurbishment with the shower & head area. In another post we also described the first part of the process, which was installation of a Tecma electric head with macerator, new holding tank and new plumbing. This post describes the installation of new shower head and mixer plus new shower curtain and track.
The original shower head and hose were dirty, clogged and generally ugly. They were first into the trash.
The mixer was also the 1982 original, a Price-Pfister unit with major corrosion and missing knobs. It went into the trash right behind the shower head and hose!
We checked out all the usual suspects for a replacement shower head and mixer and looked at literally hundreds of different designs. There were lots of really fancy units at some of the home improvement stores but we decided their prices were crazy for what we needed. So, our next resource was the major RV parts suppliers where we found a great, direct replacement for the mixer together with a high efficiency, low consumption shower head at PPL, for less than a third the price of a comparable household or 'marine' unit.
Oxygenics low-flow, high pressure shower head and Utopia bulkhead mount mixer.
The new shower assembly was almost a direct swap for the original but with better much performance and reduced water consumption. We had a bit of a struggle hooking up the water supply lines to the half-inch NPS threads on the mixer unit, which were molded nylon rather than machined metal, but after a bit of 'encouragement' everything went together correctly.
The only big problem we had was with the shower head holder. It was a suction pad deal, which was good because it could be moved around to suit different height people, but it wasn't solid on the hull liner and kept coming loose or falling off! It will be replaced by a screw-on version.
The shower curtain was shot and the curtain rail was rough so.....into the dumpster they went. We found a good replacement shower rail at Recmar. It was cheap and can be bent to almost any shape you want.
We went to Bed Bath and Beyond for a new curtain, a squeegee and a toilet roll holder to keep the curtain out of the way. Simple idea and it works well.
New shower head, squeegee and toilet roll holder adapted to keep the shower curtain tidy.
The only big problem we had was with the shower head holder. It was a suction pad deal, which was good because it could be moved around to suit different height people, but it wasn't solid on the hull liner and kept coming loose or falling off! It will be replaced by a screw-on version.
The shower curtain was shot and the curtain rail was rough so.....into the dumpster they went. We found a good replacement shower rail at Recmar. It was cheap and can be bent to almost any shape you want.
We went to Bed Bath and Beyond for a new curtain, a squeegee and a toilet roll holder to keep the curtain out of the way. Simple idea and it works well.
New shower head, squeegee and toilet roll holder adapted to keep the shower curtain tidy.
We also fitted a 'soap-up' valve which will help save water and add to the overall economy of the unit.
The new shower works really well and the venturi design really does seem to do more with less water. The jet is quite powerful with low consumption, very economical. We think it also looks pretty sharp too!
An old friend, with the emphasis on Old, remarked how it was reminiscent of the heat ray head on the Martian War Machines in the 1953 War of The Worlds movie.......anyone else remember back that far?
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