Lack of hot water from shower

[maserati3200]

Hi,

almost 3 years ago i had a new boiler fitted - Vaillant Ecotek plus 831. it replaced an old system that had hot & cold water tank. This old system had a pump for the shower but was removed as i had the combi fitted. the boiler is in the kitchen at the back of the flat. the bathroom is at the front of the flat

Once fitted i noticed the pressure was greater & that the mix of hot & cold was perfect. only had to set the temp of the water from the boiler & all was fine. About 1 year ago i notice that whenever i'd turn the mixer shower on fully there would be very little hot water coming out. The shower was effectively cold.

i turned the temp up at the boiler & this solved this issue only for a short while. now the problem is back & to get round the issue i have to open the shower tap only a bout 1/4 of the way (which slows the flow of water) & then i get hot water & a nice hot shower.

i have good mains pressure. so my question(s) is/are

why would this issue only now have come up? what should i look at first?

1 - clean the shower head?
2 - is it a thermostat issue?
3 - change shower head to smaller one to slow flow of water coming out - as when i do this with the tap, i get more hot water

any other ideas or pointers or any one else had a similar issue & resolved it?

 

[muggles]

Blocked inlet filter on the hot side

 

[TicklyT]

Thermostatic shower valves often get set to an appropriate temperature and left at that setting. Because of that, some manufacturers recommend a monthly 'maintenance routine' of swinging the temperature control from maximum to minimum a few times to stop the innards from sticking at one point.

Next - clean the shower head.

Then check the inlet filter, as Muggles suggested.

 

[maserati3200]

Thanks for the above info guys. Another simple/dumb question. My mixer bar looks exactly as the "Quattre Bar shower kit" on B&Q website (see below link)

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.j...refview=search&ts=1267645738992&isSearch=true

so, i assume once i take this mixer bar off, i should be able to open it up & see the inlet filter? is this different/seperate to the thermostatic mixing valve or part of this valve?

thanks again

marcus

 

[seco services]

the filters are inside the 3/4" nuts when you take the mixer off the wall.