Stupid question… install shower mixer upside down?

[Del-inquent]

Yes this is probably a stupid question but I’m second guessing myself here…

 

old shower mixer (very, very old) has hot on right, cold on left.

 

new mixer has hot on left, cold on right.

 

Plumbing access is minimal and would mean a lot of work. New mixer is fully symmetrical and has a cover plate that means in theory I can just stick in straight in, as long as it is mounted upside down.

 

Am I missing any obvious issues with doing that?!

[Nickfromwales]

3 minutes ago, Del-inquent said:

Yes this is probably a stupid question but I’m second guessing myself here…

 

old shower mixer (very, very old) has hot on right, cold on left.

 

new mixer has hot on left, cold on right.

 

Plumbing access is minimal and would mean a lot of work. New mixer is fully symmetrical and has a cover plate that means in theory I can just stick in straight in, as long as it is mounted upside down.

 

Am I missing any obvious issues with doing that?!

The control handles are sometimes restrictive of doing so.

 

Are these rotary dials, or levers?

 

Also, you’ll either mount the cover plate the ‘right’ way, or have the text inverted. 

[Del-inquent]

7 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

The control handles are sometimes restrictive of doing so.

 

Are these rotary dials, or levers?

 

Also, you’ll either mount the cover plate the ‘right’ way, or have the text inverted. 

Centre is rotary, above and below are levers but all clear of any obstructions. 

The plate can be rotated back the correct way judging by the technical drawings so that at least isn't an issue. 

As long as there isn't anything else I'm overlooking think I'll just go for it and see what happens! It'll save a load of demolition and upheaval. 

[gaz_moose]

I think it would give weird results and be hard to get a temperature from. on a different house i had a mixer cartridge that was dying and when you flushed a toilet it would cause the shower head to drip a decent amount of water ( about a mug) as the cold was sucking from the hot side. So i wonder if it would cause some kind of issue that way. I have heard of bathroom fitters getting the supplies mixed up and having issues but cant remember the issues. 

[Del-inquent]

14 hours ago, gaz_moose said:

I think it would give weird results and be hard to get a temperature from. on a different house i had a mixer cartridge that was dying and when you flushed a toilet it would cause the shower head to drip a decent amount of water ( about a mug) as the cold was sucking from the hot side. So i wonder if it would cause some kind of issue that way. I have heard of bathroom fitters getting the supplies mixed up and having issues but cant remember the issues. 

Interesting, that's the sort of issue I was wondering if it could cause but couldn't think how it would. I know that if you get the hot and cold feeds connected the wrong way round it gives a lot of issues 🤣

I'm glad I didn't just crack on with it though as I think I have potentially found a solution that will allow it to go in as intended without massive upheaval. Possibly. Not going to be the neatest solution and I have no doubt a plumber would slap me round the head if they saw the potential fix, but if it works...

 

Edited August 10 by Del-inquent

[marshian]

I have a thermostatic mixer shower running on hot and cold gravity feed (boosted by a pump)

 

It's plumbed the wrong way round "Hot goes to cold" and "cold goes to hot" the result is to get a cooler shower you turn the temp knob clockwise and to get a hotter shower anti-clockwise - I will one day re-plumb it but meantime it's just me and Mrs Alien that use it and we rarely adjust the temp anyway - it works fine (It annoys me that I got it wrong a lot mind)

[gaz_moose]

if you are going to buy a new mixer anyway then give it a try.

[Temp]

With some mixers if you accidentally connect them incorrectly they won't work at all, with others you can just swap the internals around, no need to re plumb. Check your new one.