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Author:
mrDIY (CA)
Good morning everyone. I am having an issue in my townhouse where we share a water heater at a central location in the complex. To my unit outside of my walls are a hot and cold water supply line with valves. Down stairs I have a kitchen sink with a single handle faucet and a bathroom with a double handle faucet. Upstairs the shower is a single handle and the sink is a double handle. Hot water has low pressure at all these areas.
Now as of lately our hot water is not as strong as it used to be but the cold water is just fine. We find ourselves having cold showers. So we have to have the sink water turned on (cold) to at least get a good warm shower. Now sometimes I also find that the cold water upstairs bathroom comes out warm.
From what I am thinking it could be multiple issues from what I am reading and trying to fix.
1. Hot water line coming in has some sort of build up restricting flow.
2. Hot water is mixing with cold water some where (I believe it to be the shower moen shower cartridge).
Any suggestions on step by step trouble shooting would be great. IE which to tackle first, where to start from and tools to use.
Thank you
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Author:
stuckinlodi (MO)
Are your neighbors in the same complex having any problems with their hot water?
Turning on the cold water elsewhere in the house slightly reduces the cold water coming to your shower, so there is less cold mixing with the hot, resulting in a warmer shower. Some shower controls have an "anti-scald" feature, yours may be adjustable to a hotter temperature until you get this overall problem fixed. If you can post a photo of your shower control maybe we can identify it. Normally you just remove the outer knob, there will be a temp adjust ring or slider you move to get a higher temp.
If everyone in the complex is having hot water problems then maintenance needs to look at the central water heating source (water heater) and find out what is going on. Also, make sure those valves you mentioned are turned fully ON.
Edited 2 times.
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Author:
mrDIY (CA)
The neighbors pressure is fine. It is just ours. I will be able to take a photo after work today. Thank you for your reply stuckinlodi.
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