I have a strange problem with my hot water in a house that is new to me (constructed in 1997). When I turn on the hot water in my bathroom sink, it gets very hot. When I turn on the hot water in my shower it only gets warm. When I turn on the sink and the shower, the sink is cold, and the shower is hot.

I've noticed this behavior in other parts of the house too.

I think there is a recirculation pump on the system that is currently unplugged from the electric outlet.

Any ideas?

Plug in the recirculation pump and see if it runs. If it does, check to see if what you described continues. If it does not then I would suspect faulty check valves in the recirculation system.

Thanks for the reply... I'm just now getting to working on the problem.

I don't think the pump runs when plugged in... not sure if it's a timer issue or pump issue. I played with the timer, and the switch on the pump and couldn't get it to turn on... or at least never heard any sound that suggested it turning on.

When plugged in, the pump gets pretty hot just sitting (not running), and the pipes around it are cold.

If I had a bad recirculation pump could it cause the strange water temp issues?

Couple of pictures of what I'm dealing with...

http://i.imgur.com/oXnv9gf.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/GVGHJGN.jpg