PlumbingSense
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What would cause the hot and cold water of the kitchen faucet to suddenly reverse, when cold water is being used from another faucet?
By reversal, I mean: when the single lever kitchen faucet is all the way to the cold position, hot water would come out, and when it is all the way to the hot position, cold water would come out. This strange behavior would happen when cold water is being used from another faucet in a small bathroom.
When cold water is not being used in another faucet, the kitchen faucet would function normally, although it takes quite a bit longer for warm water to come out (compared with the old kitchen faucet). The new single lever kitchen faucet is recently installed. It has the long pull-out spout. I think it is installed properly. I have tested it. When the cold water cut-off valve is shut off, no water will come out of the kitchen faucet at the cold position. When hot water cut-off valve is shut off, no water will come out of the kitchen faucet at the hot position.
(The cold water usage in the small bathroom can also cause the strange reversal in faucets other than the main kitchen faucet, but it is more noticeable with the main kitchen faucet. And besides the small bathroom faucet, another faucet in the kitchen could do the same thing to the main kitchen faucet. The faucets in our house seem to have rankings as to which one would dominate and cause the reversal in others.)
We are in the process of remodeling the main bath room. Pressure Balancing valve faucets are being installed in separate shower and bath tub in the main bathroom. The pressure balancing valves are hooked up to hot and cold water lines already, although they are not functional yet. Tile work is being done now. Could these pressure balancing valves do strange things to the rest of the plumbing in our house? Water pressure is not high (but not too low) in this old house. Even though we have copper plumbing under the house, the main water line is still old. We will replace the main water line soon. Will that solve the problem? But what is causing the erratic hot and cold water behavior in the first place? (And perhaps we always had the reversal problem but didn't notice it before, until now that we are using the small bathroom more?)
Please help.
By reversal, I mean: when the single lever kitchen faucet is all the way to the cold position, hot water would come out, and when it is all the way to the hot position, cold water would come out. This strange behavior would happen when cold water is being used from another faucet in a small bathroom.
When cold water is not being used in another faucet, the kitchen faucet would function normally, although it takes quite a bit longer for warm water to come out (compared with the old kitchen faucet). The new single lever kitchen faucet is recently installed. It has the long pull-out spout. I think it is installed properly. I have tested it. When the cold water cut-off valve is shut off, no water will come out of the kitchen faucet at the cold position. When hot water cut-off valve is shut off, no water will come out of the kitchen faucet at the hot position.
(The cold water usage in the small bathroom can also cause the strange reversal in faucets other than the main kitchen faucet, but it is more noticeable with the main kitchen faucet. And besides the small bathroom faucet, another faucet in the kitchen could do the same thing to the main kitchen faucet. The faucets in our house seem to have rankings as to which one would dominate and cause the reversal in others.)
We are in the process of remodeling the main bath room. Pressure Balancing valve faucets are being installed in separate shower and bath tub in the main bathroom. The pressure balancing valves are hooked up to hot and cold water lines already, although they are not functional yet. Tile work is being done now. Could these pressure balancing valves do strange things to the rest of the plumbing in our house? Water pressure is not high (but not too low) in this old house. Even though we have copper plumbing under the house, the main water line is still old. We will replace the main water line soon. Will that solve the problem? But what is causing the erratic hot and cold water behavior in the first place? (And perhaps we always had the reversal problem but didn't notice it before, until now that we are using the small bathroom more?)
Please help.
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