Replies

1. 
   Bluemoose | Jun 30, 2004 04:22am | #1

   There is probably some sediment or a piece of debris stuck in the hot water valve, limiting the flow.  If possible, turn off your water supply, and try to somehow clean your hot water supply valve at the shower/tub.  I'm not sure what your setup is, but when I had a claw foot tub, I could unscrew the lever for the hot water supply.  I was experiencing exactly the same problem and when I cleaned that valve, my pressure loss was fixed.

2. 
   WayneL5 | Jun 30, 2004 04:25am | #2

   Some dirt got lodged in the shower valve or the shower head.  I'd take the shower head off first, flush out the line and clean the head.  Or replace it if it's old anyway.  If it's not the head, then probably the valve, which you'll have to take apart (after turning the main supply off) and clean.  If you don't know how to do that, you should have help from someone who does.

   If it's only the hot and not the cold, it's likely the hot water valve and not the head.

1. 
   chiefclancy | Jun 30, 2004 06:52am | #3

   The tub and shower are operated by a newer Moen mixer. It makes sense that something was dislodged and is clogging up the valve. Since I'm not around to take it apart, I think she should call a plumber.

   Thanks for the info,

   Andy

1. 
   Mooney | Jun 30, 2004 06:56am | #4

   ditto

2. 
   DanH | Jun 30, 2004 05:56pm | #6

   The Moens are easy to take apart. If you have the time you can gain some Mom points by doing it yourself. Get a Moen rebuild kit from the local HW store or home center -- it'll contain all (well most of) the instructions you need.

   The only really tricky part is if you get stem backwards then hot and cold get mixed up, and it's not always easy to tell which way it should go when you're installing the cartridge. But it's easy to correct if it isn't right the first time.

3. 
   DanH | Jun 30, 2004 05:52pm | #5

   If it's galvanized from the 20s then the pipes are probably filled with scale for 1/2 or 3/4 of their diameter. It doesn't take much to clog a pipe that's this badly scaled, and it's not hard for scale to break off (especially if air got into the line and caused surging) and produce a clog either in the pipe or in a valve/fixture.

   The clog could be just about anywhere in the branch feeding that fixture, but the first guess would be the shower valve itself. You can get yourself a DIY plumbing book that shows how to disassemble various styles of valves, study that a little, then take the valve apart and clean it.

   Note that you should first check for yourself to see if cold water flow is also reduced in the shower. If so then a clogged shower head is likely the problem.

4. 
   pyroman | Jun 30, 2004 06:11pm | #7

   Ihad this problem occur once. It wasn't tied to any even like hydrant flushing, but it just happened one day out of the blue. It turns out that a piece of celophane plastic somehow, God knows how, got into the water supply line and lodged right smack into the valve preventing passage of any water volume. It was a big piece, too, about 6"x6". No idea where it came from, shower worked fine for years then this. Just when you think you've seen it all...

1. 
   DANL | Jul 02, 2004 03:15am | #9

   I was a planner on a HUD project that had problems during construction because some of the subs were not union. Later, a lady on fifth floor had intermittant plugging of the toilet.  The maintenance guy would plunge it and it would work for a while, then plug again. Then one weekend, of course, two bathrooms in ground floor apartments totally back up with sewage. Turns out someone had dropped a piece of concrete down the vent stack and it had lodged first in the fifth floor stack, and acted like a flap--sometimes open, sometimes closed. Finally it fell to first floor where it lodged where waste pipes from two bathrooms joined a larger drain.

   Had to break up the concrete floor to find it.  On that job the plumber forgot to sweat a hot water supply to a kitchen on fifth floor (natch) and it started leaking (on Friday about five pm). By Monday a five gallon pail on ground floor was getting filled every four hours or so. The connection didn't actually let go until Monday, luckily, when someone was there to shut water off and get it repaired. Until it actually let go, we weren't sure what was leaking.

   Then there was the public restroom on ground floor where the insulation was installed between the pipe and the inside wall. NAd the leak that turned the central stairs into a waterfall when it rained (turned out they were about three feet short with the waterproof membrane on the roof, so just placed stone over the remaining three feet. Etc.

1. 
   pyroman | Jul 02, 2004 05:18pm | #10

   Dan,

   LIke I said, just when you think you've seen it all, or the worst of the worst....holy cow.

5. 
   Luka | Jun 30, 2004 10:54pm | #8

   Don't you ever watch the X-Files ?

   Tell you mom to get out of that house and run like heck !!

   It's one of those chernobyl flatworms !!!

   Who cares, wins.