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    Turnerdood's Avatar
    Turnerdood Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #1

    Jan 19, 2007, 01:32 PM
    Hot water turns off in shower when someone else uses water
    The water temperature changes drastically when taking a shower when someone else turns on another faucet or flushes the toilet. Is there any way to prevent this?

    Thanks.
    speedball1's Avatar
    speedball1 Posts: 29,301, Reputation: 1939
    Eternal Plumber
    		  
    #2

    Jan 19, 2007, 04:20 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by Turnerdood
    The water temperature changes drastically when taking a shower when someone else turns on another faucet or flushes the toilet. Is there any way to prevent this?

    Thanks.
    Yes there is! But you're not going to like it. You problem is caused by a lack of water volume in your system. You're in the shower and someone flushes the john. This makes a draw on the cold water that the system hasn't the capacity to cover so it diverts cold water from your shower and you end up getting parboiled by shower water that is no longer tempered.
    The solution is to repipe the house using larger mains and having not over three fixtures on a 1/2" branch. Regards, Tom
    Texas Tom's Avatar
    Texas Tom Posts: 46, Reputation: 4
    Junior Member
    		  
    #3

    Jan 19, 2007, 04:42 PM
    Your problem could be caused by low hot water pressure. A few months ago, I had low hot water pressure throughout the house. Water use at other locations - flush toilet, dishwasher, clothes washer, etc - decreased hot water in a shower.

    The culprit - severe corrosion inside the nipple pipe at the outlet of the hot water heater greatly reduced the hot water pressure.

    Cheers, Tom
    justforfun's Avatar
    justforfun Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #4

    Mar 1, 2007, 03:57 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by Texas Tom
    Your problem could be caused by low hot water pressure. A few months ago, I had low hot water pressure throughout the house. Water use at other locations - flush toilet, dishwasher, clothes washer, etc - decreased hot water in a shower.

    The culprit - severe corrosion inside the nipple pipe at the outlet of the hot water heater greatly reduced the hot water pressure.

    Cheers, Tom

    Hello thanks for the information. I too have a low HOT Water Pressure throughout the house and the cold seems to be fine. I inspected my Hot water heater and noticed there is a cold and hot pipe above, but don't seem to recognized the Nipple Pipe:( There is a on and off switch on the cold but straight through with the hot. My house is over 13 years old and the low water pressure just started about 3 months ago.

    PLEASE HELP,
    Rudy
    My email: [email protected]
    Ken 297's Avatar
    Ken 297 Posts: 112, Reputation: 24
    Junior Member
    		  
    #5

    Mar 1, 2007, 04:39 PM
    A pressure equalizer valve in the shower will work as well.
    It keeps the temperature at a constant temp.
    The pressure will drop but if the hot water pressure drops the cold will as well and vice-versa. You won't get scalded or frozen when another tap is turned on.
    If the problem just started I would agree it would be better to find the problem in the hot tank.
    doug238's Avatar
    doug238 Posts: 1,560, Reputation: 62
    Ultra Member
    		  
    #6

    Mar 1, 2007, 10:40 PM
    On some water heaters a sediment buildup collects at the port of the water heater on the hot side. To remove this, simply turn water and power off at water heater and bleed water down and disconnect pipe at hot port and knock the sediment loose at the hot port and reinstall piping. You also may want to check to see if your water heater valve is completely open.
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