my shower head popped off a few weeks ago. sooo i bought a new one & put it on. so simple. BUT...ever since, i turn on the shower, the water never gets hot. so i took the new shower head off & turned on the water, & it got hot. put the shower head back on & it got hot...Next day, turned it on & no hot water. Took the shower head off & hot water. It's random...sometimes hot with shower head, sometimes not. But EVERY time, if i take the shower head off, I get hot water.
Details: house is less than 10 years old, fixture is single handle, the one that gets hotter the further you turn it. The sink right next to the shower has hot water, while the shower just runs freezing. Never had a single problem till I replaced the shower head.
Grateful for the simple solution that i KNOW is out there.

What kind of water heater do you have? Tankless? Do you get cold water coming out when shower valve is set for hot?

No it's not tankless. Yes, I can turn the handle to full hot & still get only cold coming out. UNLESS i take the shower head off. Then its fine.



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short of a tankless heater not reaching the minimum flow rate to operate, the only other possibility is a restriction of the hot water line before the shower, a cross connection before the shower, and very bad luck. I suggest changing the shower head to one with a less restrictive flow. If this is a condo, you may be using someone else's tankless heater and not your own water supply...

when the shower is running cold, do you get hot water at the sink?

I hate when that happens. What brand of Show Valve do you have??? What brand of water heater do you have?? Is this a house or apartment ??

This might help us to help you.
Best Wishes

Shower valve is delta.I'll post pic when I get home. Waterheater is traditional tank gas. It's a house. It was seriously all good till I replaced the shower head. Crazy right? The replacement head is very very close in style to the one that came off.

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are the flex lines on that heater pinched? I can't see because it is dark in the picture but if your supply is restricted there and you have a cross connection allowing cold into the hot while water is flowing due to dynamic pressure losses on the hot side, that *might* explain it.

A picture of the top of the heater is of little benefit. Give us one of the bottom area, or better yet, back up a ways so we can see the entire heater, incluing the pipes above it.



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Hmm...ok I'll have a look, but would that allow every thing else in the house to get hot? That particular shower is the only thing in the house that's affected. So grateful for all the ideas! You guys / girls are awesome!



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for what