No cold water in shower - Page 2

Morich · 11-18-2018, 11:13 AM

when I think of lines versus all the things that can go wrong at a faucet, I think faucet to be the better bet. Sometimes they have such weird little thing s happen! Something as simple as the screw that holds a washer on the end of the valve rusting/breaking off can let it get somewhere that drives you crazy as it is good one day and finds the wrong spot the next!
Never work on plumbing when it is a holiday or the stores are closed. It seems to make the gremlins come out when you can't get parts!

Podivin · 11-18-2018, 12:48 PM

My money is on a plug in the mixing valve on the cold water side.
If it's semi easy, when you've got that panel open so that you can see the back of the mixer, remove the cold water hose and check for water flow there. (you'll obviously want a help or to have the end of the hose securely in a bucket so that you don't soak things with this test).

BobC · 11-18-2018, 11:24 PM

Podivin, the access panel is actually on the shower side, there's an elongated oval section of the shower wall surrounding the mixing valve that has screws and a caulked seam. Once I remove it, the hoses will be accessible. I'd ta

Morich, good advice on when not to do plumbing projects, especially those that require you to shut off the main supply valve to your house (don't ask how I know this).

Morich · 11-19-2018, 07:42 AM

If the panel is sealed, I might look at going in from the front of the faucet first. maybe a plastic lid to flip off to expose the screw holding the handle, remove the screw and then a crescent wrench to remove the faucet stem and see if water comes out there when you turn the pressure back on? Those sealed seams can be hard to get back to look quite as nice as before.
But that's a big deal for AFTER the holiday, right? I once shut down a five unit apartment building on Thanksgiving morning! Not a happy bunch.

BobC · 11-19-2018, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morich

If the panel is sealed, I might look at going in from the front of the faucet first. maybe a plastic lid to flip off to expose the screw holding the handle, remove the screw and then a crescent wrench to remove the faucet stem and see if water comes out there when you turn the pressure back on? Those sealed seams can be hard to get back to look quite as nice as before.
But that's a big deal for AFTER the holiday, right? I once shut down a five unit apartment building on Thanksgiving morning! Not a happy bunch.

I've already done that and, in fact replaced the cartridge with no luck. The flow issues are the same with or without the cartridge so, if it's the mixer, it's the body. I may be able to unmount the mixer and pull it out through the round, (6" or so) access hole and access the lines. The hole looks big enough, I just don't know how much slack there is in the lines. The caulking in the seam of the larger panel looks new making me think the PO might have removed it to install the new mixer. The mixer also has two adjusting screws, one on each side (C and H). I assume these are for balancing the incoming water flows. I thought about removing them to see what comes out but, with my luck, I'd drop one down behind the shower wall. Better to wait and see if I can get the mixer out.

BobC · 12-11-2018, 05:59 PM

Success!!

I finally was able to get back to this project. I opened up the shower wall panel that covers the mixing valve and remove the valve completely. It turns out that the issue had to do with the two screw-in water shutoffs on the body of the valve. They were backed off but the internal valve stems are spring-loaded and the pump pressure isn't enough to open them significantly. That explains why I got a little more flow when on city water. I can only assume that the hot water spring was weaker (possibly temperature related) or the cold water valve wasn't backed off as much.

You can see one of these in the photo at this link:

https://www.zoro.com/delta-pressure-...ws/i/G8794447/

Nonetheless, after determining that these valves are a convenience for shut-off purposes and play no role in either pressure or temperature balancing, I removed the valve stems, re-assembled and re-installed the mixer so now everything is fine. This is something to keep in mind if you're replacing a mixer.

I'm glad it wasn't that the water lines were kinked in an inaccessible spot, that would have been a much more difficult fix.

The mixer is fairly new so I have to assume that the PO replaced the mixer and purposely withheld the fact there was an issue. When I did my pre-purchase survey, there was an issue with the hand-held shower head so I assumed that was the problem. We've had the rig for a year but haven't had to depend on the shower so I've been putting this off while dealing with more pressing issues.

This is only one of several things where I've had to fix things the the PO screwed up or were hidden issues he failed to disclosed when questioned. I realize now that I could have done a better job in my pre-purchase survey but this MH came with a four-year-old $15k wheelchair lift that we needed and there was another buyer "in the wings" (so we were told). He seemed like such a nice, honest guy. So far, my biggest unanticipated expense has been leaking slide hydraulic lines. I still have one to replace.

akeagle · 12-11-2018, 08:17 PM

Well done, Bob! I hadn't thought about that angle because I got out of plumbing work about the same time that kind of tub/shower valve came on the market. Unfortunately your situation seems to be another example that we almost always have to accept tradeoffs.

Chmielowiec · 12-12-2018, 09:01 AM

Great job resolving your water flow problems sometimes you gotta think and go outside the box with careful progress.The owners forum is priceless when it comes to these types of problems. Merry Christmas to all.

Mtcsatx · 03-16-2019, 06:26 PM

I don't know if you found a solution yet but here is what I would try. Remove the shower head and open each valve separately to check flow. If no flow shut off and remove water sources and use your compressor to blow air back thru the faucet valves one at a time by opening each valve. Leave the sink faucets open so you have somewhere for the water and air to go.If air won't flow thru the faucet it is probably bad, it may have froze.

BobC · 03-16-2019, 07:28 PM

THe problem is solved. See post #26.

Mtcsatx · 03-16-2019, 08:58 PM

Sorry, glad you found the solution, rea your post, good info

danhannah · 03-24-2019, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akeagle

More than likely this is unrelated, but since we're on the subject of shower issues I'd like to ask about the minor problem with my 27Q. The shower operates properly at the desired water temperature until the flow is paused at the shower head to accomplish the usual "Navy shower" routine. Upon resuming the water flow, even after a pause of only 30 seconds, we get an exhilarating blast of pure cold water for about 2 seconds, then the warm flow resumes. I have a fair amount of residential plumbing experience but this one baffles me. Anyone have any ideas?

The cold has more pressure and backfeeds down the hot line a few feet (I've been told). So you get pure cold for a while. Some shower head shutoffs allow a little trickle when shut off to prevent the cold blast. You might try leaving a little trickle when shut off between rinses, and see if this works.