can i use a 3-way shower diverter backwards?

[jusluv2ski]

can a person use a 3 way shower diverter backwards? will flow be affected or restricted at all?

it may sound dumb, but here is my reason.

I have another post here ("2 way thermostatic control for tile shower?") Basically i am looking for a way to leave the thermostatic control in the shower, and leave it "on". Then have 2 on/off valves, one in the shower and one outside the shower. so it would work like a 3 way light switch. when one is off, the other can turn it on and vice versa. That way you can turn the water on from outside the shower, to avoid the cold water initially. and turn it back off when you are done showering. If i can use a 3way diverter backwards without issue, i could use two 3-way diverters(one inside and one outside the shower) and accomplish this. It would basically use settings 1 and 2. setting 3 on either one would turn the water on no matter what. see attached..

thoughts?

 

[johnjh2o]

If you leave the valve body on and turn off the shower head from a valve leading to the head the hot and cold water will pass through the valve body and temper the water throughout the home. It would work but you must turn off the valve body after each use.

John

 

[will_i_am_1]

I had thought up this exact same thing and have been working on getting all of the parts together to accomplish this. Did it work?

One concern I had was the shower valve handle being outside of the shower AND the valve being turned around backward. What I did was found a motorized mixing valve that was power open/power closed (no solenoid) and hooked it up to 24v power supply and a 3 way switch to operate it. That way I wasn't running the valve backward and it could be controlled by a simple switch.

Would like to know if yours worked and if you have had an issues with it, especially using a diverter as a cut-off valve.

Thanks.