How to Remove Pressure Gauges from Shower Fixtures

Hey, hey, everyone!  Great news.  We fixed the hot water issue and have been using the shower!  LOVE. IT.  Obviously, we still have a lot of work to finish the entire bathroom but other than the glass door being installed, the shower is done!

Today, I want to share with you how I removed the pressure gauges from our new shower fixtures.

Our home has amazing water pressure.  It was almost painful if the water was turned up too high with our old shower heads.  When we started our master bathroom makeover, one of our concerns was losing that great water pressure.  All new water fixtures, sink faucets, bath faucets and shower heads, all come with pressure gauges that restricts water flow. If you look at the description of any new faucet or fixture, you will see a number followed by GPM (Gallons Per Minute).  It is about saving water and money which is nice, but so is having a great shower.

I decided to take the pressure gauge out of the standard shower head and the hand held shower head.  I did not remove the gauge in the rain shower head because it is meant to be softer.  Also, I had never seen that shower head in action so I wanted to hook it up as is first.  It does let plenty of water through so for now, I am leaving the gauge.  SIDE NOTE: In Texas (might be different in other states), the plumber will not remove the pressure gauge for you...at least they are not supposed to.  I believe, correct me if I am wrong, I don't think they can even install it if it doesn't have the pressure gauges.  You have to do it yourself.  Here's how.

SIDE NOTE:  Your shower head may have more than one gauge.  They can vary in size and colors.  Be sure to save your washers!  They will go back in after the gauge is taken out.

This is not hard but you do have to be aggressive.  It is crazy to be ripping something out of your new, expensive shower head but it is worth it.

These are the tools I used.

• Drill with small drill bit
• Needle nose pliers or clamp scissors (not sure if that is what they are called)

First, take the shower head out of the packaging and look at the connection.  You should see a washer and a plastic insert (your washer might already be out and placed separately in the packaging).  Take out the washer and put it somewhere safe.

In most fixtures, the plastic gauge will be under the washer.  Mine is purple in this shower head but is white in the hand held.


At this point you may be able to get it out with the needle nose pliers.  Just clamp onto to anything you can grab and pull out.  My gauge was stubborn and didn't have much to grab onto so I drilled a hole in the center of it.

This allowed me to get my clamps under it a little to have more to grab onto.  It pulled out pretty easy after I drilled the hole.

Check to make sure there isn't a second gauge in the fixture.

Once the plastic gauge is out, replace the washer.  That's it!  You are done.

Here is what the other hand held shower head looked like.

There were two pressure gauges in this shower head.

Once you have removed the gauges and replaced the washers, you are ready to install.  I will have an installation tips & tricks post next week.

Happy Thursday!