Why Do I Have Hot Water In Sink But Not In the Shower?

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Since you’ve landed on this post, so I’m assuming that you’re struggling to find out either the reason or solution or both.

It’s not been so long that I can remember, the weird experience that I had.

Yes, you guessed it, RIGHT!

My trouble was slightly bigger in the context that I was getting hot water in every fixture other than my shower.

Like many of you, I also played the blame game and made the culprit my tankless water heater.

But, sooner, I realized that my claims were bullshit, and the poor guy (tankless heater) has nothing to do with it.

So, who was the trouble maker?

I put my core team to work, and they did a lot of researches and brainstorming, and finally, came to the conclusion that there are two main culprits.

Your anti-scald device is set too high

Or, shower mixer valve went wrong

And, in case, neither of the two are the cause, then my suggestion to you would be to call a certified professional.

Let’s do the postmortem of each of two issues.

What if, your anti-scald device might be set too high

I’m assuming that you’re getting hot water everywhere other than the shower, and so the first thing that I would want you to do is to look for whether your anti-scald device is set at too high a limit.

Anti-scald devices are also popularly known as a “hot limit stop” and a “rotational limit stop”.

These anti-scald devices are safety features that most faucets have.

In layman’s terms, an anti-scald device is nothing but a “stopper” that limits how far your shower handle can rotate in the hot water direction.

And, the benefit is, it will prevent you from getting hurt with the hottest temperature your water heater provides.

I know many of the newbies would be wondering, how can I know if my anti-scald device is preventing me from getting hot water in my shower?

Trust me, their aren’t numerous ways.

To be honest, you’ve one and the only way to figure out whether your anti-scald device is preventing you from getting hot water in the shower.

And, it’s simpler than you think.

All you need to do is, adjust the anti-scald device and check for a change in temperature.

Don’t worry, if you’re NOT having any idea about the steps that you need to follow to adjust your anti-scald device, then please be with us, we’ll VOMIT anything and everything that we know about these idiosyncratic steps:

Take the handle or head off of your faucet

Well, as per my knowledge and experience, depending upon your faucet model, you might be needing a screwdriver or Allen wrench to do this.

Sometimes slightly rotating the faucet head firmly will do the trick for you.

Locate your anti-scald device

In case, the faucets that you’re currently using have an anti-scald device installed, then the probability is very high that it would be a simple plastic device sitting beneath the faucet head.

However, it is important for you to be well-aware of the fact, that not all faucets have this plastic device installed beneath the faucet head.

So, what if you don’t find the plastic device?

Simply, move to other steps that we would be discussing in a while as the plastic device isn’t the culprit because it doesn’t exist at all in your case.

Turn your anti-scald device to the right

It’s simple, all you need to do is to pull out the anti-scald device slightly to free it from the level it’s currently set to.

In the next very step, you need to turn it slightly to the right and push it back in place.

Test the water temperature

So, if your able to figure out that the water temperature gets slightly hotter than before, then most probably, this was your problem.

A repetition is needed until the water temperature matches your needs

Well, just continue making small right turns to the anti-scald device, and at the same time, you also need to do the testing for the water after every adjustment.

Moreover, once the water temperature has raised to the level you want it to be, all you need to do is to replace the faucet.

Is your shower mixing valve gone wrong?

Once you’re done with the aforementioned steps, it’s high time to figure out whether your shower mixing valve has gone wrong or NOT.

Before we move further, please feel free to reach out to us via izzysmarthomeguide.com contact form for any doubt or query, we would be more than happy to assist you.

It goes without saying that if your problem wasn’t the anti-scalding device, then the only option you’re left with is the shower mixing valve not working properly.

In case, it starts malfunctioning then what it does is, prevents hot water from mixing properly into your shower water.

Your shower mixing valve controls the water temperature of your shower, and it does so, by mixing both the hot and the cold water in a definite proportion.

In case, the valve got mispositioned or wear and tear occurred, then it leads to a fluctuation in the shower water temperature.

However, in order to access these valves, you’ll have to disassemble your shower, so do it on your own only if you’ve got plumbing experience, and you’re confident enough to expedite on your own.

On the safer side, you can contact a certified professional to help you with the issue.

Wrapping Up

First and foremost, I would like to thank you for being with us till the end.

Secondly, I would like to bring to your notice that I along with my core team have tried to the best of our capabilities to come up with the most logical explanation that we could.

And, in case, you liked our effort, and want to appreciate us, then all you need to do is to share this piece of information with the ones who are in need of it.

After all, sharing is caring, isn’t it?

To conclude, two main reasons why you’re having hot water in your sink and not shower are as follows:

Your anti-scald device is set too high
Or, shower mixer valve went wrong

Try to investigate both the flaws as mentioned in this post.

In case, after expediting all steps mentioned in the post, if you’re NOT able to figure out the root cause, then my suggestion would be to contact a certified professional to prevent any last-hour misadventure.

That’s all, as of now.

See you SOON:):):)

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