Our shower loses hot water while the bathtub in the same bathroom remains hot. Have the pipes to the shower lost their insulation or what?

Hi Dereckk... nope, shower has not lost insulation. The shower stem assembly is most likely defective or clogged with debris.

Start by giving us the name on the shower valve... that will help a lot (wonder if it is a SYMMONS?? ). OR see if you can post a picture onto this site (use go advanced at posting area)... between all of us here we can probably identify the tub/shower valve if needed.

I have a list of PDF files that show you how to remove/replace parts.. so see if you can get a name or pic. To me.

Talk soon.. Mark

If by valve you mean the on/off- hot/cold lever (sorry not sure the lingo) then the name's a Delta Monitor.

OK... lets see if these pictures help. I believe your valve looks like the valve on the left.

Shut water to house (at main shutoff by the meter (usually in basement at front of house).. be careful). Then remove handle (a cover lifts off the end of handle to expose screw), then remove face plate (big chrome plate), then pull on chrome collar to slide forward and remove that, then spin the collar nut off (note the position of the piece that is just under the green #1 in picture... that is a temperature limiting collar and needs to be set back to same place), then can simply pull the CARTRIDGE (A in picture) forward and out. There will be springs and rubber seats under that cartridge... leave those be for now.


Now, bring that part to the nearest plumbing supply store and tell them you want a repair kit for the delta monitor... bring them this picture if you want as well... tell them you want the cartridge replacement and the part that is just above #2.

Then go home, replace parts, re-build valve in reverse order, turn water on and test... you should be good to go.

I could just have you replace one part at a time.. or fiddle with cleaning until you find what is wrong... parts in/partsout... parts in/parts out... but go this approach and should be finished first time you do this.

Let me know how it works out.