I have a Kohler Flipside handheld showerhead (K-17493), rated at 2.5 gallons per minute. But the actual flow from the showerhead is under 2 gallons per minute. The problem seems to lie with the showerhead itself: when I remove the showerhead and hose from the shower wall and turn on the water, the flow is much stronger.
I've checked for debris, and it doesn't seem to be a problem. (The showerhead is new.)
I would like to remove or adjust the flow restrictor in the showerhead to permit a stronger flow. But the instructions that I've seen online that apply to other showerheads don't seem to apply to this one — or, at the least, I can't see how those instructions apply to this showerhead.
Here is a picture of the inside of the showerhead:
Many online instructions suggest that an O-ring be removed. In this case, is the O-ring the yellow disc? It is protected by the metal ring above it; is there any danger to breaking that metal ring so that I can remove the yellow disc?
Best Answer
I have a Kohler shower head. Different model but the flow restrictor assembly is likely the same. There's actually a series of parts behind the steel retention ring in your photo. The yellow that you see is the top of a cartridge that contains a spring-loaded nylon stopper (white part in the photo) as well as an orange plastic flow restriction disc. Remove the retention ring, remove the yellow cartridge. In mine, there was also a purple part behind the yellow cartridge which is also removable. Once you've taken all the bits out, you should be able to re-connect the hose and try the pressure again.
In my mixing valve, I also discovered two 'service valves' which control water flow into the mixing valve. I found that in my case, the plumber who installed them had them turned to 1/2 and not full. So my shower head and my rain shower both had very low flow. I turned the service valves to full open which gave me the flow I expected from my rain shower head. I then had to put all the flow restriction parts (yellow cartridge) back into my hand shower because the pressure was uncomfortably high.
Hope this helps!