Community Forums

digNbubbs · 05-25-2009, 11:07 PM

Thought I would post this up in case anyone else gorilla's their kitchen faucet and snaps the sucker off. I did this a couple of weeks ago while we were on the road - the swivel part of the faucet didn't swivel, and I ended up with the sprayer in my hand.

We went down to Home Depot thinking that we would have to replace the entire faucet. To my surprise, they had the exact replacement sprayer, and it took only a few minutes to replace. The flow is much better, and hopefully will last a bit longer.

--kev

Dutch Star Don · 05-25-2009, 11:23 PM

dibNbubbs......That white piece in the end of sprayer that you're holding is what causes that sprayer to have such crummy pressure. It's a good opportunity for others to see it. I removed mine and now have great water pressure at the sink.

digNbubbs · 05-25-2009, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diplomat Don

dibNbubbs......That white piece in the end of sprayer that you're holding is what causes that sprayer to have such crummy pressure. It's a good opportunity for others to see it. I removed mine and now have great water pressure at the sink.

Cool. Hopefully they won't get to it the same way I did

--kev

nutensteve · 05-26-2009, 08:59 AM

I ended up replacing the entire faucet. I was not aware you could buy replacements. I do have great water pressure since the replacement. Glad you fix was so easy.

LewF · 05-26-2009, 06:38 PM

Don, how did you remove the "white thing" at the end of the sprayer. I too have very poor water flow through the nozzle and have not been able to figure out why. Sounds like this will solve the problem. There is some sort of spring loaded plunger in the center of the white plastic insert, do you know what that does? If it comes down to it I will go to Home Depot and buy a new unit so we can get some better water flow at the sink.

Lew

Sixpack98 · 05-26-2009, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LewF

Don, how did you remove the "white thing" at the end of the sprayer. I too have very poor water flow through the nozzle and have not been able to figure out why. Sounds like this will solve the problem. There is some sort of spring loaded plunger in the center of the white plastic insert, do you know what that does? If it comes down to it I will go to Home Depot and buy a new unit so we can get some better water flow at the sink.

Lew

Good question, Don provide some detail!! I usually mess thing up when I try to modify things, especially plumbing. I always end up with "spare parts".

Dutch Star Don · 05-26-2009, 07:17 PM

Okay....I just went looking for the piece I removed. Of course....can't find it. Usually I save this type of part, but knew I would never put it back in. I had taken the faucet apart several times to improve the poor flow because it never had enough power to kick it back to a solid stream when you pressed the spray button.

I pulled out the sprayer and disconnected the hose at the back of the sprayer.....inside the sprayer was a small white disc.....diameter of the sprayer and about 3/8" tall with a white pin protruding from the center. I pulled it out and reassembled. The faucet now works like I always thought it should.

Sixpack98 · 05-26-2009, 08:30 PM

Thanks Don, that explains it. I saw the disc you are talking about but did not pull it. We are heading out for Canada and will try your trick and let you know how it goes. Always wondered why it never went back to a solid stream.

thanks

Lukeaa · 05-27-2009, 12:49 AM

I replaced mine with a nice high arch Kohler faucet with spray head. It looks nice and the DW loves it. I put the matching one in the bathroom. I justified the cost because we live in the coach 10 months a year.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...-VS&lpage=none

Luke

digNbubbs · 05-27-2009, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lukeaa

I replaced mine with a nice high arch Kohler faucet with spray head. It looks nice and the DW loves it. I put the matching one in the bathroom. I justified the cost because we live in the coach 10 months a year.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...-VS&lpage=none

Luke

Wow - nice looking faucet!

--kev

LewF · 05-27-2009, 02:12 PM

Eureka!!! After a year and a half with low water flow through the sink faucet it is now fixed thanks to info from here. The plastic "thing" in the end of the nozzle is a back flow preventer and I guess is meant to keep water from flowing back from the sink into the fresh water system if you dunk the nozzle in a full sink. I took it out using a wire that I bent into a hook and pulled the check valve out. Check valve has four parts and will probably come apart when you remove it. Below the check valve is a plastic stop with a 1/8 inch hole in it. This 1/8 inch hole is where the water passes to the nozzle outlet - no wonder there is no flow. The nozzle still works as designed - center flow and sprayer - but now I have of plenty water coming from the nozzle. I have messed with this thing for over a year and believed that the problem was the small plastic tubing supplying water to the sink but now know I was wrong. Thank you Diplomat Don!!!

Oh by the way, Home Depot does indeed have replacement nozzles but they all have the check valve in them so I decided to try to remove mine - it worked.

I also have pictures of what I removed but have no idea how to post on this new forum system.

Lew

Robin_M · 05-29-2009, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LewF

Eureka!!! After a year and a half with low water flow through the sink faucet it is now fixed thanks to info from here...

I also have pictures of what I removed but have no idea how to post on this new forum system.

This has been a GREAT thread. Kev, I am so glad you broke your faucet.

Otherwise, all of us would still be trying to uncover the source of the ridiculously low water at the kitchen sink. I too have been tinkering with that faucet for over a year, never knowing about that back-flow arrestor thingy.

Lew, I don't know how to post pix to this new forum either. Never used the forum photo area. But if you email me the picture, I'll post it in this thread. Email link on bottom right of first page on my Dip site below.

jacmat · 05-29-2009, 09:57 AM

Too bad that post was just a week late for me. After complaining for a while about that faucet and sprayer, I took a look at all that plumbing, and thought that the cause was the plastic tubing, it was twisted. After trying to untwist it, I tried it, the flow was just a tad better.

So I finally removed the whole thing and installed a new one, a Moen. The flow is great.
When I dismantled the old unit I saw that plastic check valve, that was the problem. I think I'll install the old unit, without the check valve, on the sink in my workshop at home.