Hot water mixing issue at shower

[coss370]

It does appear I am coming to an end on this. Good news is that the while changing of the valve was difficult, but didn't take very long. Bad news is that replacing the valve didn't solve my problem. I went back and reviewed everything. It appears the issue is the shower head/lack of hot pressure causing cold water to go back into the hot line. I verified this by removing the showered hose, it was totally fine. I then added the hose and a different type of faucet, sure enough it worked too. My option now is to keep the current faucet, but the true fix is get that $10 one way check valve and place it on my hot inlet. The good news is that it is not too difficult to do, I cant wait to try it again this week

[Want a B]

Humor me. Turn off the hot and cold water lines that lead to your outside shower...

[avanti]

Originally Posted by coss370

It does appear I am coming to an end on this. Good news is that the while changing of the valve was difficult, but didn't take very long. Bad news is that replacing the valve didn't solve my problem. I went back and reviewed everything. It appears the issue is the shower head/lack of hot pressure causing cold water to go back into the hot line. I verified this by removing the showered hose, it was totally fine. I then added the hose and a different type of faucet, sure enough it worked too. My option now is to keep the current faucet, but the true fix is get that $10 one way check valve and place it on my hot inlet. The good news is that it is not too difficult to do, I cant wait to try it again this week

Is the shower head the kind with a shutoff button and which dribbles constantly when this button is activated? The purpose of this dribble is to prevent the kind of pressure-based mixing that you describe (although it is more common and more dangerous for the hot water to force its way into the cold). People think that this dribble is a fault, but it is in fact a safety feature (albeit a hacky one).

[Nspekter]

Maybe the best thing to do is put one of those check valves on both hot and cold water lines. I might try it on mine. My problem is short term temperature change, usually too hot, when the button on the shower head is released.

[coss370]

Originally Posted by avanti

Is the shower head the kind with a shutoff button and which dribbles constantly when this button is activated? The purpose of this dribble is to prevent the kind of pressure-based mixing that you describe (although it is more common and more dangerous for the hot water to force its way into the cold). People think that this dribble is a fault, but it is in fact a safety feature (albeit a hacky one).

Yes it does have it, but the problem is that. The issue is that these fancy showerhead creates a lot of backpressure, dumping the cold water in and washing out my hot water. The other crap showerhead I have on simply leaks a lot of water when I am showering. I can see the pointly sharp water jets, but there is a large stream of water coming down below it instead of going back to the hot. I am confident the one way check valve will fix the problem. I can only install the check valve on the hot, not enough space in the cold.

[Nspekter]

Could you put a loop in the cold to give you room for the valve?

[Nspekter]

Another thought on the check valves. They will make winterizing by draining and blowing more difficult. If you put them/it in, winterizing with antifreeze might be a better choice.

[coss370]

Bad news. I don't have enough space to put the teflon tape on it. I tried to not use it and it just dripped. Also I don't know if it is a great idea to go from the plastic faucet threads, to the metal check valve and back to the plastic hose connect. What do you guys think? I guess I could try plumbers dope. Is it worth it?

I swapped over to the other showerhead. I seem to get shower the first minute, then after I stop and use it again. Water is noticeable cooler. I am not sure if the cold water is backflowing into the hot or I just ran out of hot water (2 gallon tank) as I used too much of it!

I just read everything, I shouldn't be using a metal check valve on two plastic threading. I guess I have to return it.

[eric1514]

If you can get some dope on the threads, that'll work as well as tape. And metal is threaded onto plastic all the time. Just don't over-tighten things.