Mira 88 Shower Valve Repair

[Bikertov]

The shower I have on A Frayed Know it an old Mira 88, that were quite popular back in the day on these Brooms and Sheerlines too I think.

However, it was not working very well, with the temperature and flow knobs being very stiff.

On reading up on this, the consensus was to replace all the seals etc, so I bought a service kit and new white knobs, and stripped it down thinking it would be an easy job ... but Oh No !

Having taken the internals home to clean up before fitting the new seals etc, after cleaning up the brass outer housing ("cover assembly") I noticed a massive crack in it, so when it was all reassembled it just spouted water everywhere. And of course, there are no isolating valves fitted, so I had to turn all the water off.

Having spoken to the workshop at Jones, they said to repair the crack (by silver soldering) would not be worth it and probably wouldn't last long, and the replacement part is not cheap. So for now, they have capped off the hot and cold feed so at least I can have the water back on again for now.

I could try and replace the shower with a whole new unit, but that will be fiddly and costly and I would probably have to get the workshop to do it, as plumbing is not a strong point of mine. As I already bought the service kit and knobs, I want to try and keep this one going if I can.

So my question is ... does anyone have an old Mira 88 unit they are no longer using, that I could have the cover assembly from ?

[Lulu]

We had exactly the same one on Luna with the same issues. Graham disconnected it and replaced it with a modern shower bar from Screwfix for £45 . We are going to buy the same one for Mermaid  

[ExSurveyor]

I had one on my calypso, I replaced it with a new one as a previous repair had failed.

I did the same on Whitey but beware that if you lose flow it is probably due to the feed filter being blocked with chalk. That was an easy fix fortunately.

[Mouldy]

1 hour ago, Bikertov said:

The shower I have on A Frayed Know it an old Mira 88, that were quite popular back in the day on these Brooms and Sheerlines too I think.

However, it was not working very well, with the temperature and flow knobs being very stiff.

On reading up on this, the consensus was to replace all the seals etc, so I bought a service kit and new white knobs, and stripped it down thinking it would be an easy job ... but Oh No !

Having taken the internals home to clean up before fitting the new seals etc, after cleaning up the brass outer housing ("cover assembly") I noticed a massive crack in it, so when it was all reassembled it just spouted water everywhere. And of course, there are no isolating valves fitted, so I had to turn all the water off.

Having spoken to the workshop at Jones, they said to repair the crack (by silver soldering) would not be worth it and probably wouldn't last long, and the replacement part is not cheap. So for now, they have capped off the hot and cold feed so at least I can have the water back on again for now.

I could try and replace the shower with a whole new unit, but that will be fiddly and costly and I would probably have to get the workshop to do it, as plumbing is not a strong point of mine. As I already bought the service kit and knobs, I want to try and keep this one going if I can.

So my question is ... does anyone have an old Mira 88 unit they are no longer using, that I could have the cover assembly from ?

You remember our conversation from a few months ago . . . . . you know, when I said ‘you don’t buy a boat, you buy a hole in the water to throw money into.’  

[mikeyboy1966]

I presume you have a hot water cylinder?

id go for a normal domestic mixer shower,then you won’t be reliant on shore power.

your boat seems to be set up to be quite reliant on a 240 v supply .

there are no power supplies outside of the marinas on the Ouse.

our broom 30 is all geared for basic mooring and it works quite well but one can get a bit paranoid about battery charge levels😆

[Bikertov]

6 hours ago, mikeyboy1966 said:

I presume you have a hot water cylinder?

Yes (I think). There is a calorifier heated by the engine, and a backup immersion heater element running off 240V mains

I wouldn't quite say the boat is reliant on 240V, but there certainly isn't enough/any native 12V / 5V (USB) capacity. That is something I need to address over the coming months.

The fridge is 12V, but has the 240V-24V converter an extra

There is also an inverter, so for now when away from the marina, and with the lack of 240V "in the wild" on the Ouse, I can use mains chargers for any gadgets. I will just need to make sure the battery banks get a recharge from the engine.

And on that note, there are 5 batteries in 3 banks - 1 engine/starter, 2 house and 2 for the inverter. That is, until I do a major rewire and combine the house and inverter batteries. 

[annv]

Hi A solar panel works well to keep batteries topped up. John

[Bikertov]

1 minute ago, annv said:

Hi A solar panel works well to keep batteries topped up. John

Yes, that is on the wish list for future upgrades. 

Even if it is a portable panel for when out and about

When I have the essential electrical work done this year (new fusing and busbars at a minimum) I will allow for a solar charge converter to be added too. 

[SteveO]

We had a Mira shower mixer on Windmill Lady. It didn't work well and so I swapped it for a £35 bar mixer from Ebay, which has worked well for the last 14 years and gives excellent temperature control.

[Karizma]

8 hours ago, Bikertov said:

When I have the essential electrical work done this year (new fusing and busbars at a minimum) ......

looking forward to reading about this so we can compare notes ........... enjoy

[Smoggy]

A lot of rechargeable things can be charged off 12v or 5v (usb) if you make up your own lead, check the output of the charger plug.

Converting 12v to 240v generates heat, Converting back to low voltage dc generates heat, that's a double power wastage to produce something you already had.

I charge my karcher window vac from usb and it does fine.

[Vaughan]

Sorry to come late to this discussion, but you might find any domestic type of shower mixer will do, as well as two separate taps.  The lever type mixers are not great on boats as they can easily freeze in winter - which is probably what happened to yours.

The secret with having a good shower is constant water pressure from the pump.  This is never a problem in a house but it is in a boat!

With both shower taps on, the water pump must run continuously and not keep cutting out.

We have a thread somewhere in this section about how to adjust a pump pressure switch and expansion chamber.  If not, I will gladly describe it again if you wish.

I also agree with annv about solar panels.  A very useful addition, which will greatly prolong battery life.

[Vaughan]

I have just found the thread - it is called "on board water pressure help", from May 2022.

[Smoggy]

My triton bar mixer works well with constant stable temperature,  best advice is mount with thermostatic end higher than outlet and fit valves to the inlets, that way you isolate it and remove hose for winter and leave the tap open so it drains and still use the boat with the water system working.

Thermostatic is the way to go on a boat as you use less water trying to get the temperature right. 

Mine is at an angle due to space where the water pipes are, they don't need to be level.

As an add on...

For mounting a mixer bar b&q do an adaptor Bush with 3/4 one end and 5/8 other end, 5/8 end is tapped 1/2 inside so can take a hosetail,  turn off the hexagon and use a backnut and the mixer can fit direct to a bulkhead, the mounting kits are for houses and make the bar stand out too far, I did have to make a pair of plastic inserts to stop the rubber seal distorting but fibre washers would have probably done.

[Bikertov]

So is the general consensus NOT to repair the Mira ?

My reasoning to keep it is that I am £50 down on the service kit etc that can't be returned now, and replacement brass cover assembly would be about £90 and I should be running again.

No need to blank off old holes or make new ones, and no changes to the plumbing

If I ditch the Mira for a new valve I would probably end up having to replumb (a new skill to learn for me) and patch existing holes and make new ones (more new skills). Otherwise a good few £100 for someone to do it for me. 

[Mouldy]

1 hour ago, Bikertov said:

So is the general consensus NOT to repair the Mira ?

My reasoning to keep it is that I am £50 down on the service kit etc that can't be returned now, and replacement brass cover assembly would be about £90 and I should be running again.

No need to blank off old holes or make new ones, and no changes to the plumbing

If I ditch the Mira for a new valve I would probably end up having to replumb (a new skill to learn for me) and patch existing holes and make new ones (more new skills). Otherwise a good few £100 for someone to do it for me. 

Danny, always remember B O A T.  Bring Out Another Thousand.  Always worth remembering that old and much used adage.  
 

Just enjoy the boat, get it sorted out and think of the good times to come, when it’s done (which, frankly, it never will be, ‘cos there’s always something else to do).

No good being the richest man in the graveyard! 👍

Good luck, mate!

[grendel]

if you go down that route BT, then the next time it breaks, replace it with a cheap mixer head

[SteveO]

On 30/03/2024 at 13:33, Bikertov said:

So is the general consensus NOT to repair the Mira ?

My reasoning to keep it is that I am £50 down on the service kit etc that can't be returned now, and replacement brass cover assembly would be about £90 and I should be running again.

No need to blank off old holes or make new ones, and no changes to the plumbing

If I ditch the Mira for a new valve I would probably end up having to replumb (a new skill to learn for me) and patch existing holes and make new ones (more new skills). Otherwise a good few £100 for someone to do it for me. 

My bar mixer came with a pair of cranked connectors to cope with variations in the distance between the hot and cold water taps. I don't know if I was lucky but with these I was able to use the connections to the existing plumbing and the existing holes in the heads wall.