No hot water in shower, but works elsewhere. Please help!

neatfreak

Hi everyone!

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. My husband and I are stumped.

We have two showers, back to back, and last week had a plumber over to replace the piping in one shower with copper, and install a new valve. Since then, we have had no hot water in our other shower, and intermittent hot water in the sink in the same bathroom. The new shower isn't functional yet, so we can't test it.

Hot water works in the rest of the house, pipes are a mix of galvenized and copper. We've tried to flush them.

We have replaced the cartridge on the shower thinking that it got gunked up when the water was turned off. Not it.

In a curious turn of events, this morning while our outside sprinklers were on, we got some hot water in both the shower and the sink, but it didn't last and went away once the sprinklers went off.

Any suggestions for us??? My husband is convinced the plumbers didn't do anything wrong and it is just a coincidence, but I am frustrated that we paid a lot of money for plumbing work and now our hot water is messed up!

Any suggestions would be wonderful.

joecaption

I'd have him come back and see if there's a balancing valve someplace in the line that's messing up. It's also called an anti scald valve.
Very common to have them start messing up when the plumbing worked on, even more so with steel pipes.

neatfreak

Thanks Joe. Is that something we might be able to do ourselves or something that likely came about from the plumbers installing the new pipes?

My husband is pretty handy and the only reason we hired this out was in the interest of time. I'd rather not pay them again if we can avoid it!

neatfreak

And on another note, my husband thanks you for the tip! Any idea where the upstream balancing valve might be? He says the shower has one but the sink doesn't, so there must be one somewhere else, right? Is there a common place to put it?

Thank you!

ben's plumbing

I would talk to the installing plumber....don't pay him again..you paid for his service the 1st time ..it seems like this all started after he performed his work...he is responsible to check his work to see if it works right...and to make sure everything else is working as it was before he started....ben....call him back...

neatfreak

Thanks Ben. We called them back the next day, and they stopped by and told us it was likely the cartridge. But now that we know it isn't, I wasn't sure if it was still reasonable to expect them to come back. They didn't check anything out that day and didn't offer to fix anything, just told us to replace the cartridge.

Their work looked nice and clean when they were done and they have great references, but he didn't check any of the water before he left.

ben's plumbing

if this all started by his work being done....he should check to see if what he did is working properly.....I would.... fyi not saying he did anything wrong its just after work is performed.. all work.. it should be tested...

TheEplumber

If the new shower is not functional- are you sure it has a cartridge in it. Some are shipped without them and causes hot and cold to mix, leaving you without one or the other at nearby fixtures. Just a thought..

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neatfreak

That's a great question. Thank you! We will check this out tonight!

We both assumed it did, but never checked or confirmed.

You all are great!

neatfreak

You all are amazing but TheEPlumber you win the prize! He didn't install the darn cartridge! It came with it and it was just sitting there inside the box still.

Thank you all SO SO much. Now to call the plumber back and complain especially after they made us feel so stupid for calling them back last week and telling them our hot water didn't work. They made it out like it was OUR fault. UGH!

TheEplumber

I was just wasting time on my lunch break, thought I'd check in...
Give em hell

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ben's plumbing

as i said if he would have tested his work to be sure it worked.....hot and cold on the new faucet....everything would have been fine.....and if he made it sound like it was your fault....they are jerks...don't use them again.....eplumber likes to travel glad its fixed..ben

Alan

Must be a delta valve.


All the other ones we normally use would leak everywhere without a cartridge.

I didn't think the handle would go on without a cartridge.... did he install the trim at all?

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Journeyman Plumber

ben's plumbing

alan delta valves come with test cap....but it is reccommend to flush out lines install cartridge test for hot and cold... ..your right handle has no where to go without cartridge.....but it still can be tested with cartridge installed for proper operation.....they did not do that...

orange

He didn't install the cartridge with the original valve replacement, and he stopped by and said it must be the cartridge - without ever checking or testing his work????
Might be time to advise others in your area-- your advice may save others some time and money.