Pressure loss after installing PEX in place of copper

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MikeKenmore

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i replaced the hot and cold lines to my kitchen sink to facilitate some plumbing reconfiguration in the basement (moving a washing machine). at the two branches where the old washing machine was fed, i couldn't get the water to stop dripping to solder on a cap, so i used the white bread technique. for replacing the rest of the 1/2" copper line to the sink, i used 1/2" PEX. the length of the run is about 18ft.

so, is it the PEX that caused the pressure drop, or do i just need to wait for the white bread to disintegrate?

will this loss of pressure (hopefully temporary) adversely affect my dishwasher which is also fed at the kitchen sink?

thanks
 

CountryBumkin

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1/2" PEX is smaller internally than 1/2 copper so that could result in a loss of flow, but would not lower pressure. Sounds like you "bread" is causing an obstruction. Did you flush the line before connecting to your faucet and dishwasher? If not it may take a while for the bread to completely disintegrate if it is wrapped around the faucet cartridge or dishwasher shutoff solenoid.
 

MikeKenmore

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i didn't flush the line. it seems like the volume of water coming out the faucet is similar to before (maybe 5-10% less). but, there's no aeration right now. haven't run the dishwasher.
 

Jadnashua

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A modern kitchen faucet is flow restricted, so that run of pex should be more than adequate to provide all of the pressure (that doesn't change with pipe size statically) and volume that faucet can use as long as there's no restriction along the way. You might notice if the valve was unrestricted, like maybe a tub spout or outdoor hose bib, but not on a kitchen faucet.
 
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