Ok, here’s your chance to redeem the forum. DW thinks this place is a total waste of time.
She likes a hot shower. I like a warm shower. I think the temperature setting in the shower is just fine, she’s pretty steamed about it (ha ha, get it? Steamed? never mind).
Obviously the temp limit is a bit low. I went to the Delta site, but their picture doesn’t match my parts. House is 12-13 yrs old, the faucet is probably original.
There is a white plastic ring just under the single clear plastic knob, that has teeth that mesh with the brass ring, and I tried adjusting it but didn’t seem to make a difference. It has embossed words about “hotter” and “colder”.
Looking inside the wall there are two valve bodies where double knobs would normally be. Do you suppose I can open the valve for the hot side?
“When asked if you can do something, tell’em “Why certainly I can”, then get busy and find a way to do it.” T. Roosevelt
Replies
Those two valve bodies are stop valves. You can use it to shut off the water to replace the cartage.
I would verify that it is all the way open.
Also you might have some junk in the line or valve that is restricting HW flow.
But to your orginal question it sounds like you have a pressure balance valve. You don't have an independent control of flow and temp.
That plastic piece is to limit the how far you can turn the handle CCW or how hot you can get it.
I can't tell from the picture and not familar with that model.
But it looks like you can pull it out and then put it back rotated a little clockwise.
Also is the WH set high enough?
Ok, so I'll turn the hot screw open as far as it will go.
The water at the kitchen sink and the bath lavs is plenty hot, it's just the shower that's a problem.
I have turned the plastic piece far left and far right, with no perceptible change.
Yopu're right, only one handle does volume and temp.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
The brass ring is the limit stop. Pull it off, rotate clockwise and put back on.
Got it!
No matter what I did, I couldn't get it to work right. There are letters cast into the plastic with 'hotter' one way and 'colder' the other, but it seemed to be backwards. Tried to follow Bill's advice, no good.
Decided the pipes were backwards. So I ran the water and reached my finger into the cavity ... nope, pipes are right.
Noticed that if you turned the handle full clockwise, the water trickled out at a steady flow. You had to turn it about 1/8 turn counterclockwise to shut it off.
I found that I could adjust the full-flow temp from too cold to too hot, but when it was adjusted to kinda-hot and then you turned the knob clockwise, it got hotter not colder. Really a frustrating problem.
Happened upon a short section buried on the Delta website that described the situation, and the problem is that the cartridge is in 180 degrees off.
DW wondered why it was not corrected in 12 years. Well, it's in the kids bathroom, and the temp was just about right for them, so no one picked up on it. Now DW is trying to use it, and she likes to come out looking like a lobster ... no kidding. She almost scares me.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Eddie,
My type of shower, scalding hot !!
We have the same shower setup in our extra bath for my disabled Sister In Law who lives with us. I can scan the instructions on Tuesday and send them to you if you want. Its pretty easy to adjust, I have to do it in the winter when the cold water gets real cold and cools it off too much.
Shoot me an e-mail if you need a scan of the instructions.
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md
Bill, tomorrow I'll turn off the water meter and flip the cartridge. If that doesn't work I'll turn to you.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
In my handyman business, I replace a lot of those cartridges. I finally figured out that you don't have to turn of the water or even take the cartridge out to flip the cartridge. just put a pair of pliers on it and turn it 180 degrees. But that is only useful if you're getting hot when you turn right and want cold, and vice versa.
Those little valves are the stops, as Bill said. You should be able to shut it off to switch the cartridge. With these "anti scald mix valves" you can use a lot more water getting to the warm enough for a shower level. If set for the level to keep someone from getting it too hot it severely limits the flow of hot. Therefore the cold is running quite a while before the hot water gets there.
I tell customer and guests at my place to turn on the hot at the sink and let it get hot then start the shower. I have read a lot lately about not setting the water heater to the low 120 recommended in the past and that 140 is needed to kill off the bad stuff that causes Leigonaires disease. Makes this type of shower valve more needed.