I have never posted anything before but I don't know where else to turn. I just moved into this apt on the 4th. I have only warm water in the shower for about 5-10 minutes. We have an electric 29 gallon whirlpool water heater. We called the landlord and he came out yesterday sayinbg the electrical was broken so he bought us a brand new heater so I know this isn't the problem. We have scolding hot water in both the bathroom and kitchen sink that seems to never run out but the shower is still just warm and goes away fast. The water pours out so fast I don't believe its clogged but I noticed that if you turn the knob to hot all the way it actually turns cold. Also and our last heater (the orginal) one tube was cold one was hot. Which I thought to be normal but now both those tubes are hot. Can anyone please help me. I was thinking that maybe the knob in the shower isn't positioned right. It almost seems like the cold water is on more so than the hot and even when I turn only to the hot position I'm still getting cold water through. I don't think my andlord will cooperate anymore and help with this and I am a mother of 2 and self employed and can't afford to fix it myself. Thank you so much for anyone that can sort though this mess of nonsense and help me.

Nicki:)

Hello Nicki,

To tell you the truth it is your landlord's resposibilty to fix it for you just ask him that you don't have hot water.

It looks like you have problem with the faucet catridge, can you tell us a little more about you faucet, the brand and the model number, is a single handle or what, we will help you to fix your problem, if can't get the model number, a picture will help too, but first try your landlord, Good luck.

John

It is a mixing knob. There is no visible brand or anything on it. I don't have any way to take a picture tonight but I can try to get one soon. The landlord wasn't too happy to replace the water heater he complained the entire time he was installing it. I have tod him about other things that need fixing and he has yet to acknowledge them so I am pretty sure I'm on my own with this if I want this year to go by peacefully anyway. I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not but the water when you turn the knob completely to hot on the shower actually makes it colder and the water gets a little more pressure as if it is somehow turning the cold on more. Thank you for your help so far.

I agree with John, it's the crabby fellas responsibility to fix it. You likely have a partially plugged mixing valve and the LL fancies himself a plumber so tell him what the problem is but don't offer a fix. Let him figure out how to fix or let him call a pro.

Water heater may have been installed incorrectly. Just a thought. If water heater was hooked up "backward" (cold supply into hot outlet and hot outlet hooked to cold supply), then you will get hot water for a few minutes, but it will turn cold after that. Can you tell me if the other faucets in the house are working as they should(cold to the right, and hot to the left?) Need to know more.

However, it is the landlords responsabiliy,as afaroo stated, there is no reason for him not to take care of this. If he won't fix the problem, I would suggest looking for other rentals immediately. Look closey at your contract. If he won't keep the rental livable, then you shouldn't pay rent until the problem is fixed.

I found the brand it is moen. I unscrewed the knob to turn the water on to see if there was a leak or anything that could maybe be seen as a problem and when I did the piece in the center that stablizes the screw snapped off and now I think I will have to replace the entire fixture because it turns without adjusting the water now.

The water works fine in the rest of the house the ony other thing is the bathroom sink gets scaldin ghot compared to the rest but I assume because its within a foot of the water heater. I don't know if they hooked it up right or not I know that the old water heater had the one metal tube on the right as very cold and the left was hot now they are both hot all the time.

Thought... isn't the red painted knob on the plumbing suppost to indicate hot water? Because that is the cold water

Since you have a moen, you won't have to replace whole fixture, just the part that broke. Yes red usually indicates hot, but without being there to see your piping, I can't say for sure. Post a pic of the vavle and the part that broke, and we will try to help you get at least that fixed.

I was using a pair of needle nosed pliers to turn on the shower just now since the knob is busted and realized that when you pull the pliers slightly toward the left (not twisting them just leanging) the water gets hot like it should. Does that mean that the valve is bad?

That means you have a bad rubber seal in the cartidige and that cartridge would be replaced FREE to the OWNER. I'd have to say you stuck your foot into something now because this is exactly why we were telling you to have the LL fix it. Now you broke his property and you are not a plumber. We can still help but I was disappointed to see you jumped in without all the facts. Warranty (http://csi.moen.com/warranty.cfm?brand=moen) and also try the tutorial for cartridge removal. Installation Help / Animated Tutorial - Installing the Moen 1225 / 1200 Cartridge (http://www.moen.com/consumersupport/installation/moen0133/moen0133.cfm)

Sounds like you need to replace cartridge.. lets see a pic, really would make this easier.

You have a moen. This means that complete valve will most likely not have to be replaced.

Answer me this,, does your fuacet turn on by pulling handle out, and then water temp is achieved by turning clockwise and counter clockwise,, or does your faucet turn on by just turning the knob counterclockwise?

This is exactly what I was afraid of and asked you to get with your landlord to fix it for you; I still suggest contacting your landlord and asking him/her to fix it for you if not then Follow Ballenger and Mygirlsdad instructions for replacing the cartridge, it will be nice if you can post a picture of your faucet, Thanks.

John

Sounds like you WANT to fix this yourself. Yes its kind of fun fixing things. But when the things don't belong to you, it will only end in disaster.

You may be thinking that fixing this yourself will make your landlord look favorably upon you,, guess again. If you fix it, you will have spent your own time and money, and the landlord will say, great job(just words). If you mess it up, he will say, its your problem now, and if it isn't fixed right away, you lose deposit, and may even be kicked out. Funny how these things work isn't it?

I was using the plier to be able to turn the shower on. Since it is a pull knob and I havent;t replaced the plastic cap yet I have to use the pliers to turn it on. When I was doing this is whenI noticed if you lean the pliers in different directions the water temperature changes. I would love for my landlord to fix it. I have enough things to deal with already but when I contacted him he basically called me a spoiled white girl. He said since it is a 29 gal water heater it won't get very hot just warm. I replied that was BS it just means that there is less water to get hot. He doesn't seem to understand english very well nor does he try to. I talked to my step father and he is willing to come out and look at it but he isn't a plumber by anymeans. I will be able to take pictures today I think. As soon as I do I will get them on here. Thanks for all your help so far in this matter.

Nicki

You have the easiest fuacet in the world to work on. Please clarify, when you say you lean the plier, do you mean you are rotating the stem clockwise and counter clockwise? I really wish I was there to look at this, I could most likely fix it within ten minutes(with the right parts). Lets see that pic. And hopefully we can explain what parts you will need and how to replace them.

Have you explored the tutorials I gave you in post 11? I agree, Moen is a homeowners friend when it comes to parts and installation.