Kitchen faucet problem

[bootsnthejeep]

Ok, been in this mobile home for about four months, plumbing was a disaster when I moved in but now I'm only chasing small problems. But this one is persistent.

When I finally got the water hooked up to the kitchen faucet, the hot water worked but the cold one didn't. Fine, had a similar problem in the bathroom, replaced the fixture, no problem.

So just got around to replacing the kitchen faucets. Bolted in my nice shiny new faucet (with shutoffs now, what a pain no shutoffs is), turned the water back on, and same thing. Hot water fine, but no cold.

The odd thing is, when you first turn on the cold faucet, you got water for a second, then it just slows down to a dribble. What's going on here? All the other fixtures work fine, but of course this is one long run of pipe up to the front of the trailer from the bathroom. And the copper line was all replaced with pex up to within about 6 feet of the faucet. Thinking I should have replaced it all.....

Any help would be appreciated.

Boots

EDIT: Just checked it before the faucet, same thing, water for a second and then nothing. Like there's not enough pressure. The only thing I can think of is that I replaced the busted copper pipes with pex, and the copper pipe for this run was 3/8" but I could only get rolls of 1/2" PEX so I went with that. I was concerned it might be a pressure issue, but again, the hot water works fine, why does the cold not work??? It covers the same amount of distance, why would one work and not the other?

[Greg]

Hi & welcome. It sounds like there is a blockage further up the line. Different size tubes (3/8"-1/2") will only change the volume of water flow, not the pressure. As much as you don't want to hear this, it time to chase the pipes. You may want to replace it with PEX as you go to avoid any future problems. Greg

[bootsnthejeep]

Well I already replaced most of it with the Pex, so its either in the copper that's left (I knew I should have yarded it ALL out!) or I may have put a kink in that PEX. Drat. Have to unhook the cold line and haul it out and see what's what.

If I've learned nothing else from living in this place, its why plumbers get paid so much money!

[bootsnthejeep]

Ok, but you bring up a good point. It does't change the pressure, only the volume. Then why is it different to start with? The main lines feeding the plumbing are 3/4". That T's into 1/2" for the majority of the plumbing, except where it runs from 1/2" to 1/4" for the toilet, 1/2 to 1/4 under the sinks in the bathroom, and 1/2" to 3/8"s for the run to the kitchen sink and then 3/8" to 1/4" again under the sink! Is there an advantage to this?

[Greg]

Most supply lines start out with 3/4 or 1" and tee off usually to 1/2" to keep a good supply in case of more than one person using water. the toilet usually drops to 1/4" since it is just filling the tank and possibly to keep the volume to other users such as a shower when the toilet is flushed. Greg

[oldfart]

Boots when you figger out why they did what they did when they plumbed these home..let me know! ROTFLMBO! I've never figgered it out though there seems to be some thoughts on the matter posted here. Personally...I think they smoked a lot of hemp as they were plumbing! (ca. 1970 in my case..) I had an incoming line of 3/4in. split off into a gas-line "T"..(yes...propane fitting..)..which fed into a solid 3/4in. copper cold water line and a flexible (A/C) soft copper hot water line. This split several more times into soft-copper 3/8ths. line inside the walls (where it froze every winter) and then adapted to 1/2in. galv. pipe to feed the kitchen. Whatthe???? Now something else to keep in mind Boots. You can run a 4in. waterline and have tons of volume....and no pressure...according to some thoughts. BUT...if theres a shutoff valve... look at the hole in the valve. I ran all new 3/4in. feed lines and 1/2in. supply lines everywhere. All that water has to pass thru shut-off valves strategicley (sp.?) located on every fixture in my home. Look at the size of the hole in the shut-off valves. About 1/4in. in most cases. A clog the size of a frogs testes can clog a shut-off valve. Try opening and closing the valves and fixtures until yer hands cramp and see if it helps any. Audie..the Oldfart...

[Greg]

That brings up a good point, valves. There are 3 basic types, stop, gate and ball.
A stop valve is one of the cheapest, you can easily identify it by looking in the end, it has a passage way that you cannot see through even when it is wide open. A gate valve has just that, a gate that closes it off, when fully open you can see right through the valve. A ball valve is the 1/4 turn type when you look in to it you will see a ball with a hole through it in the open position and just a ball when it is closed.
I always use a gate or ball, the stop valves are known for problems. Greg

[Greg S]

The fact that you are getting water initially is a clear indication that there is a partial blockage in the line. When the tap is off the water pressure forces the water past the blockage and builds the pressure between the blockage and the tap. When the tap is turned on that water is forced out but the blockage prevents the line from maintaining pressure and results in only a temporary water supply.
Go back to the junction between new and old and open up the line.
If you have the same problem at that point the block is in the old line, if you have good water flow you have a problem in the new line.

[bootsnthejeep]

Well, found the problem. Suffice to say, I know have hot and cold running water.

Dragged the air compressor out of the garage. Undid the fitting at the last T by the bathroom and the other end under the sink. Put the air to it, nothing, won't flow. Crawled under the front of the trailer, disconnected the elbow, so now both ends of the 40' run of Pex were unhooked. Plenty of flow thru the sink line. Nothing thru the Pex. Well, that clinches it, time to yard it out.

Sure enough, I must have kinked that damn pex when I was pulling it. Looks like it started as a 90 degree bend but then straightened out. Of course when I was running it, I was pulling and twisting on it, and the weak spot where it kinked twisted right up. Might have been a sixteenth of an inch gap in there while it was installed. One minute of rushing, two hours of frustration.

So I cut out the bad section, spliced it (I had one 1/2" union left over, don't know why, but it came in handy!), taped it up so it wouldn't fetch up and fed it thru again. Water flows great. Not much pressure, but the whole place has kind of low pressure, I can live with it.

While I was at it, closed up the rest of the holes I made from the original plumbing debacle and re-insulated. Just have to replace the skirting I tore off and we'll be good to go for winter.

Oldfart, I hear you, the plumbing job in this place looks like a Friday job after a smoky lunch break. I'm no plumber, but my solder joints look better than half of these damn things. But, it's lasted a long time, so it can't be all bad. I'm glad I replaced as much of it as I have tho. Onward and upward.

Thanks all for the help. I'm sure I'll have more questions soon.