Cold water

[LCBoyer]

My cold water has about 1/3 the pressure of my hot water. I checked all the valves, and I didn't see any wrong. I looked behind panel and saw no kinks. Any ideas?

[Gyro Gearloose]

Do have the Kantleak Panel?

Very strange, doesn't make any sense. Happen all of a sudden or gradual? Does it do the same thing with the pump?

Rob replied to someone the other day about not very hot water and it was outside shower valves open (causes cold and hot water to mix). BTW I think? that same kind of mix problem could be caused by the shower head being turned off and the shower Hot/Cold valves left on. Just throwing that out there.

Nothing else coming to mind at the moment.

Pat

[LCBoyer]

Pat, I think it came on gradually. We were staying in a couple places with low Ayer pressure. Pump is worst than city pressure. I use 50lb regulator on city water. I tried removing it with no change. Cold water flows, but slow

[offtohavasu]

Just so we're on the same page, at all locations (kitchen, bathroom)?

[Gyro Gearloose]

• Have you replaced the Kantleak valve? If so was it missing any O-Rings?
• You identified in another thread that you had a water pump filter issues a while back. Was that on the output side of the pump? Maybe parts when that broke got into cold fixture plumbing.
• Did this start after your pump blowout issue
• Does the outside shower below Kantleak get equal pressure on Hot/Cold. (I would expect even flow).

There are 4 connections to the Kantleak valve. Center: City In, Top: Pump In (suction), Bottom: To Fresh Tank. Side Out: To Tee. The the other side of the Tee goes into the Hot Water Bypass valve. The Center Output of the Tee goes to Cold Fixtures, and output from pump connects same Blue PEX assembly.

So where I am heading with this is: If you are getting full flow on Hot Side the Kantleak panel Tee is clear. So there must be some sort of obstruction in the Cold Fixtures line after the PEX Tee where the Pump Output and "Center Output" connect. If you get the same type of Hot/Cold flow characteristics (good hot flow, bad cold) when using pump, then the PEX tubing from pump to the Tee "Center Output" is clear (the pump output needs to go through the Tee to get to the Hot Water Bypass valve). Anyway I'm thinking the obstruction is down stream somewhere in the Cold Fixtures Line. If this doesn't make any sense I can draw something, it's not easy to explain.

Maybe this Kantleak flow diagram will help (you probably already know this or have thi)s: http://andersonbrass.com/pdf/Attachment_4.pdf

Pat

[Cate&Rob]

LC, is the cold pressure low when you first open a cold tap, or is there a burst of normal pressure and then it drops to low flow/pressure? The answer to this could help to figure out where the obstruction is.

Rob

[LCBoyer]

Yes, it starts good and slows way down. Do you have an idea, Rob?

[LCBoyer]

Pat, it's been a long time since pump filter turned loose. I have same flow on all cold fixtures, even out side shower

[LCBoyer]

Curtis, all faucets have same problem.

[Cate&Rob]

Yes, it starts good and slows way down. Do you have an idea, Rob?

This confirms Pat's theory . . . "the obstruction is down stream (of the tee to the hot water heater) somewhere in the Cold Fixtures Line"

It is a partial obstruction, because with faucets off, the pressure on the cold side can build to normal. Since all fixtures are affected, this means that the obstruction is in the first section of cold water line before it divides to go to different fixtures. This section of Pex should be entirely behind the pass through wall. Probably the easiest plan is just to replace this section.

Rob