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Plumbing Bathrooms

New shower system = hot water issues?

3 years ago

Hi everyone,

A week ago a contractor started a bathroom reno at our house. The day he finished installing pluming and mixer for the new shower system, we noticed that the quantity of hot water coming from the tank dropped significantly to the point that it was not enough for one person to take shower. Normally 3 people could take shower one after another. In the same time the water heater works almost constantly to provide the hot water, what was not the case before. Basically before, the water would be heated in the tank and would last for some time before the heater kicks in again. I suspected that the water heater broke and called a technician. The person checked the unit, temperature of water, then asked if any new pluming has been done in the house. I told him about the reno upstairs. The tech said that most likely my contractor crossed pipes in the wall and this is causing the issue. I messaged the contractor about it saying that most likely he will need to open up the wall again which he just installed tiles on to fix the issue. He swears that has done everything correctly and did not do any changes to pluming, just connected it to the new water mixer. He also said that will look into the issue tomorrow when he comes to continue on the reno.

Did any of you face an issue like this one before? What could possibly happen? I need to mention that the new shower unit /mixer is equipped with the temperature control which you can setup the water temperature on (Riobel KIT#323EQ EQUINOX Shower Kit). Could that cause the issue? Link to the unit: https://bathemp.ca/product/riobel-kit323eq/

Featured Answer

catbuilder

3 years ago

No, it can affect the whole house.

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Comments (13)

roarah
3 years ago
Did you take pictures during construction?
azureo81
Original Author
3 years ago
Wow, I hope you get this resolved. I hope my contractor can figure it out tomorrow. If not, I will call the heater people to come over when the contractor is present.
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azureo81
Original Author
3 years ago
@roarah - unfortunately I did not.
ramona1976
3 years ago
Could be getting cross-over at the new shower valve. Since that is what is new in the system, that is where I would look first.
azureo81
Original Author
3 years ago
@ramona1976 - would this not affect just the bathroom which the shower valve is in? In my case the entire house is affected, regardless of floor.
catbuilder
3 years ago
Sounds like a broken dip tube.
ramona1976
3 years ago
Agree, could be a dip tube, and just a coincidence that it happened when the new shower valve was installed. If it is a crossover, it could affect the entire house, depending upon the plumbing layout of the house. I am not familiar with that product, but you should probably contact their tech support and discuss it with them.
azureo81
Original Author
3 years ago
The water heater technician replaced the dip tube so most likely it is not the issue.
catbuilder
3 years ago
Then there is probably a problem with the new valve.
azureo81
Original Author
3 years ago
There is one more thing me and my wife noticed yesterday. When we open cold water, then hot water would come from it for few seconds and then it would be cold (normal) again. I read online about it and people say that it might be indeed the cross-over issue. The thing is though why the whole house is affected when the shower mixer in questions is upstairs, at the very last water point in the house. I read inline that people would have issues at just the space of the house the new mixer was installed, for example the same bathroom but everything else would be fine.
PRO
HeatherParr
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Omg, that's really strange. Hope you'll find a way out! I just hate when such situations occur. Last year after several works on the pipes the water temperature started to fluctuate from hot to cold. Imagine you're taking a relaxing shower and suddenly your water turns ice cold. Terrible! Anyway, I took a look at my water heater, followed all the instructions from its manual and everything seemed to be fine. Therefore, I turned to professional advice and help to goldcoastplumbingcompany.com.au. They helped me several times with my gas pipes, so they can deal with all plumbing issues. Anyway, they solved the problem in about 10 minutes. I wish I had called them earlier!
azureo81
Original Author
3 years ago
It’s not even funny, but the contractor installed a new rough-in for the shower mixer, but did not install the mixer itself. Then he packed up for the weekend and left. This was causing the entire issue which I was not suspecting. .. thanks everyone for the advises. It is really appreciated.

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