[mikelbeck]

I have two bathrooms upstairs, back to back. One has a shower only, the other a tub & shower, both have Delta single handle fixtures. The one with the shower only gets hot water pretty much all the time, the other has had issues last year. I called Delta to ask about parts and they told me it was warrantied forever and sent me a pair of new cartridges and springs. I replaced the parts in both showers and also put in low-flow shower heads, that seemed to fix the problem.

Recently my wife hurt her back and decided she wanted a hot bath so she turned on the tub and at first it was hot, but within a minute or so it got warm and then cold. She'd shut it off for a few minutes, turn it back on and it'd be warm at best. After about 10 minutes she'd turn it on again and it'd be hot for a minute then back to warm or cold. If I run the hot water in the other bathroom or downstairs it's hot.

I do not have a hot water heater, I have an oil fired furnace that heats water. I was thinking that maybe the tub is using hot water faster than the furnace can make it, could that be right? Or is there some other issue here? Could it be the cartridge in the faucet again?

I'm getting tired of boiling water and running it upstairs every time my wife wants a hot bath, I need to fix this. :vs_worry:

Any suggestions?

 

[beenthere]

A boiler with a tankless coil is easy to over tap.

Might want to consider an indirect, or aquastore tank.

 

[WhatRnsdownhill]

you can try and have the coil cleaned and see if you get more hot water, thats the cheapest fix at this point..

 

[mikelbeck]

you can try and have the coil cleaned and see if you get more hot water, thats the cheapest fix at this point..

Is that something I can do myself or is it a job better left to a pro? If I need a pro what should it cost (approximately)?

 

[WhatRnsdownhill]

Is that something I can do myself or is it a job better left to a pro? If I need a pro what should it cost (approximately)?

shouldnt cost too much, its done with ultra sound to sorta vibrate the buildup on the outside of the coil...just google the yellow pages...

 

[beenthere]

Here, we use a chemical to descale the coil. And pump it through the coil until its clean.

 

[WhatRnsdownhill]

Here, we use a chemical to descale the coil. And pump it through the coil until its clean.

that good for the inside, but you need ultra sound to clean the boiler side, and it also does the descaling in one process...

 

[mikelbeck]

that good for the inside, but you need ultra sound to clean the boiler side, and it also does the descaling in one process...

Have you any idea what it should cost to clean both the inside & boiler side?

I'm on Long Island too, in Suffolk. Any recommendations for who can do it?

 

[beenthere]

that good for the inside, but you need ultra sound to clean the boiler side, and it also does the descaling in one process...

Must have really crappy water in your area. Never had a tankless coil coated/scaled or mucked up enough on the boiler side to have any noticeable effect on it.

 

[jimn]

It is most certainly that tankless coil in the boiler . The cleaning solutions provided by others may work ( I have no experience ) but I would start budgeting for an indirect water heater connected to your boiler or a standalone water heater. Your faucets are probably just fine .

 

[WhatRnsdownhill]

Must have really crappy water in your area. Never had a tankless coil coated/scaled or mucked up enough on the boiler side to have any noticeable effect on it.

yes we do, the old water mains are just flaking away, so you get a large amount of rust and iron in the water...