Delta kitchen faucet - low flow issue

[Donald]

I have your basic single lever Delta kitchen faucet. When I turned on the water in my summer cottage the water flowed fine then went slowed to a dribble. Seems to come out fine from the spray hose and other faucets.

Took off the aerator and it was filled with sediment that looked like sand. But without the aerator it still is only a dribble.

Bought the kit and replaced the the ball and related parts. No change.

I am thinking there is sediment clogging the actual faucet from where the ball is to where the aerator screws on.. Not sure how to unclog it.

Ideas.

 

[wwillson]

Check the shut-off under the sink, it could be plugged. If not, remove the faucet and blow it out after disassembling.

 

[Donald]

If I take it apart again will the spout just pull off and I can try and unclog it?

 

[Donald]

Check the shut-off under the sink, it could be plugged. If not, remove the faucet and blow it out after disassembling.

But the spray hose works fine?

 

[DCDG]

I have your basic single lever Delta kitchen faucet. When I turned on the water in my summer cottage the water flowed fine then went slowed to a dribble. Seems to come out fine from the spray hose and other faucets.

Took off the aerator and it was filled with sediment that looked like sand. But without the aerator it still is only a dribble.

Bought the kit and replaced the the ball and related parts. No change.

I am thinking there is sediment clogging the actual faucet from where the ball is to where the aerator screws on.. Not sure how to unclog it.

Ideas.

Pull the water supply lines off the faucet open the valves holding the lines into a bucket if they flow with force the clogs in the faucet if the stream is weak the supplies may be clogged. Also multi turn supply valves the rubber washers degrade and breakdown over time they'll plug up the supply lines faucet, cartridge and aerator.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

I tend to cut to the chase. I start at the water valves, check for flow hot and cold. If good flow, then replace everything above including a new faucet. Even in retirement my time can be valuable. If valves need replaced you will find out and can act accordingly. Pretty much I will be good for ten years or so.

How old and how expensive is the faucet.

 

[DCDG]

But the spray hose works fine?

Separate sprayer could be in the faucet neck

 

[ecotourist]

I tend to cut to the chase. I start at the water valves, check for flow hot and cold. If good flow, then replace everything above including a new faucet. Even in retirement my time can be valuable. If valves need replaced you will find out and can act accordingly. Pretty much I will be good for ten years or so.

If you do replace the faucet assembly, suggest you buy it at a plumbing store. Costs a bit more than at the big box stores, but it seems the apparently identical assemblies aren't actually the same.

 

[Nukeman7]

If I take it apart again will the spout just pull off and I can try and unclog it?

Your symptoms do suggest an obstruction inside the spout downstream of the ball valve and before the aerator. You should be able to lift the spout off the assembly since they are normally held in place by two large o-rings as shown below.

 

[ka9mnx]

I had the same problem with a Delta remote spray nozzle. Tiny little holes kept getting clogged with tiny bits of sand. But, after removing the spray nozzle, flow was still not the best.

I ditched the Delta and bought a new kitchen faucet, without the remote spray nozzle. Also went to Amazon and bought two rock catcher filters (for hot/cold water pipes).

 

[JayhawkRoy]

If you do replace the faucet assembly, suggest you buy it at a plumbing store. Costs a bit more than at the big box stores, but it seems the apparently identical assemblies aren't actually the same.

My experience has been somewhat mixed with actual plumbing suppliers. My last two replacements (I maintain several properties that I for family mostly). When I was working full time, I had to use stores that were actually available on Saturdays. That occasionally limited my choices.

That said, my last two kitchen faucet installs were with faucets from the Groehe brands from Costco. In the current house, I probably will have to go to a Ferguson store to get replacements/parts/etc when I need them because that is where the plumber got them from and I will probably need to do a match. East or West, Ferguson stores are over 20 miles from my house, in "little 97K pop Lawrence KS". The big box stores have taken over this town for building/plumbing supplies.

Needless to say YMMV can vary a lot. I do ttry to think ahead and take my time to find good choices in advance of the crisis.

 

[zzyzzx]

Remove the aerator and if flow is still bad try shoving a piece of wire into the faucet (with the water running) to see if that part is clogged. The seats and springs area from the above diagram could also have debris.

 

[DCDG]

All this faucet talk. This is the junk I’m handed to install at the motel property. Surprisingly they take the abuse.

 

[Donald]

Your symptoms do suggest an obstruction inside the spout downstream of the ball valve and before the aerator. You should be able to lift the spout off the assembly since they are normally held in place by two large o-rings as shown below.

View attachment 340690

So I found the problem. See the small hole in the faucet body facing toward the sink? Mine has some little plastic thing, maybe a one way valve. See photo. The plastic thing fits in that hole in the faucet body. It had some sand and crud in the plastic thing. Might have stopped the one way valve from opening.

 

[DCDG]

That looks like the diverter that switches between spout and sprayer

 

[Nukeman7]

So I found the problem. See the small hole in the faucet body facing toward the sink? Mine has some little plastic thing, maybe a one way valve. See photo. The plastic thing fits in that hole in the faucet body. It had some sand and crud in the plastic thing. Might have stopped the one way valve from opening.

That is the diverter valve that sends water flow to the pull-out spray hose assembly.

 

[alarmguy]

I had the same problem with a Delta remote spray nozzle. Tiny little holes kept getting clogged with tiny bits of sand. But, after removing the spray nozzle, flow was still not the best.

I ditched the Delta and bought a new kitchen faucet, without the remote spray nozzle. Also went to Amazon and bought two rock catcher filters (for hot/cold water pipes).

I had something like this happen with our SC home too. Was a new build and about 7 years later (approx) the kitchen Delta faucet sprayer would just dribble. No sand or sediment. Public water.
Anyway, instead of fooling around with it I replaced with new which was the fastest route to fixing it.