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TomTom133119 Feb 2017 18:06Hello,
Yesterday, I installed a dishwasher in the kitchen of our student shared apartment, and now the water pressure in the kitchen is noticeably lower.
I will try to describe everything as precisely as I can – I’m not a professional but have done some reading on the topic.
We have a rather “old” mixer tap in the kitchen with two rotary valves (one for hot water and one for cold), plus an additional rotary valve on the tap itself for an appliance connection (it turns about 3/4 of a full rotation).
From the shut-off valves on the wall, two pipes run up to the mixer tap, and from there a connection goes back down with a 3/4-inch (3/4 inch) thread, which is where I connected the water supply for the dishwasher. I connected the drain to the designated outlet on the trap.
To avoid flooding the kitchen, I closed all the “main valves.” I found three main valves in the apartment. We have a bathroom and a guest toilet.
In the bathroom, the main valves are connected to a meter for hot and cold water. I closed those. In the guest toilet is the same kind of valve for cold water, which I also closed.
Before connecting the dishwasher, I had also closed the shut-off valves in the kitchen.
After installing the dishwasher, I opened all the taps again – first the main valves, then the shut-off valves.
Since the dishwasher was second-hand, I ran a test cycle last night. (The first problem was that I didn’t know at which position the appliance valve on the mixer tap would be “open.”)
Anyway, everything worked fine, and the dishwasher runs without leaks.
However, just now I turned on the kitchen faucet and noticed that both cold and hot water flow very weakly. There is practically no pressure; the water runs very slowly.
The bathroom still has full pressure!
At first, I suspected the kitchen shut-off valves, but they are fully open.
Then I thought about the main valves and ran the water in the kitchen to check which main valve controls what.
I realized that the kitchen’s cold water is controlled from the guest toilet, while the hot water in the bathroom is regulated together with the bathroom’s cold water.
While turning the main valves on and off and running water, dirty (black) water suddenly came out of the kitchen faucet and also from the shower, which I was running for testing.
After about one second, the water turned clean again.
So: all valves are fully open, but barely any water reaches the kitchen – neither hot nor cold. Changing the position of the appliance valve did not help either.
Does anyone have an idea what might be causing this?
Any advice is gratefully received!
I’m happy to upload pictures or provide further information!
Best regards and many thanks in advance,
Tom
Yesterday, I installed a dishwasher in the kitchen of our student shared apartment, and now the water pressure in the kitchen is noticeably lower.
I will try to describe everything as precisely as I can – I’m not a professional but have done some reading on the topic.
We have a rather “old” mixer tap in the kitchen with two rotary valves (one for hot water and one for cold), plus an additional rotary valve on the tap itself for an appliance connection (it turns about 3/4 of a full rotation).
From the shut-off valves on the wall, two pipes run up to the mixer tap, and from there a connection goes back down with a 3/4-inch (3/4 inch) thread, which is where I connected the water supply for the dishwasher. I connected the drain to the designated outlet on the trap.
To avoid flooding the kitchen, I closed all the “main valves.” I found three main valves in the apartment. We have a bathroom and a guest toilet.
In the bathroom, the main valves are connected to a meter for hot and cold water. I closed those. In the guest toilet is the same kind of valve for cold water, which I also closed.
Before connecting the dishwasher, I had also closed the shut-off valves in the kitchen.
After installing the dishwasher, I opened all the taps again – first the main valves, then the shut-off valves.
Since the dishwasher was second-hand, I ran a test cycle last night. (The first problem was that I didn’t know at which position the appliance valve on the mixer tap would be “open.”)
Anyway, everything worked fine, and the dishwasher runs without leaks.
However, just now I turned on the kitchen faucet and noticed that both cold and hot water flow very weakly. There is practically no pressure; the water runs very slowly.
The bathroom still has full pressure!
At first, I suspected the kitchen shut-off valves, but they are fully open.
Then I thought about the main valves and ran the water in the kitchen to check which main valve controls what.
I realized that the kitchen’s cold water is controlled from the guest toilet, while the hot water in the bathroom is regulated together with the bathroom’s cold water.
While turning the main valves on and off and running water, dirty (black) water suddenly came out of the kitchen faucet and also from the shower, which I was running for testing.
After about one second, the water turned clean again.
So: all valves are fully open, but barely any water reaches the kitchen – neither hot nor cold. Changing the position of the appliance valve did not help either.
Does anyone have an idea what might be causing this?
Any advice is gratefully received!
I’m happy to upload pictures or provide further information!
Best regards and many thanks in advance,
Tom
It sounds quite spontaneous that one of the main valves was slightly corroded and got stuck in an almost closed position. In that case, you can turn the handle, but the valve slide does not move accordingly. Try opening and closing all the valves several times and maybe gently pull or tap on the handle. Perhaps the slide will loosen and everything will work normally again.
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