OT Plumbing question

I replaced the faucet and sprayer on the kitchen sink on saturday. The old one was dripping and was some odd brand that no parts were available for. What should have taken an hour or so burned up a good share of the day. I have one of those wrenches for reaching up behind the sink to un do the nuts on the supply pipes, no problem. But those f ing plastic nuts that hold the faucet to the sink had somehow welded themselves in place. I got 1 to turn a bit then it was done. went out to the shop found a bit of tube the correct size and milled 4 slots in the end to fit the 4 bits that stick out of the nut to use as a way to grip the nut. The tool fit the nut perfect, I tried to turn the nut and the 4 bits sticking out sheared off instantly. Sh!t!!! The sink is on an island right in front of the refrigerator. It is too close. The edge of the cabinet I was laying on had about a .020 radius on it. The drain pipes and traps and disposer were to low to get your head under to get a good look at what you are doing. Next I tried to split the nuts with a hammer and chisel, can't see what I am doing, can't get a swing on the hammer, The tool broke the nut instantly but no f ing way was that nut was going to split! Back out to the shop, got the appropriate size hole saw, cut it in half and added a piece of tube to it making it deeper. I put it in my 18v milwaukee drill and reached up there and hole sawed the center out of those bastard nuts! Ok the old one is out! The new one is dead easy to install, bolts right in in about 10 minutes using the original supply pipes, they are exactly the correct length! OK good it all works, no leaks. Problem! It flows about half as fast as the original one, even with the aerator off...I can piss harder than this thing flows....SWIMBO hates it! WTF! Is there some sort of gov. mandated water saving restrictor built in this thing? It is a Moen brand, made in china of course. I hate working on the house!

I have installed several new sinks that dont flow correctly right out of the box....Then I take the aerator off and find little plastic bits from the factory clogging the screen.

I installed a new name brand pull out kitchen faucet. Problem was it had a small ball swivel joint connecting the nozzle to the hose. ball was maybe 3/8" diameter hole was about 1/8". flow was terrible. returned it to the store in a few days.
That small ball sure looked sleek and neat. Hope they lost a lot of money on returned faucets until they change the design.
Bill D.

Mine is a Moen too fairly new also, same shit. The supply lines were much smaller then the old one. Yes I bet it is government regulations just like piss poor water saving toilets now days.

The thing is I replaced the shower at the same time and it has plenty flow, it's also a Moen but I'm running 1/2" pipe straight to that fixture if that matters any?

Brent

I live in the central valley of California and when I go south I can tell by the faucets in the mens room. The further south you go the shorter those push to turn on faucets stay on. By the time you reach LA 3 seconds of water is long.
In California a restaurant can not give you water unless you ask for it.
Does any other state have those waterless urinals in the mens rooms?
Bil lD.
modesto, ca

I've installed a few over the years, the problem has usually been that in order to get hot and cold into the mixer part of the faucet they use smaller hoses than the supply lines, to get them to squeeze into the the valve assembly.

Your government helping you again...

From https://www.portlandoregon.gov/water/article/305150

Prior to 1994, faucets used between 2.75 and 7.0
gallons per minute (gpm). Today, federal requirements
state that residential bathroom and kitchen faucets
have a maximum flow rate of 2.2 gpm, and nonresidential
public restrooms of 0.5 gpm.

So when you are filling your big spaghetti pot, be prepared to wait. I have seen a separate pot filling faucet that I don't believe is limited in flow. It may have been professional restaurant equipment.

If you search, you can probably find the mechanism used to restrict the flow so that it can be modified.

wheels17 said:

Your government helping you again...

From https://www.portlandoregon.gov/water/article/305150

Prior to 1994, faucets used between 2.75 and 7.0
gallons per minute (gpm). Today, federal requirements
state that residential bathroom and kitchen faucets
have a maximum flow rate of 2.2 gpm, and nonresidential
public restrooms of 0.5 gpm.

So when you are filling your big spaghetti pot, be prepared to wait. I have seen a separate pot filling faucet that I don't believe is limited in flow. It may have been professional restaurant equipment.

If you search, you can probably find the mechanism used to restrict the flow so that it can be modified.

Click to expand...

Yeah it's going to get opened up straight away, this thing is stupid slow.

Find a nice looking bathtub faucet for your kitchen sink.

Bill D said:

I live in the central valley of California and when I go south I can tell by the faucets in the mens room. The further south you go the shorter those push to turn on faucets stay on. By the time you reach LA 3 seconds of water is long.
In California a restaurant can not give you water unless you ask for it.
Does any other state have those waterless urinals in the mens rooms?
Bil lD.
modesto, ca

Click to expand...

yup, at the Barnes Museum in Philly, installed a fire feature there I had a hand in assembling, by the staff entrance, at least. a few places here in the city, too.

Right here, we have the biggest river on the continent flowing by, AND water saving faucet restrictors. Makes little sense... What we don't use goes into the Gulf of Mexico, LA can;t get it (although I understand there WAS a proposal to pipe Mississippi water to LA, whether serious or a joke I do not know). I suppose what isn't used does not need to be cleaned and made drinkable, but that's about all the good of acting as if this were a desert.

Used to be the restrictors were a little washer you could remove. Now I think they have to be part of the faucet so they are non-removable.

I've noticed the same thing. I think my TIG torch moves more water through it than a modern faucet.

Don't forget- flow through an orifice is related to differential pressure. Maybe give the reg another turn or two?

You do know why they call them Moen? You look at the price, then start to...moan.

Bill D said:

Does any other state have those waterless urinals in the mens rooms?
Bil lD.
modesto, ca

Click to expand...

Yes, it's called pissing on the floor

Larry, I think I read that your home town has it's own tequilla maker to make that urnine?
Bill D

I installed one of those "water saving" toilets in my master bath, the one I use. Every time I have a BM, I have to flush at least two times, usually three. Otherwise it clogs up and I wind up flushing five or six or even more times for the un-clog procedure. Boy, I am saving a LOT of water. Quote, I'm from the government and I'm here to help. unquote.

I have one of those new kitchen faucets too. It is the biggest time waster in the house while I stand there waiting for something to fill up.

On the other hand, in the wash room I installed a nice water filter system. I made a custom spigot to allow us to fill gallon jugs. I made it from shower fixtures and a ball valve. Talk about flow. It will blast you out of the room if you are not careful. We get all out drinking and cooking water there.

yardbird said:

Mine is a Moen too fairly new also, same shit. The supply lines were much smaller then the old one. Yes I bet it is government regulations just like piss poor water saving toilets now days.

The thing is I replaced the shower at the same time and it has plenty flow, it's also a Moen but I'm running 1/2" pipe straight to that fixture if that matters any?

Brent

Click to expand...

On the original problem of the OP, I too have had fits with those plastic nuts under the sink. They are intended to be only finger tight, but somehow they crud up and lock up.

I made a tool from schedule 40 PVC pipe. I sized it to fit on the plastic nuts, probably 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 diameter pipe. I cut four notches in the end, using drilled holes at the ends for a rounded, stress free design. Then I cut out one side, centered on one of the notches, to allow it to slip over the water tube leading to the fixture. The other end was left fully round and a hole was drilled to allow a screw driver to be inserted for leverage. It works great for both loosening and tightening them. The schedule 40 pipe seems to be heavy enough to take the abuse.

I will try to find it and post a photo.

EPAIII said:

On the original problem of the OP, I too have had fits with those plastic nuts under the sink. They are intended to be only finger tight, but somehow they crud up and lock up.

I made a tool from schedule 40 PVC pipe. I sized it to fit on the plastic nuts, probably 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 diameter pipe. I cut four notches in the end, using drilled holes at the ends for a rounded, stress free design. Then I cut out one side, centered on one of the notches, to allow it to slip over the water tube leading to the fixture. The other end was left fully round and a hole was drilled to allow a screw driver to be inserted for leverage. It works great for both loosening and tightening them. The schedule 40 pipe seems to be heavy enough to take the abuse.

I will try to find it and post a photo.

Click to expand...

I made one of those, the 4 little bits that stick out of the nut broke off the nut with almost no effort at all! I think the nut shrunk with age and locked on the threads.

Back to the low flow toilets. Look for the American Standard model with the 3" flush valve. It is nearly clog proof. It is far better than the 5 gallon flush 1968 toilet on the first floor.

I just took a peek/leak and the urinals in the men's restrooms are .125 gallons per flush. Really? Seems like to do a flush you'd have to have more water in the flush then a guy can go or your just watering it down.

Brent