Anyone used this place before?
www.h-i-e.co.uk/acatalog/Aqualisa_Cartridges_Only.html
Seem to be a good £40 cheaper than getting the part straight from Aqualisa themselves.
Our temperature and pressure has gone a bit dicky in the pwoer shower the last couple of days and, since this was the cause last time, I'm assuming the cartridge needs replacement. Is it par for the course for them to only last 2 or 3 years?
Another question which occurs is - how do you choose whether to have a manual or thermostatic cartridge? The last time this happened, I got a plumber to sort it out, and on pulling a non-thermostatic cartridge out of the shower body he was appalled, and declared it dangerous. He seemed to think that someone had removed the thermostatic part as a bodge job - maybe he wasn't aware of the manual ones available.
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Can't answer the question, but I have an Aqualisa quartz - does that need one of these and how would I know when to change it?
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I'd say if it is working fine, there's no need to replace anything.
Because the plumber bought the cartridge last time, I have no comeback even if 2 years is too soon to need to replace again - no receipt to prove when I bought it.
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Hi, Bazza
Yes, I have used h-i-e, and delivery and parts were fine - the cartridge appeared identical to the one I had bought earlier from Aqualisa.
We suffer from 3 x Aqalisa Aquarian showers that were all installed when the house was built in 1998. Over the last 2 years, all have started to leak. I'm not sure what causes the leaks but it may be connected with the fact that we hadn't noticed the instruction in the manual to move the controls across their full range every so often. It may be possible that longevity is affected by the hardness of the local water. Coincidentally my neighbour, whose house was built at the same time as ours, has also experienced similar shower problems at the same time as us.
BTW, our Aquarians are the 96-99 models and are manual - i've never felt that we've been missing anything by not having the 'thermostatic' type. I think the two types look more or less the same; I can't remember how I found out which was which but now I keep the old ones in a box with reminders of type/date/supplier etc scrawled on the box (lifetime of experience!).
Fixing the first one was OK; the problem is in knowing if the supply water pipes are pushed in properly at the back without being able to actually see what's doing on. It seems a pretty stupid design that they are only a push fit. I haven't managed to achieve a seal on the second one, despite using silicon grease - hence the appearance of water marks on the ceiling. Fortunately, we have a few showers to choose from so we'll be getting a plumber round when we've saved up enough pennies!
Last edited by: Haywain on Wed 24 Feb 10 at 14:29
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Cheers Haywain, I've made the order.
I also was not aware of the control movement instruction, so maybe the lack of longevity is my own fault. On the other hand, I think our shower pre-dates yours - around 1990, so maybe it could do with replacement in the long term. Still, hopefully this fixing should outlast our ownership of the house!
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Aqualisa replacement cartridge - smokie
