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Author:
KarenS (CA)
Our 15-year-old 50 gallon gas water heater was recently replaced because of leaking. Now there is barely any pressure from the kitchen faucet. We called the the water heater replacement company (water heaters are all they do) to come back because of this problem and because the faucets with recirculating hot water took forever to get hot. He said the recirculating hot water was turned off and he turned it back on. As for the kitchen faucet pressure problem, he said that nothing he did in the heater replacement would affect the pressure. My question is: is this true? Directly after he left, the kitchen faucet pressure is a trickle and it takes forever to get hot.(The kitchen faucet is not connected to recirculating heater--it takes longer to get hot normally, but now we can run (or trickle) the faucet for four minutes ans it still isn't hot.)
Since I don't know which factors are significant, I'll throw them all in:
1) we live at the top of a steep hill. Water pressure is never great, but it's ok.
2) the bottom story contains the bedrooms and the water heater.
3) top story has the kitchen. The kitchen pressure has always been lower, but still ok.
4) We have recirculating heater that goes to the downstairs faucets, but not the upstairs kitchen.
Sure hope you guys can guide me on this.
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Author:
jblanche (WI)
Did you clean the aerators?
Remove the aerator from the spout. Check it for debris.
Turn on the water full blast, hot. And then cold.
Turn the fixture stops (under the sink) all the way OFF and then back ON.
If none of these lead to clearance you can attempt to backflush the faucet:
Turn OFF the fixture stops.
Disconnect the faucet's HOT supply hose from the fixture stop.
Set the faucet handle so it is mixing hot and cold 50/50.
Put the fixture stop end of the hot supply hose in a large bucket.
Turn on the cold fixture stop.
Plug the faucet with your hand.
See if any debris dumps into the bucket.
Worked for me. Good luck.
*******************************
Links to the State of Wisconsin Plumbing Code:
[dsps.wi.gov]
*******************************
I am not a plumber.
*******************************
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Author:
KarenS (CA)
Thanks for the reply. The plumber did clean the faucets for debris. No improvement in pressure.
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Author:
packy
well, i guess it depends on what the plumber cleaned. if he just removed the aerator and there was no improvement then there may be debris somewhere else inside the faucet.
if your faucet has a spray attachment then there is a diverter inside somewhere. that could be the problem.
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Author:
hj
If both hot and cold pressures are the same, especially if it stays constant no matter where you have the handles set, then the problem is in the faucet "somewhere", but a good plumber would have diagnosed and made the cure.
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Author:
mrmac (TX)
Is is a single or double handle faucet? Is it just the hot water, or both? Are all the other fixtures in the house working properly? My guess would be debris in the mixing part of a single handle faucet, or debris in the stop valve under the sink. Any time you change a heater there is the potential for scale or other debris to be loosened, and go to a fixture. Do you have galvanized pipe, copper, or other water pipe?
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Author:
Wheelchair
You didn't mention if the Water Heater Installers were Licensed Plumbers, only that is all they did. You now need a Licensed Plumber that performs service evaluations and repairs to evaluate you water source and system. Your pressure and volume issues include so many "Maybe n Mights" that it requires an onsite inspection to resolve.
I wish you the best.
Best Wishes
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Author:
jblanche (WI)
Did you try anything from the rest of my suggestions? That wasn't a #tweet that I posted. 
*******************************
Links to the State of Wisconsin Plumbing Code:
[dsps.wi.gov]
*******************************
I am not a plumber.
*******************************
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