On most days of the year, there is nothing quite like taking a nice, hot shower. Often, we’re in for an unpleasant surprise when our hot water, turns into a frigid, cold shower. If your water simply fails to heat up in the first place, there’s a good chance that it’s because your hot water heater has been working hard and it simply needs time to recover.
On the other hand, if you’re in the midst of a hot shower and your water turns chilly, there may be a problem with your water heater unit. Here are some home tips for troubleshooting your cold shower problem.
Check Your Water Heater
First things first: Go throughout the house and check to see if the cold shower is a whole-house problem, or if it’s limited to that one shower. If none of your plumbing is allowing hot water to pass, then you have a problem with your hot water heater.
You will want to check the temperature control unit to see if it is set correctly. The next thing to do is check to see if it’s a blown fuse. If you have a gas unit, the pilot light may be out. If this is the case, you’ll need to relight it according to the manufacturer’s directions.
If relighting the pilot light does not correct the problem, then you may have one of the following problems with your unit:
- Faulty temperature control
- Sediment buildup
- Flue obstructions
- Defective part, possibly the thermocouple
If you are experiencing any one of these complex problems, be sure to contact a Kansas City plumber from A-1 Sewer & Septic Service, Inc.
Bathroom Shower Valve Problems
If you don’t have any problems with your other fixtures, and you continue to have problems with a particular shower, there may be an issue with the bathroom shower valve. For example, when the shower valve parts get worn with old age, they can swell up and restrict the water flow. As the water temperature flowing through the valve increases, the swelling increases.
In such cases, it’s not uncommon for the rubber parts to break inside the valves, causing an obstruction in a hot water valve. When this happens, the part must be removed and the valve has to be flushed out.
While diagnosing a hot shower problem can be simple, actually fixing it is a whole other story. Unlike repairing a kitchen sink, a shower valve requires a high level of skill; therefore, you should call one of our professional plumbers to properly flush the valve and carefully remove any debris within the lines.
