Cold Water Line to Kitchen not Working

[plumbingDope]

I recently had my kitchen remodeled. When the sink was relocated, new lines were replaced with PEX Tubing up from the copper piping running in my laundry room directly below it. Under the sink, the remodeler T'd off of the cold PEX Tubing to run a line to my fridge for the ice maker. Everything has been working great without any issues up until this morning.

This morning, I went to the fridge to fill a glass of water and nothing had came out of the dispenser. I checked the sink and the hot water is working fine but not the cold. The cold water is working everywhere else in the house.

Could the pipe be frozen if it is supplied from the warm laundry room directly below it? If the pipes were frozen, I'd expect the cold to not be working in other places. But as I said, 3 bathrooms and laundry room cold is all working fine. Can I get some tips or ideas as to what this could be and how to check for them?

Thanks for your help in advance!

ETA: All shutoffs have been checked and they are open, so flow should be permitted.

 

[CountryBumkin]

Is the new PEX pipe running in an unheated area? If the laundry room was cold enough to freeze the PEX the other pipes in the laundry room would be frozen too, I would think. Strange problem.

Does the new PEX run along/through an exterior wall?
Lastly, how long has it been since the work was done?
Under the sink, is there an individual shutoff valve for both the sink faucet and the fridge's water dispenser?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Dj2]

A physical inspection needed to solve this mystery.

 

[plumbingDope]

Is the new PEX pipe running in an unheated area? If the laundry room was cold enough to freeze the PEX the other pipes in the laundry room would be frozen too, I would think. Strange problem.

Does the new PEX run along/through an exterior wall?
Lastly, how long has it been since the work was done?
Under the sink, is there an individual shutoff valve for both the sink faucet and the fridge's water dispenser?

Thank you for your reply.

The PEX Pipe only runs in heated locations. The laundry room has the water heater and furnace in it and is heated. The only room which is not is the garage, but no pipes run into there.

The PEX Pipe runs in the ceiling of the laundry room (below the floor boards to the kitchen) and up through a hole parallel to the back wall, about a foot from the actual wall itself. Once through the floor boards, it is connected to the pipes for the sink and fridge. So the entire length of the PEX pipe is heated. The work was completed in September. And there is a shutoff valve for the sink above the T connection where the fridge connects to. The fridge has it's own shutoff also. Both of them are opened to allow flow which I first checked when looking into this problem. It is odd because the water was working fine last night before I went to bed. My wife and I were able to fill our glasses with water.

 

[Dj2]

Just thinking...

Shut the water to the ice maker off, then check the filter inside the fridge. Replace it if needed.

 

[CountryBumkin]

Didn't you say that the Sink faucet doesn't have cold water too? Basically none of the "new work" (on the cold side) has water flowing. If it's just the fridge dispenser that that's not working - then I think dj2 has the answer.

If no water anywhere, then I would suspect some dirt/junk (piece of Teflon tape, etc.), got into the PEX line and has worked its way up the line and is clogging the pipe (at or before the Tee fitting).

 

[plumbingDope]

Didn't you say that the Sink faucet doesn't have cold water too? Basically none of the "new work" (on the cold side) has water flowing. If it's just the fridge dispenser that that's not working - then I think dj2 has the answer.

If no water anywhere, then I would suspect some dirt/junk (piece of Teflon tape, etc.), got into the PEX line and has worked its way up the line and is clogging the pipe (at or before the Tee fitting).

CountryBumkin,

You are correct in that the new line supplying cold water is the issue. I thought it may have been a clogged filter originally. I then went to the sink faucet and tried the cold water and nothing had flowed out. I then checked the valves and they are open. That's why I'm at a loss.

Is there any easy way to see where this is clogged at or am I going to have to disconnect the PEX line from the connection at the copper piping (in the laundry room) and check if that T has flow? If so, do I need to worry about any compression fittings at the copper piping that may require me to get new compression fittings and replace? I'm not sure what type of fitting is used and whether I'll need to replace them once disconnected.

 

[CountryBumkin]

Can you take a picture of the shutoff valves and any other connections?

Is the shutoff a 1/4 turn brass valve, or the type where you need to turn the knob a hundred times to open/close?

If the shutoffs are connected to the PEX by threaded connection, you may be able to shut off the water to house, unthread the shutoff then stick the PEX end in a bucket and have someone momentarily turn ON and then OFF again the house water.

That would tell you a lot and maybe flush the line. Of course you could the guy that did the remodeling work and just have him fix it (he should be warrantying his work).

 

[Jadnashua]

If there is any moving air, a pipe can freeze further away from the wall than you might think! Second thought, if the tubing was routed with too small of a bend radius, it might have finally kinked itself shut. Each brand and type will have a minimum bend radius that should not be exceeded. Really tight bends often work best if you use a bend support bracket.

 

[plumbingDope]

Can you take a picture of the shutoff valves and any other connections?

Is the shutoff a 1/4 turn brass valve, or the type where you need to turn the knob a hundred times to open/close?

If the shutoffs are connected to the PEX by threaded connection, you may be able to shut off the water to house, unthread the shutoff then stick the PEX end in a bucket and have someone momentarily turn ON and then OFF again the house water.

That would tell you a lot and maybe flush the line. Of course you could the guy that did the remodeling work and just have him fix it (he should be warrantying his work).

So when I got home I shut the water off. I went to the 1/4 turn shut off for the faucet and closed it. I then unscrewed the fitting and separated the PEX from the shutoff. I asked my wife to slowly open the main ball valve slightly which she did. I then slowly opened the 1/4 shutoff slightly and a mixture of air/water began coming out into the towel. Once it was pure water I shut valve closed. I then tried the water at the fridge and it worked as it should. I reconnected the PEX to the shutoff for the faucet, and the cold water worked again.

Is it possible that air somehow got into the line? I'm hoping that I did blow any debris in the lines out but am not positive.

It's working now. Unfortunately, now the main ball valve to shut the water off to the house has a very slight drip at the stem of the handle..... This shouldn't be cheap to get fixed. ugh.

Thanks for your help everyone!

 

[Jadnashua]

You don't normally get air into a pressurize water supply system, and if you did somehow, the pressure would just purge the line of air anyways.

There's often a nut on the shaft of the valve...you can try turning that slightly to see if that stops the slow drip. You probably won't need to turn it much at all. As you tighten it, it will make the handle harder to turn.

 

[plumbingDope]

You don't normally get air into a pressurize water supply system, and if you did somehow, the pressure would just purge the line of air anyways.

There's often a nut on the shaft of the valve...you can try turning that slightly to see if that stops the slow drip. You probably won't need to turn it much at all. As you tighten it, it will make the handle harder to turn.

Are you referring to the large nut at the top of the valve body that the stem of the handle goes through?

 

[Jadnashua]

There will be a nut that only holds the handle in place. On some designs, if you take the handle off, there's a second nut that holds the rest together and makes the seal. Not all of them have this...can you post a picture, preferably with the handle off?

 

[Reach4]

Are you referring to the large nut at the top of the valve body that the stem of the handle goes through?

I suggest that you post a photo of the valve including the drip place.

 

[plumbingDope]

Sorry I didn't reply back sooner.

After jadnashua suggested tightening, I looked into it further and tightened the top nut. It stopped the leak completely and the handle is slightly harder to turn but barely any harder than before.

Thanks everyone for the help and suggestions! If the cold water line does this again, I'll be sure to post it here.