No hot water coming out of shower but hot water coming out everywhere else

[xdannygeee]

  

Hi everyone, getting kind of desperate for help. My hot water suddenly stopped working yesterday without warning, I've tried finding online resources for help regarding this but they're all thermostatic showers whereas my shower is manual. 

My current line of thinking is that this is a problem with the shower cartridge (although I'm not sure if that exists in manual showers like this one). I want to remove the hot water "screw" but I'm having trouble with it. 

Two questions:

1. How do I remove the black plastic attachment off the shower faucet? It's stopping me from disassembling it. There's also a nut which the plastic attaches to but it's too deep to go in with a monkey wrench or pliers.

2. Is there a cartridge I can remove with this type of shower, and if there is, will it fix the hot water problem?

[xdannygeee]

Hi @EricL, good news! I managed to confirm that the pipes are working with no problem, I turned on the main while the spindle was out and hot water was flowing.

I understand what you meant by the rubber being stuck inside now, I took it out using long-nose pliers - here it is, side-by-side with the rest of the tap valve. 

And I've taken another picture of the inside of the valve (not sure what the correct name for this is). It looks ok in my opinion but I don't have much experience, as I'm sure you've caught on already 🙂

If the inside is ok, is this just simply finding a replacement of the tap valve? If so, could you link me to the correct replacement? Thank you!  

[MitchellMc]

Hi @xdannygeee,

That's quite an unusual tap valve, which I haven't seen before. I'd recommend you start by trying a standard tap valve to see if that functions correctly. 

Mitchell

[xdannygeee]

Hi @MitchellMc, I took out the working tap valve from the cold shower for a comparison and you're right, this tap valve is very unusual. I've added in a comparison between the two, do you have any suggestions for an equivalent? 

   

Here is a scale as well, the tap valve radius is around 20mm.

[EricL]

Hello @xdannygeee 

Thanks for sharing those extra photos of your spindle body. Looking at the seat it appears to be in fair condition and there are no cracks or fissures on its surface. 

The unusual large head on the jumper valve is often caused by compression. When the person using the shower thinks that the tap is not yet fully engaged, they tend to tighten it further than necessary thereby flattening the rubber washer. 

I propose testing the EnduraSeal 12mm Copper Tap Valves, I use these valves in my own home, and they work very well.  

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[xdannygeee]

Ah that makes sense, thanks @EricL! It looks like I just need to get a new tap valve then

I was wondering what size I should go for, given the following measurements. This is the still intact tap valve, it measures around 20mm.

And this is the broken tap valve, it measures around 16mm.

Given the sizing of the current tap valve, which size would you recommend for the replacement? Would a 13mm be too small (and potentially create leaks)? I'm thinking a 20mm valve would work well, but I probably need a second opinion to be sure.

Thank you for helping out with this. 🙂

[EricL]

Hi @xdannygeee 

I suggest bringing the old jumper valves with you to the store and speaking to the plumbing expert and compare the valves to the ones available to make sure that you get the right size.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[xdannygeee]

Thank you so much for all the advice @MitchellMc, @PlumbMaster-Zee, and in particular @EricL - changing my tap valves to these worked brilliantly! I managed to get my hot water working for only $10 and I learnt something new as well! 🙂

Just to document my steps in case anyone finds themselves in a similar situation:

1. Locate and turn off the water main.

2. Remove the spindle and extender using the spanner set. You may need to use a groove joint wrench to remove the extender if it is very stubborn, being sure to not grip onto the threads. I preferred it over a monkey wrench and found that it gives much more grip and torque. 

3. Examine the spindle (and the valve opening) and check for damages - in particular the damage on mine was with the tap valve.

4. Replace the tap valve with a new, suitable one. You may have to consult a plumbing expert if unsure. FYI The diameter of the top of the tap valve does not directly correlate with the diameter as listed in descriptions (I suspect that a described 12mm tap valve describes the tap OPENING, NOT the diameter - but I may need to be corrected on this). 

5. Put everything back together, making sure that the spindle is nice and tight to prevent any water leakage. If you hear a hissing noise after putting it back in place and turning on the water main, the spindle is not tight enough. Use the spanner set's metal rod!

Thank you, everyone, so much again for all of your effort in helping me!