Sustainability: Batteries & Solar | Water | Heating
See also: Water usage | Install a town water inlet
Shower Head Extension Intro | Basic extension (v1) | Adjustable extension (v2)
The Plan
Our original shower head extension came about after we installed a town water connection, providing the option for ‘regular’ showers in our wet bathroom.
This worked very well, but we soon found some shortcomings that prompted a re-design…
I like to stand ‘under’ the shower head, and rinse or wash my hair every time I have a shower. My partner prefers to stand ‘next to’ the shower head, and not get her hair wet each time she showers – except on hair washing days!
So, version 2 of the shower head extension involves a sliding (extendable) sleeve, so that we can each have the shower head arranged in our preferred location! (Yeah, I know!)
Making it happen
The manufacturing process is similar to the process used for v1 – cutting PVC pipe to length, then drilling and filing to accommodate the fittings. No need to repeat all the details again here.
The difference with this version is that I have used two pieces of white PVC pressure pipe, which fit snugly inside each other – 32mm (42.3mm OD) for the inside pipe, and 40 mm (42.8 ID) for the outside pipe.
However, the 0.5mm clearance between the two pipes isn’t quite snug enough to prevent unwanted twisting of the pipes with the weight of the shower head fitted to the extended pipe.
To make the pipes a truly snug and stable fit, I fitted a washer to the outside of the inner pipe. This involves creating a groove around the inner pipe to locate the washer. With no access to a lathe to machine a groove, I filed a recess around the outside of the inner pipe (using the edge of a 2nd cut file) and fitted a soft ‘popup drain’ washer into the filed recess. These washers are available at your local plumbing supply shop individually, or in a Fix-A -Tap Assorted Waste Washer kit.
This makes a nice snug fit. I also filed and polished an angle on the inside edge of the outer pipe, to help it slip over the washer.
A dab of HydroSeal tap thread lubricant on the washer gives the whole mechanism a very smooth feel in operation.
Note: A suitable O ring or a trap washer might also do the job, but the O rings and trap washers I tried were too thick for the space between the PVC pipes.
I also drilled the two holes that hold the shower head (top and bottom of outside extension pipe) at an angle, so the head is angled forward a little, rather than sitting vertically as in v1, providing a more user-friendly water stream.
Of course, all the sizes in this drawing are indicative only, and suit our particular environment.
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