Water temp---changes suddenly?

Question

I'm not mechanically inclined, and live in a 3rd floor apartment; my water heater is not shared with anyone...... when taking a shower, my water temp will noticeably change. I can be under the water for 3-5 minutes and then for 2-3 seconds it would be quite hot........ or go very cold, then it is back to 'normal'. the fimeframe upto when it changes varies, and sometimes doesn't happen at all.

How does this occur? Is there anything I can to do 'prevent' it?

Other things....... nothing else is 'on' that might affect the water temp. I've recently turned off the AC..... no washer/dryer or dishwasher going. No other major appliances besies the 'fridge'? This was to rule out them as the culprit-----still I get the infrequent water temp changes.

I figure this is a mechanical 'thing', but just don't know how to attack it, investigate, research, much less FIX.

Thanks for helping. :)

Good question, thank you........... I live alone in a 1BR.... no one else is here.

Answer 1

not sure if it is possible for you, but as much as possible find out what track the water line takes to get to your shower, perhaps there is a circulating line that is going past an air condition line that is cooling it off. how big is the water heater? If it is a circulating line, the pressure of the water for the building could be causing a slack or speed up of the hot water leaving the water heater.

Answer 2

If your water heater is in your apartment it is probably one of two problems.

The easiest one first : does your toilet run? By that I mean does the tank start filling at odd times. When it hasn't been flushed? if it does then that is the culprit. Easy enough to fix with new works in the tank.

The second problem could be flow variations due to others in your building using their water. Much more difficult to fix, it requires a professional plumber.

Answer 3

Most likely it is caused by a drop in pressure. If someone else on your floor is doing laundry, dishes, showering or flushing, it will affect you.
This explains why the water temp. changes. Your neighbors are experiencing the same thing. There is nothing to resolve the situation short of moving to a place where your plumbing is not shared.

Answer 4

If your sure you have your own water heater then It may be your stem If you have a single stem for your hot and cold then your stem maybe leaking through one side or the other. I had this problem when I did maintenance work. 8 times out of 10 replacing the stem would solve the problem. Need more info. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

If there is no person else in the homestead who's grew to become on a faucet, then it can be a results of gentle variations in water rigidity on the incoming grant. those styles of issues take place from time to time while the water heater is plumbed off a tee the place one leg feeds the heater and the different feeds the chilly water grant to the bathe. gentle imbalances or chaotic habit in the bypass the place the chilly water divides into those 2 branches could reason temperature ameliorations to take place.

Answer 6

sounds like the temp in the heater is too high and that makes it hard to get it just right in the shower. take the small cover(s) off the heater and make sure the dial(s) are set at about 120 degrees.

Answer 7

Is anyone else in the apartment with you? They could be running the facet, or flushing a toilet. Are you 100 percent sure that's it not shared, because it sounds like it is. It might also be a water pressure problem.

Answer 8

Could someone be flushing (would make your water get really hot) if it's like our house and then if someone is using hot water to wash hands, etc. then your shower water would tend toward cold, there again like the plumbing in our house.

Answer 9

It sounds like your faucet needs replacing.