No Hot water in Shower


  #1  
Old 01-28-18, 04:44 PM
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No Hot water in Shower

Hi,
My tenant is complaining about no hot water in shower. Shower valve is Delta and it was working fine some time ago. I checked below so far:

1) There is hot water in sink in same bathroom with good pressure.
2) There is hot water in kitchen next to bathroom
3) Apartment is on second floor. It has one bathroom and one kitchen.
All seems to be using same pipe so I do not see any blockage etc. It is using 1/2" Copper pipe.
4) apartment below is getting hot water as well. Bathroom exact below problem bathroom having hot water as well.

So far I have isolated problem with this shower only and nothing was changed in shower. It is existing delta with single handle.

I am looking for hint from experts to troubleshoot issue so I do not end up replacing everything and replace only what needs to be.

Do you think stop limited for hot water in Delta Cartridge is moved ? Can this move by itself with over the period ?

Before I go there next time, I want to have some idea what I am going to troubleshoot since it is rental.
 

Last edited by mamin; 01-28-18 at 05:13 PM. Reason: Second floor
  #2  
Old 01-28-18, 09:36 PM
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Sounds like the shower mixing cartridge is bad. It's for limiting scalding water and occasionally need to be replaced.
 
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Old 01-29-18, 05:05 AM
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The cartridge would be my first guess. Maybe the balancing piston has become jammed with debris.

One time in one of my rentals the problem turned out to be that the hot and cold to the shower were hooked up backwards. The new tenant would just whip the lever over to full hot and never got hot water. After examining the situation I found that turning the lever a little bit to the cold portion would produce hot water. It was a simple matter to go down in the crawl space and swap the pipes.

Another time in a rental I had a T under the bathroom clog. I tried switching the cartridge and the problem remained. A big clue was that the flow of water slowed to a trickle when the faucet was moved to the full hot position. As confirmation I turned off the water and removed the guts of the valve. Then I put two fingers over the two inlet holes into the valve body while a helper went out and briefly turned the water back on. I could only feel water coming from one of the inlet holes into the valve body. Since everything else in the house worked tracking the clog down was relatively easy since it was only the bit leading to the shower.
 
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Old 01-29-18, 05:35 AM
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I am just curious, how would active T would get clogged ? If Bathroom is in working and being used on a daily basis ?

I will try to play around cartridge, though I am not as confident and skilled as you are.

One more question: How do I find out model of Shower Cartridge I need ?. I do not see anywhere model number for Shower Head.
 

Last edited by mamin; 01-29-18 at 05:54 AM.
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Old 01-29-18, 08:38 AM
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If Bathroom is in working and being used on a daily basis ?
Like everything today, parts get cheaper and things just go bad.

Take old one to good hardware store and hopefully you can match it to a replacement!
 
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Old 01-29-18, 09:11 AM
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I have had luck freeing up cartridges that have stuck due to mineral deposits by soaking it in a solution of muriatic acid. Unfortunately dirt, sand or bits of metal can't be dissolved away so you if cant rinse them out you may need a new cartridge.

As for how the T got clogged. I don't have a good answer. I assume the last tenant wasn't using that shower so sediment built up in the side portion of the T that didn't get regular water flow.
 
  #7  
Old 02-05-18, 06:16 PM
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I wanted to give a update on my situation. I went back to my property last Saturday and opened up Delta Handle. Apparently Rotational Limit Stop was Off from position. I played around with Rotational Limit Stop and it started working. It seems that tenant have done something which made Rotational Limit Stop to change position Handle was loose.

It was very simple fix but took me a while to figure out issue is in handle at Rotational Limit Stop since it was in working on a daily basis. i did not think Tenant(she) could can open it but it seems her dad who was visiting him may have done something.

Anyways, It is fixed. I save probably $200 from plumber.

Thank you guys for your great advice.
 
 

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