Bidet was installed, but I'm in a panic. Deaf. Is water running?

April 13, 2023 4:04 PM

I don't understand. The manual is not clear at all how the self cleaning nozzle works and right now, it's turned all the way to the right. Is water running without me knowing it? I'm Deaf, so can't hear, and don't want to get a high bill. Tried their support but they were unhelpful. I feel so dumb.

I don't understand how the self cleaning nozzle works and the manual doesn't seem to make it clear. Am I missing something?

The water pressure nozzle (top with the different levels) is OFF, if that helps.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A0RHSJO?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Thanks

posted by dubious_dude to Technology (11 answers total)

Best answer: Turn your phone flashlight on and your bathroom lights off. Go stare into the toilet and wave your flash back and forth over the bidet nozzle area. If the water is running, you should be able to see the changing light glinting off of it.
posted by phunniemee at 4:11 PM on April 13, 2023 [4 favorites]

Best answer: You can also put a decibel measure app on your phone and let it listen to the toilet for a while.
posted by phunniemee at 4:14 PM on April 13, 2023 [7 favorites]

Best answer: I have that same bidet. If the top nozzle is at OFF, it shouldn’t be running water. Water will be flowing TO the bidet from under your sink, but won’t come out of the bidet unless you turn it on (like a sink faucet). If you turn the top nozzle on, and leave it in self-cleaning mode in the bottom nozzle, water will stream down the plastic piece that goes along the back of the bidet, but nowhere else. If you have it on and switch to rear or feminine mode….you’ll know it! Mine can shoot water all the way across the bathroom if I accidentally turn it on!

If you’re not sure, I’d suggest the decibel meter the previous commenter mentioned. After I use the bidet or flush, it’s loud for 20 seconds or so, but after that, mine is silent. The noise is noticable when self-cleaning is on, so I expect a decibel meter would pick it up.
posted by JannaK at 4:24 PM on April 13, 2023

Response by poster: What I'm struggling with is to understand how the self-cleaning nozzle works. It only has one word, "Rear" on the knob, and when I turn the knob opposite of "Rear", it does seem to be cleaning — I can see water coming down, not up — but when I turn the knob ON "Rear", it will spray water UP (like if I was sitting here). The owner's manual (at the Amazon link) doesn't really make it clear how exactly it works.

Apologies — was literally posting the Ask in a panic, so didn't hyperlink it properly.

AMAZON link to the bidet product

I did have the Concierge come in and hear and she didn't hear any water running, so it seems to be okay as long as the water flow knob is off, but I need help understanding how the self-clean feature works. I'm struggling with that.

Thanks.
posted by dubious_dude at 4:24 PM on April 13, 2023

Best answer: If you scroll down on that Amazon page, to the picture headed self-clean, it shows visible jets of water running downwards from the bidet attachment into the pan, so it seems like you’d be able to see if the self-clean was running? (And feel it, if you put your hand underneath it - the water would have to run somewhere. It’s OK to put your hands in the toilet bowl if you need to feel around, just wash them well afterwards).
posted by penguin pie at 4:25 PM on April 13, 2023

Best answer: We have one like that. The water is controlled by the pressure nozzle. The other dial basically controls direction. The water goes straight down over the nozzle for 'self cleaning', and then out of the toilet for the bidet function (marked rear). As long as the pressure dial is off, then you should be good. Also you'll be able to see the water coming down over the nozzle for self-cleaning. You can play with it a bit, turn the dial all the way away from the 'rear' flag into the self cleaning mode and then turn the water pressure on and watch how the water comes down. Just be careful not to turn it back to 'rear' mode while the water pressure is on unless you have a towel handy ;)
posted by platypus of the universe at 4:28 PM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]

Do you have access to your home's water meter? If so then you can see numbers incrementing or a dial spinning if water is being used. It's a good way to check if there are any leaks in general, if no one is using water and the usage is still going up then there's a leak somewhere.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:18 PM on April 13, 2023

Response by poster: Do you have access to your home's water meter?
I don't, as it's an apartment and the meter is contained in a locked, inaccessible closet. However, I can track my water usage online after a few days, so I'll keep an eye on it.

However, all the explanations really helped and I understand it clearly now. I'm pretty confident all is good.

Whew! Thanks :)
posted by dubious_dude at 6:07 PM on April 13, 2023 [5 favorites]

Just another tip - I have this model too, and you can clearly feel the vibration in your fingers on the dial of water flowing when it is flowing. Hope you enjoy!

Top dial for on/off
Bottom dial for aiming up/down.
posted by bbqturtle at 6:24 AM on April 14, 2023

I have a Luxe Bidet as well, and unless they've changed the design, you should be able to flip the nozzle cover to one side to inspect the nozzle as well. (I use a toilet brush for this and it's a good idea to check it every so often as even with the self clean it can get a bit gunky there sometimes). Even with it closed though, it's pretty obvious visually when they're in self-cleaning mode as the water used for cleaning sprays into the bowl, as others have mentioned.
posted by Aleyn at 11:30 AM on April 14, 2023

We have the same model and others have the answers, but to summarize:

- If the "water pressure" dial is turned to OFF then no water will be running through the bidet at all

- If you want to know for sure whether water is running or not, just turn the other knob between "rear" and "clean nozzle" a few times - all the way in each direction. If water is running, you will easily see water spraying up and out of the toilet, and across the bathroom, when that knob is in "rear" position. (Pro tip: Put your hand in front of that nozzle so the water hits your hand and drains into the toilet.) If no water comes shooting out when the knob is in "rear" position then no water is running through the bidet at all.

- Also if water is running in the "clean nozzle" position you will easily see it running over the nozzle and straight down into the toilet. You should easily be able to see it running out of the bottom of the bidet nozzle unit into the water at the back of the toilet, and also you could easily feel it running down there if you were to stick your hand into the back of the toilet underneath the bidet nozzle unit there.

If you play the video in this review of the bidet (note CC closed caption option there), at around 1:10 you will see him turn on the "clean nozzle" feature and you will see how obvious the water running over the nozzles and straight down into the toilet is. If water is on then it is either obviously spraying up and out of the toilet or obviously running over the nozzles and into the back of the toilet bowl as shown there. If neither of those is visibly happening, then no water is running through the bidet.
posted by flug at 12:44 PM on April 14, 2023