Hello everyone. Big lesson learned here so I wanted to post this. The hot water side of the shower was just trickling water. I posted another thread here trying to figure out how to disassemble the fixture: https://alliancervowners.com/forum/threads/shower-fixture-disassembly-390mp.1518/.
Once I finally figured that out I found a bunch of small rubber pieces, probably from a gasket somewhere, lodged inside the hot water side of the fixture. You can see them in the picture here in the pink circles.
Now here is the lesson. I didn't know you could just pop out the little piece on the front of the fixture. I thought I had to unscrew the whole thing. Once I did that the black plastic retaining nut came off the back of the fixture which was on the inside of the wall and fell down to the basement storage. The only way I could fix that mistake was to cut an access panel on the opposite wall in the office so I could gain access to the back of the shower. Fortunately it came out inside the cabinet, so it is hidden. So the lesson is do not unscrew the fixture (the entire piece you see in the top image). Just pop the front of it out (bottom image) to check for, and clear, any blockage.
In my opinion, critical areas like that for plumbing should have access panels installed by the manufacturer. There would be no way to check for leaks or fix anything behind the shower without it.
Here's a picture of the piece you can just pop out with a small screwdriver and where I found the blockage.
Once I finally figured that out I found a bunch of small rubber pieces, probably from a gasket somewhere, lodged inside the hot water side of the fixture. You can see them in the picture here in the pink circles.
Now here is the lesson. I didn't know you could just pop out the little piece on the front of the fixture. I thought I had to unscrew the whole thing. Once I did that the black plastic retaining nut came off the back of the fixture which was on the inside of the wall and fell down to the basement storage. The only way I could fix that mistake was to cut an access panel on the opposite wall in the office so I could gain access to the back of the shower. Fortunately it came out inside the cabinet, so it is hidden. So the lesson is do not unscrew the fixture (the entire piece you see in the top image). Just pop the front of it out (bottom image) to check for, and clear, any blockage.
In my opinion, critical areas like that for plumbing should have access panels installed by the manufacturer. There would be no way to check for leaks or fix anything behind the shower without it.
Here's a picture of the piece you can just pop out with a small screwdriver and where I found the blockage.
