I'm in the process of moving into a house, and in my bathroom there I have hot water, but no cold (hot water comes from both lines), I turn on the handle for the cold and its hot, I turn on the handle for the hot and its still hot, even after I let it run for a few minutes. I looked at the lines in the basement there and the bathroom line for the cold water is hooked into the same line as the kitchen cold water, the kitchen has cold, but not the bathroom. Anyone have any ideas as to what the problem could be here? I dont know the first thing about plubming so I need some help on this one
COMMUNITY FORUM
What you might have to do is to trace the line. As difficult as it may seem, you have to check if somone didn't cross the lines someplace inside the walls. If you run the line for a long period of time and you still get hot water, then there has to be a crossover. Here's what I would do. Disconnect the cold water supply tube under the sink. Install a long flexible fluidmaster supply tube about 24" from the hardware store. Run the tube into a bucket and turn on the angle stop. Let it run for a while. If you still have hot water, then there is definately a crossover. Then try the same thing on the hot line, if you get the same result, you have two hot lines.
If the cold line gets cold, then there is a problem with the faucet itself. Even though you think its going to the cold, its only allowing hot to flow. This is a standard problem with a single lever faucet. Many of them allow crossover of hot into the cold water line. Typically its the shower faucet that causes it, but sometimes its the lav faucet. It happens because a faucet is basicly a connection between the hot and cold system. Whenever you flush a toilet, it draws water from the closest available source. So, it will draw water through the crossover in the faucet from the hot side as well as the cold side. This is because water always goes through the path of least resistance. Each fitting on a water line creates resistance. If there are more fittings on the cold line than the hot line, the water will draw through the hot line. A check valve or a dual handle faucet generally solves that type of problem.
Raymond VinZant Plumbing Prof.
If the cold line gets cold, then there is a problem with the faucet itself. Even though you think its going to the cold, its only allowing hot to flow. This is a standard problem with a single lever faucet. Many of them allow crossover of hot into the cold water line. Typically its the shower faucet that causes it, but sometimes its the lav faucet. It happens because a faucet is basicly a connection between the hot and cold system. Whenever you flush a toilet, it draws water from the closest available source. So, it will draw water through the crossover in the faucet from the hot side as well as the cold side. This is because water always goes through the path of least resistance. Each fitting on a water line creates resistance. If there are more fittings on the cold line than the hot line, the water will draw through the hot line. A check valve or a dual handle faucet generally solves that type of problem.
Raymond VinZant Plumbing Prof.
