Hot water is taking longer than normal to reach bathroom

[toddio81]

Hi there. We replaced all the faucets and had the hot/cold water valves replaced in our bathroom last week. After turning the water back on, what used to take no time at all for the hot water to come in is now taking upwards of 2min before we feel hot water in the shower and faucets (this includes the kitchen and 2nd bathroom which take the same delayed amount of time to heat up). Some things to note:

-I live on the 2nd floor of a 4 floor building complex with the hot water heaters residing on the roof where it is set at a low level heat (no thermostat just an A B C dial but have never had problems with temp).
-There is a 3-setting circulating pump and it's always been on the lowest setting.
-In addition to turning off the water main to the building, all the pumps had to be turned off as well which was done prior to shutting off the water and turned on after the water was turned back on.
-The kitchen and guest bath are the first in line to get hot water, the other bathroom is at the end of the line.

I have tried increasing the temperature on the water heater as well as increasing the circulator pump to the 2nd setting. Nothing has changed in the last 48 hrs.

I called the plumber and he said its probably a bad stem in the shower. But if it's in other sinks, I find it hard to believe it's the stem so I'm trying to figure out what could be causing this delay in hot water. Problem with circulator pump? Is it a bad valve stem? I appreciate any and all ideas. Happy to take more photos if need be.

Thank you in advance

Todd

 

[Twowaxhack]

I would suspect your circulator pump isn’t working. That’s where I’d check first.

Make sure there’s no air in the system, purge air at the top of the system.

 

[toddio81]

Thank you for the quick reply. I just purged the pump and a lot of air pressure released for a good 10 seconds. Will give it some time to see if that did the trick.