No hot water on main and 2nd floor -PLEASE HELP

[CTguy84]

Hi everyone I NEED IMMEDIATE HELP 🤬🤔

Approx 3 days ago while taking my early morning shower with water temp hot as normal (also stayed hot with prolonged use) the water went cold then got warm and fluctuated + - couple degrees never getting hot again. I checked all water faucets on 2nd and main floor and none of them get hot only warm. In my fully finished basement the water gets very hot as normal. Here are some details about my home:

-built 2002

-private well water

-Main and upstairs living quarters approx 3775 sqft.

-4 bedroom 2 full bath upstairs

-5 rooms + powder room on main floor

-finished basement is approm 1750 sqaure feet with 1 bedroom with full bath, 3 additional room + half bath.

-Maintenance room is unfinished with oil tank, air handler for main floor of house, and boiler/furnace (dont know difference) I will be posting pictures unit.

-I was told by a friend to check the units temp guage with no water running then with water running. Read slightly under 170 then had my wife turn on upstairs bathtub on full hot. Watched the guage drop relatively quick. Unit kicked on at 159 degrees and took approx 6 min to reach 180 degrees and shut off. The temp difference is set at 170 high and 150 low w/ 10 degree variance. I have a Beckett AFG model# EM-135 which is original from 2002. I hope I provided enough details (not like original lost post) for you professionals to give me some ideas on where to start looking. I am pretty handy so let's get into this! Pictures are attached. I appreciate any and all input and suggestions!! Thank you for your time and knowledge because this is one area I dont know anything about. If anyone needs particular pics please let me know and i will post.

[Peter]

Hey CTguy84,

Not to be snarky about it, but you admit that "this is one area I dont know anything about" after describing the features of what sound like a high value home. I can't avoid assuming that you can afford to call a plumber?

[trader_4]

Idk, this is weird. If you have volume and hot water in the basement, but volume and tepid water upstairs, the only thing I can think of is some mixing valve upstairs in a shower or similar is allowing cold water to crossover to hot. Try turning off cold water going upstairs and see what happens with hot then. On the boiler the hot water for faucets is coming from one of the copper pipes in the front. The other copper pipe is cold water going in to be heated. The larger steel pipes are for heating the house.

[micky]

I'm guessing he plans to call a plumber but wants guidance in advance, so he doesn't get cheated.

My friend who has a cheap house in a marginal n'hood had a problem with not enough hot water at the shower and the plumber wanted to replace the pipes to the shower. It's been 2 years and I forget what I thought it was, was sure it was, but it didnt' need new pipes. (Plus he would have messed up the really nice tile job the bathroom has. Original from the

40's or 50's but not one of those absurd colors they used for a while.

[TimR]

This is a tricky one. If it were just one shower I would have a suggestion but two floors is stranger. Either hot water isn't getting up there or cold water is cross connected and overpowering it.

We ran into something similar at work in a gym shower, but it was only one area. It turned out the pressure in the cold water and hot water supply was too different. Shower valves are only rated for a 5 psi difference (memory, might not be the exact amount) and if you provide more than that they block one flow.

You're on a well, so you have a pump and an expansion tank with sometimes a pressure maintaining membrane, this makes me suspect a pressure problem.

Yes, first step is to shut off cold and see if hot can get everywhere. But be aware if fixtures are single handle this may not work.