That Sinking Feeling
November 6, 2010 9:23 AM Subscribe
Plumbingfilter: A kitchen faucet suddenly lost water pressure. I've checked the mesh screen, I've tried to snake it out. What are my options?
My kitchen sink's faucet suddenly lost water pressure while it was on. The sprayer hose thing however still has very good pressure. Everything else in the house is fine. I detect no leaks anywhere, including under the sink. The mesh is clean. I've snaked it as far as I could with some wire and come up with nothing...but that doesn't mean it was a thorough job.
I've googled around a bit and found mostly suggestions to "check the mesh" - yeah, that's fine.
What now? Am I really going to have to tear apart the whole faucet assembly looking for...what? That's part of my trepidation - I don't know what I should be looking for.
My kitchen sink's faucet suddenly lost water pressure while it was on. The sprayer hose thing however still has very good pressure. Everything else in the house is fine. I detect no leaks anywhere, including under the sink. The mesh is clean. I've snaked it as far as I could with some wire and come up with nothing...but that doesn't mean it was a thorough job.
I've googled around a bit and found mostly suggestions to "check the mesh" - yeah, that's fine.
What now? Am I really going to have to tear apart the whole faucet assembly looking for...what? That's part of my trepidation - I don't know what I should be looking for.
Shut off the stops (the valves on the wall, that have hoses or piping up to the faucet). Turn on the faucet, to relieve pressure. Remove the handle - you'll probably have to turn a knurled ring at the base. Look inside the cartridge - it'll either be severely gunked or have an obvious broken part.
You should be able to replace the cartridge. If not a big box store, go to a local plumbing supply. If the faucet is ancient-Egypt old, you may have to go to the oldest plumbing supply house in your area - they tend to have some weird shit from 70 years ago.
posted by notsnot at 10:31 AM on November 6, 2010
You should be able to replace the cartridge. If not a big box store, go to a local plumbing supply. If the faucet is ancient-Egypt old, you may have to go to the oldest plumbing supply house in your area - they tend to have some weird shit from 70 years ago.
posted by notsnot at 10:31 AM on November 6, 2010
Remember to take the cartridge with you when you go to the plumbing supply place.
posted by zamboni at 3:44 PM on November 6, 2010
posted by zamboni at 3:44 PM on November 6, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Since the sprayer has full pressure it seems to me like the only possibility is that there is something going on in the faucet valve assembly. When you take it apart either it will be obvious: either something broken or debris or both, or it won't be obvious. If there is nothing obvious then you should try to clean up any corrosion or deposits you see, reset all the gaskets and put it back together. Either it will now work or it won't work (or it will work worse because you didn't put it back together correctly...) If it doesn't work then the next thing will be to either replace the assembly or just replace the faucet if it is cheap enough.
is the pressure differential different for hot or cold? that might give you some clues as to where the fault in the valve assembly is...
posted by ennui.bz at 10:05 AM on November 6, 2010