Clogged hot water line to shower
I'm fairly mechanically inclined, so this one has me for a loop. The shower worked fine the day (and years) prior. Next morning, I go to turn on the shower (single handle Moen) and the water only trickled out the hot side. The cold side has the normal pressure, hot side, a very small flow (trickle?). Ahhh Ha, I think I know this one. I need a new cartridge. Go to Home Depot, get the new cartridge, pull out old one, put in new one and... same thing, trickle of hot water. I turn off water to house again, pull new cartridge and inspect valve. Valve is a simple hot side, left side, shower riser (no pressure regulator, stop valve, etc). I look down the cartridge opening and it looks clean. I even gently take a brass hanger and snake it down through the hot water opening for about 3-4 inches, to see if there is an obstruction. Nothing. I then turn the main water back on for a few seconds to flush any debris (i.e. water shoots through open valve causing a little bit of a mess). I put the new cartridge back in and... again, no hot water. Hot water pressure is good to the sink in that bathroom and every other area of the house.
So, I believe there is a clog somewhere in the section of pipe that goes to the shower. It can't be something that built up over time or it would have gotten slower over time. Is there a device to "snake" a 1/2 inch brass pipe like a drain auger? Anything else I should consider? Thank you.