Mixet Low pressure with a new cartridge

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Spyrall X

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My apartment uses Mixet faucets, and maintenance just replaced all the visible parts of one as well as the piece that pops inside of the permanent part coming out of the wall (the cartridge?) and somehow cut the water pressure (& reversed the temperatures.) Another maintenance man came to fix the pressure, but he just installed another new cartridge thing, and when he was done, the pressure was even lower and is now unusable.

They are insisting that there is no problem with the pressure (& claiming it's impossible to reverse the temperatures) and thus I am going to need to fix it myself. I have already determined how to (hopefully) fix the temperatures, and mention it only on the off-chance that it could be related to the pressure issue.

If the temperature knob is centered, I get very low pressure (out of the lower faucet & the shower head) but if I turn the knob 90 degrees to either all hot or all cold, the pressure increases (though still lower than it used to be.)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 

Terry

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If cold water supply is on the right side of valve body, install valve cartridge with arrow in up position. If hot water supply is on the right side, install valve cartridge with arrow in the down position.

It may be that the cartridge is reversed.

I know that with the Moen Posi-Temp, reversing so that hot comes on first and then cold, the pressure is reduced a lot. (different brand)
 

Spyrall X

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Update: My dad came to look at it, and he was able to switch the temperatures back to the correct sides, but could not figure out what was wrong with the water pressure. We did remove the cartridge while the water was on, and there is definitely plenty of pressure there to be had, but with the cartridge installed again the pressure was back to practically non-existent, though still improved whenever the temperature lever is turned to all hot or all cold.
 

Jadnashua

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Do you have a two-handle faucet somewhere? If you turn on just the cold, then just the hot and compare the outlet volumes, do you notice a difference? A pressure balance shower valve doesn't like differences in supply pressure. ANy galvanized pipes in the system? Hot tends to corrode faster than cold lines.
 

Betsy8579

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I was having the same exact issue except for the temp reversal. My plumber just switched out the cartridge he installed the day before from Home Depot to one he bought at a plumbing store. When he took out the first one, it was already worn! So I suggest starting from square one and seeing if it fixes things. A cartridge isn't too pricey and they seem to have ones online that are more likely to be how they used to be made - I believe they are by Brasscraft or something called that. Good luck, I know how important good water pressure is, one of the small joys of life!!
 
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Spyrall X

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Another Update: I finally got the problem fixed today. Another maintenance man came & replaced the cartridge for the third time - but the cartridge he put in was a different kind. Instant fix. Apparently they had put the wrong kind of cartridge in both times?
I don't think he realized that the one he installed was different though; he seemed confused when he also had to replace the temperature & volume control knobs, because the other ones wouldn't fit on the new cartridge.
 

Volney

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I figured it out! I have the SLD1350 and the hot and cold are reverse when I first installed it. I replaced the same cartridge in my other bathroom a couple years ago and didn't have a problem but this has been driving me crazy. I found out that you can use the on/off Knob to extend out the back end of the cartridge beyond the inner screw and just flip the back end part of the cartridge up instead of down. You then screw the back end back on to the cartridge pointing up instead of down. The red arrow still points up as well in this configuration without having to swap the hot and cold lever down. I also figured out the low flow problem. It seems if they plumbed it in wrong like this the flow is reduced so you have to trim a little of the plastic off the back end groove to increase the water pressure. I was used to having a high flow rate but the replacement cartridge groove is 50% smaller so I just used my dremel to sand it down a little more and it works great! It looks like someone did the same thing when they installed it the first time. I bet they messed up and then got it to work after by reserving the end and making the groove bigger.
 
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