slow hot water flow

[C & E]

This slow was installed about one year ago. Within the past 5 days the hot water flow has gradually decreased by 2/3. I have checked the aerator - all's well there. I'm getting a bit pinched for time and wish to clear up some of the suggestions from my search of this group.

Would my time be better spent pulling the stem from the supply line to that hot water faucet or dismatling the hot water spigot itself? Normally I would jutt pick one a nd go for it but when I get home I'll need to tear into this and then hit the road... oh, you know how it goes. All suggestions welcome - I'm just tearing out my few remaining hairs here!

TIA, Chuck

[C & E]

For the sake of futute searchers here's what was found. First of all, my time line disintegrated almost as fast as my water flow so I had to call the plumber. He quickly found that the dip tube had disintegrated and the small, scale-like pieces were clogging the valves. He also found a very small pinhole leak on the back side of the so, it's time to replace it. His explanaton was that nearly every tank producer used the same source for the diptubes through the mid 90's and that they began to break down. The 'scale' that I have been finding in the aerators is actually flaking plastic which finds its way into every nook and cranny. Flushing the stems was all that was needed as well as removing the diptube while waiting for the new tank in a couple of days.

Good luck, Chuck