Water Pressure Drop

[Bandion]

My bathroom faucet, (cold water only) when i turn on the water, the GPM will drop if it turn it on fast. If i turn it on slow, the GPM will steadily increase, then eventually will drop. I can get a higher volume of water if i go slow.

What is causing this and what can i do to fix it? I do not notice this happening in the basement deepsink or the kitchen sink.

Thanks for your help
Carl

[drtyhands]

Do you know what kind of style,brand faucet?

[Bandion]

It is a Kholer brand. valve on either side of the spigot.

[drtyhands]

There are some very qualified plumbers here that are good at troubleshooting existing fixtures.Because the other fixtures are working satisfactory I would assume your Kohler faucet has issues.Not my claim to fame.

[Bandion]

I honestly didnt think the faucet would cause this. I assumed it was something in the piping. I will pull the valve apart tomorrow and see what happens.
Thanks

[PLUMBER RICK]

carl, verify the angle stop is fully opened.

before you disassemble the kohler faucet. disconnect the feed line and test the flow there. you can even back flush the cold from the hot side of the faucet to test it's flow.

is the house copper or gal? does it affect any other sink or fixture?

rick.

[Bandion]

"you can even back flush the cold from the hot side of the faucet to test it's flow. "

umm what??

the house is copper and it is only this faucet that is doing it.

i dont know alot about plumbing... very much just a DIYfer that got tired of the pressure dropping when i turned on the spigot.

[PLUMBER RICK]

is there any noise associated with this?

does the faucet have a sprayer?

back flushing is very simple.

once you disconnect the cold water feed from the faucet. you will then put a bucket under the cold connection from the faucet. open the cold full and turn on the hot. there will either be a large flow coming out the cold side or a little flow.

little flow means plugged inside the faucet. large flow is good.

while the faucet cold is disconnected, turn the cold valve/ angle stop on and run it into a bucket to check the flow. it could be an angle stop.

these are a few simple test to isolate the problem.

rick.

[Bandion]

Noise.. yes there is, i have always refered to it as water hammer.. it is a thud then the pressure drops. (didnt realize i didnt put it inthe OP sorry)

The faucet does not have a sprayer.

Had to re-read the instructions for the back flow a few times to make sure i understood.. and yea it does sound very simple.. I will give that a shot tomorrow and repost with my results.

[PLUMBER RICK]

the noise is a loose washer. either in the faucet or shut off valve. tighten it and you're good to go.;)

rick.

[NHMaster3015]

You can try taking off and flushing out the sediment screen at the end of the spout. I have run into a large grain of sand that caused a similar situation.

[Bandion]

The problem was the cold side of the faucet. i did a back flow, but it was not as good as it should be... and then i broke the faucet trying to get to the stem valve/washers, so now have a brand new faucet!!! lol

I also replaced the angle stops as they were leaking when i shut them off.

Thank you for all of your help

Carl