Hot water problems?

Question

Ok I was looking at the following question here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuQL9LRqZANdj5fklLd5n95IzKIX?qid=20060728164758AAKtgAz

What is the cartridge? What is a thermocoupler? Why doesn't hot water come from the faucet thats closest to the boiler?

Based on the answers given I see nowhere to clean with a tooth pic. So I took a pic http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f245/ElBrujo23/DSC00003.jpg

I do feel a a few drips of warm water but not hot. Also before I took it apart, the water would turn off when the lever is all the way on the hot side.
A few things to add: I have all the other faucets in house work, I have two restrooms, I have not had a need to use this restroom since about 2 years now. So thats why I haven't fixed it. Can someone please help.

Answer 1

looks like a Moen valve to me. On the top where that little square looking thingy with the hole in it is. That is the retaining pin, it holds the cartridge in place. Turn the water off and take a pair of pliers and pull that pin out. It will look like a tuning fork. Take the cartridge to a plumbing supplier or maybe even to Lowe's or Home Depot and match it up. About $50. Grease it up with a little vaseline and re-insert the new one and put the pin back in.

The brass stem that the handle attaches to is the end of the cartridge. It may pull out hard but it will come out.

Answer 2

The cartridge is where the in-line water filter is. A thermocouple is a heat sensor - usually a thin diameter flexible copper tube with a larger diameter sensor about four inches long at the end. It senses the temperature of the water in the boiler and lets your control know when to start/stop the heat.

re: the faucet closest to the boiler...I would look for a shut-off valve or a kinked pipe somewhere between the faucet and the line coming from the boiler.