In article ,
Goedjn wrote:

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 21:30:51 GMT, Mark Modrall
wrote:

Hi...

Our house has a well with pretty hard water in it; we find stuff
precipitating over time in the toilets, etc. We've got one pipe that's
a particular problem - the hot water pipe to the shower in the
downstairs bathroom. We don't use that shower often, but both the water
pressure and the temperature of the water coming out seem to be falling
off steeply over the last 5 or 6 months.

The pressure and temperature of the hot water in the sink in the same
bathroom isn't anywhere near as bad.

Is there an easy way to tell if this is caused by mineral deposits,
and if so where in the pipe? It's getting to the point where we
couldn't expect any guests to use that bathroom anymore.

My favorite suspect is the anti-scald valve getting munged up
with crud.

Shut off the water to that branch, dip the shower-head
in a gallon of cheap vinigar, and then open the waste-cock
on that hot-water shutoff, to suck the vinegar backwards
through the valve. Let it sit overnight, and then blow it
clear and see if that helps.

Thanks to both guys for responding. One thing that might also help the
diagnosis is that this is a tub/shower combo, and the hot water flow is
very diminished whether the water is coming out the tub nozzle or the
shower head.

The other bit of info I should have mentioned is that if you're running
just the cold water through, the pressure's okay.

Thanks
-Mark