Hudson Reed shower not getting hot enough

[ronkimes]

Hello all, and thanks in advancefor reading and offering any help. I purchased a Hudson Reed Thermostatic TwinShower Faucet Valve with Diverter for a new bathroom in my basement and amhaving an issue with it. The water never gets hot enough, it only getslukewarm. I have an existing shower in the second floor of my house which works fine.Every other faucet in my house works as it should in regards to temperature andpressure. The sink faucet in the new bathroom where the Hudson Reed isinstalled gets hot water. I took a temperature reading at 120F (49C) and was able toincrease the temp up to 140F (60C) at this bathroom faucet.

I have a Titan brand electric tankless water heater. My house is plumbed with1/2" pex piping and a manabloc system. The hot water supply and cold watersupply at the Hudson Reed shower read 40 PSI right before entering the showervalve. I have disassembled the entire shower unit and flushed the hot and coldwater thought it. I have removed the check/stop valves and filter screens andcleaned them. I contacted Hudson Reed in regards to the problem and purchased anew thermostatic cartridge and installed the cartridge only to have the sameresults. The cartridge currently installed is the 3rd cartridge I have tried.

The water never gets warmer than lukewarm out of the showerhead and/or handheldunit. I am able to access the rear of the shower unit and can feel the ho****er entering the shower unit (I used an infrared thermometer and couldregister 128F (53C) water entering the hot side of the shower unit). The manabloc andwater heater are less than 5 feet away from the shower unit. The hot and coldwater supplies are connected correctly to the shower unit. The cartridge has a'locating tab' which is installed pointing to the hot supply as indicated by themanufacturer.

I have also calibrated the cartridge to its maximum hot setting and the issueremains. I have run the cold water in the bathroom sink faucet to see if it isa pressure problem (I don't know, was just trying anything!) while running theshower on hot and the issue remains. I don't know what else to troubleshoot andam hoping someone on the forum could offer some assistance. Please feel free tocomment, I don't know what else to do. Thanks!

 

[Ermintrude]

Two grub screws to adjust hot and cold flow.

 

[ronkimes]

I assume you mean the stop/check valve screws?

 

[E4gas]

Hello all, and thanks in advancefor reading and offering any help. I purchased a Hudson Reed Thermostatic TwinShower Faucet Valve with Diverter for a new bathroom in my basement and amhaving an issue with it. The water never gets hot enough, it only getslukewarm. I have an existing shower in the second floor of my house which works fine.Every other faucet in my house works as it should in regards to temperature andpressure. The sink faucet in the new bathroom where the Hudson Reed isinstalled gets hot water. I took a temperature reading at 120F (49C) and was able toincrease the temp up to 140F (60C) at this bathroom faucet.

I have a Titan brand electric tankless water heater. My house is plumbed with1/2" pex piping and a manabloc system. The hot water supply and cold watersupply at the Hudson Reed shower read 40 PSI right before entering the showervalve. I have disassembled the entire shower unit and flushed the hot and coldwater thought it. I have removed the check/stop valves and filter screens andcleaned them. I contacted Hudson Reed in regards to the problem and purchased anew thermostatic cartridge and installed the cartridge only to have the sameresults. The cartridge currently installed is the 3rd cartridge I have tried.

The water never gets warmer than lukewarm out of the showerhead and/or handheldunit. I am able to access the rear of the shower unit and can feel the ho****er entering the shower unit (I used an infrared thermometer and couldregister 128F (53C) water entering the hot side of the shower unit). The manabloc andwater heater are less than 5 feet away from the shower unit. The hot and coldwater supplies are connected correctly to the shower unit. The cartridge has a'locating tab' which is installed pointing to the hot supply as indicated by themanufacturer.

I have also calibrated the cartridge to its maximum hot setting and the issueremains. I have run the cold water in the bathroom sink faucet to see if it isa pressure problem (I don't know, was just trying anything!) while running theshower on hot and the issue remains. I don't know what else to troubleshoot andam hoping someone on the forum could offer some assistance. Please feel free tocomment, I don't know what else to do. Thanks!

Has it ever worked propley

 

[ronkimes]

It has never worked. I purchased it last year, but installed it recently.

 

[Ermintrude]

On face of valve adjust the screws

 

[E4gas]

Sounds like pipped up wrong

 

[ronkimes]

I adjusted the two stop/check valve screws as suggested. I found that by turning the screw clockwise for the hot valve restricts the water flow. However, the water does get hot. I also turned he screw for the cold water valve and found an acceptable showering temperature. Although, the water pressure is unacceptable. It is restricted about 50% of the original flow.

Any thoughts?

 

[ronkimes]

Hudson Reed sent me a new shower valve with a new cartridge. I installed it and the only way I can get any hot water is by restricting the flow for the hot water. I can easily access the manabloc for the plumbing system and by slightly restricting the flow to the hot water supply of the shower valve I have hot water. However, the pressure is horrible. It is restricted about 50%. When I turn the cartridge to the cold side for cold water, the pressure is great.

Any suggestions?

 

[ronkimes]

Sounds like pipped up wrong

Hot supply goes to hot inlet and cold supply goes to the cold inlet.

 

[E4gas]

Hot supply goes to hot inlet and cold supply goes to the cold inlet.

Is the shower balanced

 

[ronkimes]

Is the shower balanced

The hot and cold water supply each register at 38PSI at the point the supplies enter the shower valve.

 

[ronkimes]

38PSI at the point where the hot supply enters the shower valve, and the exact same 38PSI at the point where the cold supply enters the shower valve.

 

[Ermintrude]

Is that dynamic? I .e with basin taps running??

 

[ronkimes]

With the shower unit running and a bath sink running, the pressure drops to around 20 PSI.

 

[Vee]

Hi. I have had an issue with a Hudson Reed shower valve needing a minimum hot water inlet temperature of 60degC. Was called a traditional shower valve. No end of problems with o rings too which can cause more issues than cartridges......

 

[ronkimes]

In working with Hudson Reed towards a resolution, theelectric tankless water heater I own has surfaced as the possible issue of thewater not getting hot enough for a shower. Knowing that by restricting the flow of the water, the hot water heaterwould heat the water to a sufficient showering temperature, I purchased a 1.75gpm showerhead. I installed it and tested it and was able to receive a nice,hot stream of water coming out of the 1.75 gpm showerhead. The fixturesinstalled were a 2.5 gpm showerhead and hand held unit. All of the existingfixtures in the house draw less than 1.5 gpm, so I have never had this issuebefore.

It appears the issue lies with the water heater and itsability to heat the water. I am no electrician, but can perform basic tasks fortroubleshooting. I tested the amperage draw of the water heater using an ampprobe. The one circuit pulls 45-50 amps, while the other circuit pulls 1-2 amps(each circuit is 50amps)... I would imagine they should both draw about thesame amps? Whatever the issue is, the water heater is capable of heating waterto about 70F (ambient temp is 50F, for a total of 120F) at 1.75gpm.

Looks like I'm off to the electrician's forum.