Ask Me Help Desk - No water in shower

Have a house built in 2000, moved here 2004. Recently the downstairs shower has very little hot water. I do not have a water heater. I have a reservor that is attached to the furnace. It gets heated and then sits until it is used. All other sinks have very hot water. This shower doesn't. I have tried to follow the lines in the basement and everything looks good, the shut offs are all on. I've taken the faucet apart and everything looks good there too. I need some serious help, as it's getting cold here in New England and I love hot showers. I need to get an idea of what is wrong and how much it should cost to fix it. Thanks for any help.

R. Joe

My suggestion to you is to take the faucet apart and use a flashlight to shine into the faucet to see if you can see any kind of obstruction in the faucet. If this is a two handle faucet you can take only the hot stem out and have someone help you to do what I am about to tell you. After you have turned off the hot water valve that goes to the faucet, take the handle and stem out of the faucet, now hold a heavy towel in front of the hot water side of the faucet. As you do this have your helper to open up the valve that you turned off, leave it of for maybe five seconds. See if you have some trash on the towel after the water is turned off. Put the faucet back together and turn the water back on and test for pressure.
Be very careful holding the towel in front of the faucet because the water may be very hot if it does flush something out of the hot water line. If the water gets hotter than you can stand then just drop the towel and get out of the room, the water is only going to be on for five seconds or so anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by regularjoe

Have a house built in 2000, moved here 2004. Recently the downstairs shower has very little hot water. I do not have a water heater. I have a reservor that is attached to the furnace. It gets heated and then sits until it is used. All otehr sinks have very hot water. This shower doesn't. I have tried to follow the lines in the basement and everything looks good, the shut offs are all on. I've taken the faucet apart and everything looks good there too. I need some serious help, as it's getting cold here in New England and I love hot showers. I need to get an idea of what is wrong and how much it should cost to fix it. Thanks for any help.

R. Joe

Given the newness of the house, you most likely have a pressure balanced valve, it could be that the balancing spool inside of the valve is in need of replacement.

Ok, the knob that I turn to get the water is a "Symmons Model A". It is a single faucet too. Is this a big project (something I should hire a plumber) or is this something I could do by myself even though I am utterly useless when it comes to tools and mechanical know how?

This could be a good starter project for somebody new to home owning. You have several good people here to walk you through things like this. Your next step might be to do your own search and try to find diagrams of your specific faucet.

I am only a homeowner without as much experience as some others here. I do have the experience of figuring things out myself and repairing them. I may better be able to tell you when a task that sounds easy to a professional will be too much for you. I also know ways of getting around a lack of specialized tools and skills. In this case, go for it.

There are many tasks the average home owner can do. I am also in charge of the maintenance at my church. I found a note yesterday wanting to know if I can turn down the temperature on a hot water heater or should they call the comercial heating and cooling contractor we use for large jobs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by regularjoe

Ok, the knob that I turn to get the water is a "Symmons Model A". It is a single faucet too. Is this a big project (something I should hire a plumber) or is this something I could do by myself even though I am utterly useless when it comes to tools and mechanical know how?

Well, that's a call only you can make.

Tom provided a schematic of your valve in a different post yesterday, take a look at it and decide if this is something you want to tackle.

If you decide to take it on, Letmetellu's advice about removing the cartridge and flushing out the valve body will apply.

If you do take this on, make sure you put a washcloth or rag over the tub drain in case a springloaded or greasy part gets away from you; Having to fish a small part out of the drain isn't going to help your frustration level one bit.