No water pressure after bleeding. Should I cut the lines to my old washroom to fix?

[Steven M]

Hi guys

I'm re-finishing my laundry room and was forced to cut and cap a couple of pipes to the water softener so I could have full access to the floor. Today I have no water pressure in most of the house. I've already tried:
1. Opening all faucets, including externals, to bleed the pipes
2. Opening the pressure valve on the water heater

Didn't make any difference.

The only thing that seems to give me pressure upstairs and down is turning the sink on in the downstairs washroom and covering the faucet with a rag. When I do this, I get water flowing upstairs and down. The only water coming out of the downstairs washroom is cold. When I put pressure on it, I get hot water flowing to other outlets if I open the hot water valve.

From what I've read, I believe I have an airlock situation. Apparently the fix to this is to connect a hose from a functioning faucet to the non-functioning faucet which I've tried with success. To be clear, the non-functioning faucet runs both hot and cold water and it only fails when selecting hot water only. I've tried connecting the cold water hose from outside to the shared hot/cold faucet in the downstairs washroom to push any air that may be in the pipes out but had no success. 4

Now, here's the most important part. I no longer want the downstairs washroom. The renovations I've started are to take out an entirely too cramped washroom to make more general space. I suspect if I cut and cap the lines leading to the soon to be decommissioned washroom may fix the problem, but I'm not sure if I'm making the situation worse or not.

Please help.

Tks

 

[Jadnashua]

Air lock can happen in a boiler loop - NOT in a potable water supply system. Water WILL flow and push out the air without any problems...the pipes may spit and sputter until the water gets there, but you cannot get an air lock with a pressurized water supply system. Now, it may be possible that if you have something like heat traps on the WH, that they may be plugged or jammed, blocking flow. There could be a checkvalve that's jammed shut. It's hard to say without being there.

 

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[Cacher_Chick]

My first guess would be that you shut off the main supply valve and it did not open all the way when you turned it back on. This happens sometimes with older gate valves.

By the way, it is not possible to get an "airlock" in the piping. The water pressure pushes any air out when you open a faucet.

 

[Steven M]

Air lock can happen in a boiler loop - NOT in a potable water supply system. Water WILL flow and push out the air without any problems...the pipes may spit and sputter until the water gets there, but you cannot get an air lock with a pressurized water supply system. Now, it may be possible that if you have something like heat traps on the WH, that they may be plugged or jammed, blocking flow. There could be a checkvalve that's jammed shut. It's hard to say without being there.

Tks jadnashua. To add some details to this:
1. Water is coming out opposite pipes (i.e hot is cold and cold is hot)
2. The hot water I do manage to get out when putting the system under pressure is initially muddy and then clears.

Does this do more to suggest the problem is in the water heater?

Tks again

 

[Steven M]

Tks cacher_chick. The cold water pressure seems pretty good, but I've got a drip at the main water supply valve anyhow, so I call the utility company today to have them take a look.

 

[Jadnashua]

Any time you shut the water off then restore it, the inrush of water will dislodge some of the accumulated crud in the pipes. This can actually be enough to clog an inlet filter of a faucet, or plug up a shower head. If you have any galvanized water piping, that inrush of water can literally plug up a pipe with rust scale. It could also disturb the accumulated mineral buildup in the WH. It's hard to tell without being there what's going on.