Two New Faucets - One Has Rusty Water, Black Specks

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S & J

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In December 2006, we REPLACED FAUCETS for both of our bathrooms (Pegasus, up/Delta, down) in the home where we have lived for 30 years. No problem with downstairs - but immediately we began to see BLACK CHUNKS & SPECKS, along with RUSTY WATER, coming from the upstairs faucet.

We removed the aerator and FLUSHED OUT the faucet, which took care of the black specks & chunks (for a while), but when the FAUCET IS FIRST TURNED ON - RUSTY WATER STILL COMES OUT (clears later).

We gave the faucet a couple months to flush itself out, then called Home Depot, who immediately sent us a couple of NEW CYLINDER inserts to see if that was the problem. When the original cylinders were removed, we noticed the copper around the base was RUSTY looking. We're not sure if this was a manufacturing defect OR caused from exposure to the rusty water OR if the problem may be further "upstream" - in the pipes in the wall. Even with the new insert, the water is still rusty (when first turned on).

Today, I again removed the aerator, cloroxed the filters and flushed out the faucet. MORE BLACK SPECKS. Water is still rusty.

Since we really LOVE the Pegasus faucet design - and blogs affirm overall satisfaction with the product - we would hate to replace it, only to find out the problem is in our pipes. Someone suggested that perhaps some debris may have been dislodged during faucet installation. We would appreciate thoughts on that, please.

QUESTION: If the rusty water and black debris IS coming from the pipes, how can that be determined and is that something that the average homeowner/handyman can fix? Or is this something for the plumber?
THANKS!
 

Racer814

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yep....I agree with rugged...... I would check the stops first

rust could possibly be coming from the water heater.....how old is it?
 
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Cass

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If the stops are threaded there is a good chance they are galvanized.
I have seen a few DIY jobs where the stub out was threaded galvanized into copper. If it is you want to changethe nipple to brass and install a new stop and supply line if you didn't already change it.
 

S & J

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Shut off valves

Thank you ALL for your immediate responses!!

What we are seeing sure does look like residue from a washer. It's that black.

PIPING SYSTEM is COPPER. There are NO SHUT OFF VALVES for the SINK faucets in upstairs bath - only for the toilet. We must shut off the water to the bathroom at the lowest level of our house. ALL our shut off VALVES there were replaced (SOLDERED) by a professional plumber about 5-6 years ago.

We just checked - the PIPE GOING INTO THE WALL from the TOILET SHUT OFF stop IS GALVINIZED. But the sink WATER SUPPLY LINES connect to COPPER.

We bought NEW WATER SUPPLY LINES for the new faucet - 3/8" BrassCraft polymer braid. Because the ones we bought were grey in color, I was wondering if they were meant for gas. (Or are they all this color?) These were hanging in the store with plumbing supplies. The water supply line & nut are sealed with a "stainless fixture setting compound - PLUMBERS PUTTY (grey in color).

HOT WATER TANK is 6 years old. We considered that as a possibility, but we figured that couldn't be it if we are only getting rust in ONE faucet. (I HOPE it isn't - our warranty ran out last month!)

What really jumps up and down for us is that all our PROBLEMS BEGAN WITH the INSTALLATION of this ONE FAUCET, and that all symptoms are CONFINED TO this ONE LOCATION.

Q: Do you still think we should check the shut off valve leading up to the bathroom? (If that were the problem, wouldn't there be rust & specks in the upstairs shower & toilet, too?)

AGAIN - thanks so much for your support & input! <S&J>
 

S & J

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Black specks, Rusty Water Mystery Solved

Today the plumber disassembled the Pegasus faucet and found it full of black gunk.. rusted out around where the mixer seats to the faucet. Even the new cylinders Home Depot had supplied looked as rusty as the ones we replaced a few weeks ago. So I took my beautiful faucet back to Home Depot where we exchanged it for a DELTA ("Leland" like the downstairs faucet). I didn't get my white handles, but at least we feel we have quality.

I have to say that Home Depot was a great support through it all.

Thanks to all you grandmasters of plumbing for YOUR support! Hope our experience helps someone else out there. <S><
 
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