Lack of Hot Water in Upper Level Shower

We had our hot water heater replaced within the last year and have experienced, in the colder months, an inability to get hot water out of our upper level shower. Hot water seems to be readily available elsewhere (i.e. sinks on all levels). Anybody have any ideas/suggestions ? The problem is most pronounced in the morning, but apparent in the evening as well (to a lesser degree).

 

Plumbing is not my area of expertise, but it's a very interesting problem you describe.

I did a little googling, maybe this will help?
http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=44297

 

I used to have a similar issue with my master bathroom shower. After trying several things, here is what helped with mine. If you remove the cover and unscrew the on/off/temperature control handle for the shower, there should be an inner plastic piece or ring on most that controls how far the handle will turn. This is a safety feature to prevent the shower from dispensing full-on hot water which might be scalding hot. You should be able to change the setting on this by pulling out and twisting the plastic ring in the direction of Hot. When you put the handle back together, you should find that you are able to turn it further towards Hot than before. What you don't want to do (since you have hot water elsewhere) is crank up the temperature on the hot water heater - this could cause other issues with your hot water heater and is a safety issue to have your hot water over 120 degrees.

 

Thanks Sasquatch and vawahoo for the tips/references -- hopefully this will help me to figure out and fix the problem.

 

Interesting thin is we never had that problem for the 7 years we've been in our home. When we had family here I heard a lot of people saying the 2nd floor showers took a long time to get cold. I had a shwoer today and thought my son was taking one too as I had "summer time" warmish water, but the hotter water didn't show up until I was almost finished. Then I found out he was NOT in the shower. I do not have this problem when the dishwasher has been run on the first floor... perhaps the bitter cold weather affected the pipes? But it shouldn't be an issue.