New showerhead won't drain

October 13, 2015 11:06 AM

We have a tub/shower with a spigot-knob (diverter) you pull up to turn the shower on. The knob doesn't usually drop when you turn the water off, but if you tap it down, the residual water/pressure in the shower pipes would drain out the spigot. After replacing our shower head, that is no longer the case. This leads to very slow drips as the water drains out. How can I fix this ?

We've replaced several shower heads before with no problem like this. It's a detachable head shower.

I have a workaround where we loosen the shower head from its base, and then all the water flows out the spigot. This works, but it's annoying. (Moreso if we forget, and hear drip drip drip all night as it slowly drains out). The previous shower head didn't have this problem.

Generic spigot like ours: diverter.

Generic shower head looks like ours (I loosen where the hose goes into the base of the shower, not on the head): shower head

posted by k5.user to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

So you are saying that after you are finished showering, turn off the water and push down the diverter knob, the water still doesn't drain out the spigot?
posted by mmascolino at 11:13 AM on October 13, 2015

Response by poster: exactly, yes.
posted by k5.user at 11:14 AM on October 13, 2015

You new shower head isn't letting air into the pipes to allow the water to drain out. This is likely just the design of the shower head and I doubt there is anything you can do about it.

Can you just leave the diverter up? There is no particular reason that you need to drain this section of pipe after showering.
posted by ssg at 11:44 AM on October 13, 2015

Could it be the low-flow plug in the showerhead restricting air from entering from outside? They can be removed.
posted by rhizome at 12:01 PM on October 13, 2015

Did your last showerhead have a hand-held feature like this one?

I suspect water retained in the hanging loop of hose just below the shower head is keeping the air from getting into the pipes.

You could try letting the shower head hang all the way down as you open the diverter, or hold it up in such a way that there aren't any dips.
posted by jamjam at 2:03 PM on October 13, 2015

Take the showerhead off, pry out the restrictor plate and throw it away with extreme prejudice, replace the showerhead. Bonus: enjoy a better shower experience.
posted by disconnect at 6:25 AM on October 14, 2015

As a simple fix, what happens if you push down the diverter before turning off the water?
posted by Night_owl at 9:48 AM on October 14, 2015 [1 favorite]