OT: Experienced plumber needed

[Lifestudent]

In the Snellville area, I need an experienced plumber to investigate why it takes over 10 minutes to get just warm (never hot) water to a kitchen faucet and then provide solutions to fix this problem.

Elsewhere in the house it takes under 3 minutes to get hot water. The water heater definitely works since water coming out at other faucets is 120+; but never at this one faucet.

If interested or if you can recommend someone, please call me at 770.310.0551 or PM me.

Thanks!

[mojo]

Not sure if this would fix the problem, but may be cheaper and just as effective as a plumber + parts & labor.

Autocirc Undersink Instant Hot Water Circulating System

[Zanski]

A friend of mine works service for north metro plumbing (Lawrenceville), Im sure he would be willing to come by in his spare time, to help you out. His uncle owns NMP so he can do it off record, not free but CHEAP. If you want me to ask him let me know. Ill give him your contact info.

[Zanski]

I called him just to see if he could tell me anything over the phone. I described your problem. he wanted me to ask you if the faucet for the kitchen sink was up against the outside wall in your house. or if it was in a cabnet in the center if the kitchen.

P.S. what year was your house built?

[Kevin]

I wish I knew your friend a few months ago... would have saved me a LOT of money.

[Zanski]

Originally Posted by kj_yoda

I wish I knew your friend a few months ago... would have saved me a LOT of money.

LOL yeah he is going to be plumbing my downstairs bathroom this week, saved me a couple grand...

[Lifestudent]

Originally Posted by Zanski

...I described your problem. he wanted me to ask you if the faucet for the kitchen sink was up against the outside wall in your house or if it was in a cabnet in the center if the kitchen....

The kitchen sink is ~8' from an outside wall. It's in a cabinet in an interior wall.

Originally Posted by Zanski

...P.S. what year was your house built?

~1999


Zanski, please call me at 770.310.0551 and I can give you a better idea of what's happening and what's going on. Then we can pursue calling your friend.

Thanks!

Bob

[Lifestudent]

Cool idea Chris! I mean.... you know what I mean.

I had thought about a circulating pump as a possible solution and still may use one if we cannot figure out the root cause of the problem. Good to know HD has 'em.

Thanks!

Bob

[Zanski]

10-4 buddy I'll holler at you tomorrow.

[Lifestudent]

Any other suggestions/ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Bob

[boxermark]

Do you have a single-handled faucet? It sounds like the mixing of the cold and hot water is heavily weighted to cold. Undo the lines under the sink and check the temperature before the faucet. If the water is hot there, then the faucet is the problem.

Also check to make sure you don't have a temperature safety device. This device is to prevent accidental scalding. If you have one it may be set too low. I had one on my shower and had to remove it.

[washowi]

You need to wrap the pipe in insulation. It sounds like the pipe is a long run from the water heater to the sink. Also if it is never HOT. Turn up the the temperature on the water heater. It is always set on the safe range. Kick it up. I had to do that for the girls in the house. They like the water HOT.

Just a thought but that is what I would do first. The water sitting in the pipes cools off so you have to flush the cold water out of the pipes first to get the hot water.

The hot water is disapating as it travels the length of the pipe.Therfore loosing heat in the process. Insulate to keep the heat.

[Lifestudent]

Originally Posted by boxermark

Do you have a single-handled faucet?

Yes. it's single-handed.

Originally Posted by boxermark

Also check to make sure you don't have a temperature safety device. This device is to prevent accidental scalding...

Thanks, I will have to investigate that. Where would I look for such a devise (e.g., is it in the faucet unit)? BTW, my guess is that it would have to be near this faucet since the HW faucets are fine.

[Lifestudent]

Originally Posted by washowi

You need to wrap the pipe in insulation...

Hi Todd!

The pipes are in a slab foundation and only the kitchen faucet is giving me trouble; the other hot water faucets (masterbath, etc.) are fine even though they are further away.

[boxermark]

Originally Posted by Lifestudent

Yes. it's single-handed.

Thanks, I will have to investigate that. Where would I look for such a devise (e.g., is it in the faucet unit)? BTW, my guess is that it would have to be near this faucet since the HW faucets are fine.

A water temperature governor would be part of the faucet. Check to see if the water is hot before it hits the faucet. If so, I'd say to replace the faucet.

[Zanski]

Dude!!! he (brandon) said buy her a new faucet for christmas. He told me he would bet his car on that being your problem. If its not then he said he will come out after xmas sometime. The first thing he asked was if they did a recirc pump. I told him they did, then without hesitation is said its the faucet. Just re-build or replace it. Let me know if that fixes it. I left my cell in the uhaul truck so I naturally dont have your number. Pm me with it and let me know the results.

[Lifestudent]

The Presure Regulator was defective and replaced it and set the new one at 65PSI. The PSI readings on the old one fluctuated between 95 to 110.

Also the kitchen faucet has a flow rate of 0.75 gallons per minute when set to hot and 1.2 GPM when set to cold (could be the auto-circ circulating pump restricting flow). Running the hot water at full speed still took it 14 minutes or 11 gallons to reach 120F. The gas water heater is set to 140F and the wash tub which is ~6' from the water heater got to 136.6F in under 2 minutes.

I've observed that the hot water copper pipe is 3/4" to both the laundry room and to the kitchen faucet, then it's 1/2" to the master and guest bathrooms.

In the future, I will be:
1. Rechecking the HW flow rate of the Kitchen faucet after I've bypassed the circulating pump (which is located in the cabinet below the kitchen sink) to determine whether the pump is restricting flow vs the hot water
setting of the faucet.
2. Taking hot water readings with associated gallons used to determine how long it takes 120F water to reach each bathroom. The purpose is to determine the hot water piping was laid out since its all inside a slab.

The saga continues...

Thanks for your input.

Bob

[boxermark]

Originally Posted by Lifestudent

Also the kitchen faucet has a flow rate of 0.75 gallons per minute when set to hot and 1.2 GPM when set to cold (could be the auto-circ circulating pump restricting flow). Running the hot water at full speed still took it 14 minutes or 11 gallons to reach 120F. The gas water heater is set to 140F and the wash tub which is ~6' from the water heater got to 136.6F in under 2 minutes.

What is the auto-circ pump used for? As for flow .75GPM is very low. Most authorities allow 4GPM. I took out the water flow resticting devices in all my faucets. It is just a piece of plastic that was easy to remove.

[Lifestudent]

Originally Posted by boxermark

What is the auto-circ pump used for? ....

It creates a closed loop and pulls hw from the water heater to the kitchen sink and then returns the cooled off water thru the cold water line back to the water heater. It is activated when the hw temp in the hw line cools to 85F and circulates the water until it reaches 95F at the auto-circ pump (some other models allow these temps to be adjusted). A link to the model, including flow diagram, that we have is located at Auto-Circ.

Originally Posted by boxermark

...As for flow .75GPM is very low. ...I took out the water flow resticting devices in all my faucets. It is just a piece of plastic that was easy to remove.

This Moen faucet does not have a restricting device. I checked the parts manual. It does have an aerator, but that's different than a restrictor.

Thanks!

[Zanski]

Lifestudent, do you want me to send him out? Let me know we can work out something.