Faucets start leaking after replacing water heater

[nisryus]

Got the water heater replaced yesterday, the old one was 16+ years old and we could see sediment rocking inside whenever we use hot water.

Funny thing is that after it was replaced, the two faucets in two of the up stair bathrooms started to leak water (one is for the bathtub, the other for the shower).

They were never leak before. But yesterday the plumber advised us to turn on the faucets in the house to flush the line, after the water heater was replaced. We did so and ran the water for 15 minutes out of all of the faucets around the house. Everything was fine until we gone to turn off those two faucets. One is dripping a drop of water every 10 seconds. the other are a tiny stream. That was last night and the plumber was already gone.

The two faucets might be coming off the same water line, as the two bathroom are next to each other with the faucets back against each other. Could the cartridges on both gone bad at the same time after the water heater replacement?

 

[Greenman]

Every faucet in your house comes off the same water line as there is only one.
It's possible that you debris in the valves, and may have to dismantle them to remove it.

 

[Paperdoc]

Yes, that is possible. The replacement operation would shake loose some debris in the water lines. That is why you were advised to flush all the lines. But is is possible that a few bits of junk - the size of a grain of sand or speck of dust - could get caught in the parts of the cartridge of a valve, preventing it from sealing completely. This does not necessarily mean the cartridges are badly damaged. If you are a home handy-person with a few common tools, you can do the simpler work yourself. If your faucet system is a one-handle unit that controls both water supplies, I am not familiar with their innards and cannot tell you the proper way.

If your faucet units are the more common two-handle system, I suggest you do this work on BOTH valves at each sink/tub that leaks, because you can't be sure which of the two valves is leaking. Shut off the house water supply valve and open up each of the leaking faucets. Remove the cartridge and inspect it carefully for signs of dirt specks. Rotate it to be sure. Get a flashlight and look down into the top of the faucet. At its bottom there will be a small round rubber thing sitting in a hole. Using a thin rod or hook, reach into its centre and pull it up out of the faucet body. You will see a small spring under it in the hole. Examine that rubber collar and ensure it is clean. Unless you see flaws like a notch in the rubber or in the plastic cartridge, fit the spring and rubber collar back into the hole, then replace the cartridge and re-assemble the faucet. Once you have done both leakers, turn on the water and test. Even if you did not notice a speck of junk to remove, you may have cleaned it out so it works again.

If you spot a problem, take the cartridge and the rubber collar and its spring to the store so you can match it up against their varuious replacement models. Unless the faucet systems in each bathroom are the same, note that the cartidges MAY be different.

 

[nisryus]

Thank you PD.

I just turn off the cold water line and the water intake to the heater one by one, just try to see which might be the issue, turn out its the hotwater line.

So very likely as you have said could be sediments got into the cartridges. Wife said she saw some black sand like stuff from the faucets when she turned them on yesterday during the flush the hotwater line.

Its a one handle type, so i will turn off the main water and take the cartridge out and see whats going on.

 

[Paperdoc]

Good. Godd Luck! And while you;re at it, remove and clean the aerator on the end of the faucet over the sink - it may have debris caught in its screens.

 

[nisryus]

Got one of the cartridge repalced. When I took out the old one, there were some black sediments (like fine sands) stuck inside. Once the cartridge was replaced, everything worked like a charm. No more leak.

But since I only had one cartridge, I was only able to fix one faucet. However, Moen support is shipping me a replacement cartridge. I was surprised they really honored their warranty.

 

[Paperdoc]

Thanks for the update. Great to hear it worked!

 

[Scarpozzi]

Got one of the cartridge repalced. When I took out the old one, there were some black sediments (like fine sands) stuck inside. Once the cartridge was replaced, everything worked like a charm. No more leak.

But since I only had one cartridge, I was only able to fix one faucet. However, Moen support is shipping me a replacement cartridge. I was surprised they really honored their warranty.

I had an American Standard faucet I bought years ago that was new in the box. The cartridge leaked the day I installed it. Apparently, it's easy to crack the housing when you install them (poor design maybe?). I contacted them and without any proof of purchase or age, I was able to tell them the product and they quickly shipped me the $26 worth of parts to fix the unit. My complaint was that I didn't overtighten anything, knowing how the parts were plastic and it was obvious they still had issues. Good to know Moen has similar warranty support.

 

[nisryus]

I got an update from Moen via email, but instead of the replacement cartridge, they are sending me a 50% discount code for use on their site.. So whatever the phone support told me was not honored.

The reason, stated in the email, was that because I took out the cartridge myself. Anytime if any part is installed or removed by owner, the warranty would be voided.

Going to stop by Lowes tomorrow afternoon. =/

 

[Paperdoc]

That's a nasty kind of policy by Moen. I protects them from a unit damaged by a user .But it also means NO home user can do ANY service work on the product they bought and still retain warranty rights!

 

[bbhaag]

Sucks that Moen did that but yeah it doesn't surprise me.
Are you heading to Lowes for a replacement cartridge or are you just going to replace the entire faucet? The only reason I ask is because it has been my experience that hardware stores carry a very limited selection of replacement cartridges and it seems like every faucet even within the same brand uses a slightly different one. It's really frustrating......

Anyway I guess what I'm trying to say is make sure Lowes actually has the cartridge in stock before you go. If they don't I've had great success using Ebay of all places. As long as you know the model number of the faucet you are replacing the cartridge on you should be good.

 

[nisryus]

I checked and Lowes has 6 in stock as of this morning, and Home Depot has 4. Should be good.