How do I fix a shower's hot water supply?

Question

I stopped the cold water supply to fix my toilet. When I did, hot water came into the toilet ( I dont know WHY!) I turned the hot water off and fixed the toilet, then turned the water supplies back on.

The next time I turned on the hot water for the shower some orange dirty water came out (like dirt residue). Ever since, I have a very very low amount of hot water in the shower. I do not mean the hot lasts for a short time, I mean the volume of water is very low. Any help please?

The water in all other faucets and showers around the house are perfectly fine. It is only this one shower that now has a very low hot water supply.

Answer 1

This is not a particularly good situation. A couple of possibilities come to mind you can try to check out yourself:

1. The hot and cold water piping may have been cross connected somewhere, likely in the bathroom wall but possibly in the basement. There should not be hot water getting to the toilet. Try shutting off the cold water again in the basement and opening the cold water knob on the sink to see if you are getting hot water there too. Unless you are particularly handy and knowledgeable with plumbing, I would recommend talking to a licensed plumber to fix it because the toilet water supply would need to be repiped. And it likely won't be cheap to fix.

2. The mixing valve in the shower (or even a sink faucet) is faulty and hot water is backfeeding through the cold water pipe to the toilet. This backfeeding could have stirred up sediment that is now clogging a pipe or the mixing valve (and also causing the rusty orange water). If you are up to the challenge and you can get to it, take apart and clean (or replace) the shower mixing valve. Or you can even try turning the shower hot water hard on and off several times to see if you can break the dirt loose.

Good luck!

P.S. I would be less inclined to think it is the water heater failing because you said hot water is getting into the toilet.

Answer 2

One other possibility, about the wierd toilet incident, some houses have a valve that supplies a mixture of hot/cold water to the toilet to prevent sweating of the tank in humid weather. If you trace the pipe back from the toilet water connection far enough you could verify this. The low hot water flow; as some of the other people said, might be from some rust or crud caught in the shower valve unit. But here is something to try before dismantling. Some shower valves have a compensation unit that senses a drop in either hot or cold water pressure and slides to partially blocks the flow of the opposite temperature water to keep shower temperature about the same (but as reduced flow). If present, this unit could be stuck as the extreme end of its travel because of stirred up rust in the pipes.Try turning on the shower to the middle of the temp setting dial, then turn on the bathroom sink fawcet full blast and quickly and repeatedly switch from all hot to all cold, this alternation of pressure in hot/cold pipes might break loose a stuck compensation unit piston and get it working again. If it doesn't work, you can take the valve apart. If the shower valve is the type that uses a cartridge, pull it out and inspect it as well as the hole. (The passage ways for shower valves can have tight radius turns where a piece of rust could easily get caught) If there is nothing obvious, Remove the bowl like metal cover plate that hides where the shower valve is and examine to see if it there is a compensating unit. There are many different models but, generally, there will be some kind of nut or cap that is removed to get at the piston. There may be springs and other small parts as well as the piston, If it is sticking, the cause should be visible; be careful not to lose anything down inside the wall! After checking this, If the problem still exists, follow the hot water pipe back from the shower looking for any place where there is a tight turn or constriction where rust or other crud could get trapped. (particularly at shut off valves). If the only place where hot water flow is slow is the shower, the blockage in the pipes must be between the shower and the next fixture where hot water flow is OK.

Answer 3

it means your hot water heater is going out. the orange stuff (dirty water) is the sediment from the bottom of your hot water tank. I would have a plumber come in and look at it either way. it sounds like your heater core is the problem you shouldnt have to purchase a whole new tank if it is the heater core. they can be replaces for lots cheaper as long as your tanks isnt from the 1700's LOL oh and sometimes you might have a smaller hot water heater in the wall next to the bathroom and not know it. I have worked on many jobs where there is a large hot water heater that supplies the whole house and for some reason (like in the case of an add on) they install a smaller hot water heater for only one bathroom. You can have a plumber come out and do a free estimate and they can tell you what is wrong. And make them show you what the problem is and explain it throughly. Then you can decide what to do and if you can fix it yourself.

Answer 4

There is an adjustment behind handle to let more hot water in when faucet is turned on.The faucet is a pressure balance and the cartridge is probably gummed up with mineral buildup.The adjustment should work.

Answer 5

you could have a few problems.1-how old is your hot water tank.it could have a buildup inside.2=you might have some galvanized piping and it could have excessive scale in it and it might have broken free and plugged up your hot water valve at the shower.is this problem only in the bathroom.check all the piping and valves in the bathroom.

Answer 6

You might need to buy a new water heater