Little hot water from the shower faucet

Hello. Our shower has a Delta faucet with a single handle. This was an upgrade from a tub to a tub and shower so the diverter is not on the spout but just below the handle. Recently we've experienced a drop in water pressure as you call for more hot water. This happens whether the water is going thru the shower head or the spout. For a laugh I took the head off and soaked it in vinegar. Didn't make a difference not that I expected it to. All the valves in the basement are open. The sink gets good hot water pressure. Seems like it's the valve. I'm not much on plumbing. How difficult is it to replace a valve like this? Or could it be something else? Any thoughts?? Thanks.

Reply to
davex1001
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Reply to
bob kater

Reply to
davex1001

Reply to
bob kater

Good morning. Well I took the knob off of the faucet abd this is what I found. There is a crome dome shaped cover. Under that the, valve is a ball and socket. The ball has two sets of three holes. I couldn't find anything in it that might block the water. Inside the socket there were three holes like a bowling ball. The larger one is at the bottom. The other two are smaller and have rubber ring washers. Again I didn't see anything in there. I poked around in there with a pipe cleaner. Still nothing. Once I reassmbled everything I still had little hot water pressure. I'm thinking it can be one of two things. Something with the diverter though I don't know what. Or it's the pipes. They are old galvanized pipes. House was built in 1924. Pressure is fine at the sink which is supplied by the same pipes. But I'm thinking the sink doesn't call for the same amount of water. Am I screwed?? Thanks...

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Reply to
ddeboer

I just had a similar issue with the hot water in the bathroom sink. Shower was OK. I messed around for a few hours trying to backflush the galvanized pipe, replaced the 4" nipple that collapsed from rust, etc. I ended up having to replace the pipe back to the water heater with copper. This was a 1950s vintage house and you could not see light through a 4" section of pipe it was so corroded.

It is probably the galvanized. If you have already checked the faucet and other easy things, it is probably time to replace some pipe, especially at 80 years old.

Reply to
tev9999

You just checked the LEAST likely cause. Now go back and check the anti-scald spool. There are also "screw" adjustments for balancing hot and cold water volume. They are located in the horizontal part of the casting, as is the anti-scald chamber.

CWM

Reply to
Charlie Morgan

Reply to
dave

Reply to
dave

From what you described originally, you have the bog standard Delta anti-scald shower fixture. If you remove the plastic knob, and the large round 6" bezel behind it, (two screws) you will have access to the whole enchilada. To the left of center will be a short valve stem with a slot in the end for a screwdriver. That's one of the water valves, on the right of center will be another of the same thing. One is hot water and the other is cold. On the right side there is also a "bulge" that has a screw-in cap. Inside that cap is the anti-scald spool that gets stuck. Remove the cap, extract the spool and drop it in a cup of vinegar for an hour. It needs to be able to move about completely freely in the chamber.

CWM

Reply to
Charlie Morgan

Reply to
bob kater

hi i was having the low hot water problem just today and found this page , after tearing apart my delta apart i eventually found the problem was not in the cartridge at all but a slug of calcium / lime that had built up at the back end of the "hot" hole that the cartridge fits into "top right on mine" after some deft work with a drywall screw and some tweesers i got it out and did a 10 second flush with the cartridge out "carefull here have someone hold the shower curtain to the wall lest you end up with a very wet bathroom"

Reply to
guitarslingerca

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