Help with Moen Single Hole Faucet

Two weeks ago we installed a new single hole Moen faucet in our kitchen. After working beautifully for 3 days, suddenly, we had no cold water. We uninstalled and checked all parts along the line from our cold water valve to the end of the hose. Our water fine, supply line hose clear, water runs both ways through the faucet itself when removed. We could find no apparent blockage. Before trying to replace cartridge, Moen cust. service suggested we see if water came up through the cartridge when the top of the handle was removed. Normally, water would shoot up through when valve turned back on. We receive only a trickle on the cold side. Hot water is fine. We returned faucet and exchanged for another identical one. Reinstalled. At first, we had same problem. Went back through all the connections again testing for clear lines. All fine. Our cold water definitely is fine. Suddenly, after reinstalling a second time, it worked. Worked fine for 4 days this time and suddenly yesterday no cold water again. What could possibly be wrong? Hot water runs just fine, no loss of pressure. Our cold water valve has plenty of pressure - as we found out initially, thinking it was our valve we turned it on and nearly flooded kitchen!! Is it something we did in installation that takes 3 or 4 days to block something? Could it be the model of faucet? This is so frustrating! Any help would be appreciated. (When we talked to Moen during the 1st incident there help line person was perplexed and had no answer)
Thanks, Sharonv

Unless there's a pressure balancing spool, which I doubt, the only thing I can think of is that your shutoff valve on the cold side is bad or that some sort of gunk is coming through on the cold side and is plugging up the cartridge. Why don't you just pull the cartridge and see if there's any gunk. Sometimes, a bit of the old rubber washers or seats can remain in the line and plug things up.

It might also be helpful to know the exact model Moen we are talking about.

Possible gunk?

First, it is a Moen Extensa Single Handle Pull Out Faucet, Model 87560C. When it works, it is wonderful.

When my husband installed the first faucet, he added some water proof plumbing "goop" at the joints, hoping to ensure no leaks. (Not suggested but he was acting on instinct?) Initially, because our hot and cold valve faucets were mislabled - blue for hot and red for cold - the water temps in the faucet were reversed. He then unhooked and rehooked the supply lines to the correct water temp valves. We thought at first that some of the goop he used around the fittings might have gotten into the lines somewhere and clogged the cold water. However, we flushed all the lines and reamed them out with a wire still the first new faucet had no cold. We even took out the cartridge and replaced. Then we installed the second faucet. As I said earlier, we still had no cold water after the second faucet installation. We again took off the supply lines and checked for flow. We did run a wire through them to make sure they were clear. Water ran easily through all of the separate sections. It was strange that when we first installed the second faucet it did not work but did after we checked the supply lines again. As far as we could tell, all of this "goop" was removed.
If this is the source of the problem, why would the faucet work for several days before stopping. We also ran a wire through the cold water line in the first faucet in case there was a blockage. If "goop" did get in the cartridge, why would the hot water be fine but not the cold? Once the hot and cold lines come into the cartridge,they are mingled. Why would it take several days for the problem to occur? If this could be the problem, how do we find and remove any of this "goop?" We have run wires and brushes through all the places that we could. Why would the hot work but not the cold? Wouldn't the cartridge be blocked for any water?
Thanks for help. Sharon

Did you put new shutoff valves on? Washers in them can swell or get twisted.

You might be able to narrow things down a bit by reversing the supply lines again. If you still can't get any cold, then the problem is in the shutoff valve or the supply line. If you can get cold, but not hot, your problem is in the faucet.

faucet

The problem with trying to diagnose your situation is that there should be no way it could happen. The "ports" in the faucet from the shut off valve through the hoses, the the cartridge, and out to the spout are large enough that it should take a major accumulation to close them off. Remove the cartridge and turn on the cold water carefully and see if water comes out of the faucet.

faucet

We'll try reversing the supply lines first to narrow it down as verdeboy suggested as that is easier than removing the cartridge. We know we have plenty of water and water pressure coming out of the valve. Then we can try the cartridgen if it is not that. It just seems strange that everything would work just perfectly for 3 and then 4 days and then abruptly stop. The second time it happened, I used the faucet and it was fine and then about an hour later the cold stopped. I'll let you all know what happens after we take the next two steps. Have to wait until after the work day on Tuesday now. By the way, what is a pressure balancing spool? Will it tell us in the specs? There is not a lot of info with the faucet. As so many directions are these days, we only get a sheet with pictures - no words - for installation. We had to go online to find out any other info but do not remember anything about balancing spool. Frustrating, as the faucet is so wonderful when it works! We went with Moen because we were told that it was a better product than some of the other brands. Don't dare buy another until we know what the problem is. Thanks for help. Sharon

moen is junk anyway....

if you bought it at lowes take it back

I dont trust moen one bit

they are an absolute expensive pain


if you can get your money back....do so

and then get a Delta


just chalk it up to experience

sharonv said:

By the way, what is a pressure balancing spool? Sharon

Click to expand...

A pressure balancing spool prevents the water from getting too cold or too hot. For example, if someone flushes a toilet, instead of the water becoming scalding hot, it will lower the hot water pressure to match the cold. So the water temp. stays constant. Sometimes this PBS valve gets stuck and you get no water from either the hot or the cold. I'm sure your kitchen faucet doesn't have one, cuz they are only (mostly) found in shower/tub valves.

spool

YOu can be absolutely positive your faucet does not have a balancing spool, period. In fact the most common places where it could plug up are after the "handle" so it would affect both hot and cold water equally.

This could be one for the books!

As suggested by an earlier reply, we (my husband, Dick) reversed the hot and cold supply lines this afternoon. The hot water continued to work fine although it was on the opposite side of the faucet - turning the faucet to the right to get cold, now got hot. So, he decided it had to be in the supply line somewhere. He reamed out the new supply line he had installed (when he did the new faucet). No problem. Then he connected the supply line to the cold water line and tried running it into a bucket. It was very weak - not what it had been once before. Checked the new supply line again. No problem. Took a wire and put it down into the cold water pipe coming up from the supply line. Nothing at first but then he heard a clunking noise as the water ran for a few seconds and then stopped. Fished around again and then put into a bucket again. Out popped a small set screw!!! (It was about 1/2 inches in length with about a 1/4 inch head) What I did not mention earlier, as I did not think it important, was that the reason we were getting a new faucet was because we had just had our counter and sink replaced. The cold water pipe comes straight up toward the sink from the valve. We can only guess that somehow, when the company was removing the old counter and sink that one of the sink set screws fell into the open cold water pipe. It must have tumbled around for a few days the first time, finally settling into a position that blocked 95% of the cold water. When we were replacing the first faucet, trying to flush the line, banging on the pipes, etc., we must have dislodged the block and that is why the cold water suddenly came back - see first post that we did not know why it suddenly worked. After a few days, the screw must have settled back down into a blocking position. Apparently, the wire poking, along with the pressure from the line must have finally dislodged it enough that it was pushed out of the line.
Now, we assume that the screw must have inadvertanly dropped into the open cold water supply pipe when they were removing the old counter - a very difficult job - and sink. We had chosen not to pay the high price (so it seemed to us) to have their plumber install the new faucet. We saved many hundreds of dollars. The chance that this set screw would fall into the small opening of the cold water pipe seems almost 1 in a million. Thus, the one for the records title. The only other answer is that it was dropped deliberately by the counter people since we were not paying the extra cost for a plumber. We could not believe that they would really bring a plumber from such a long distance from their company just to install a simple faucet. Since we were not home when the installation was done we would never have know whether or not a plumber truly came. I want to believe in the best of people so will assume that it was a 1 in a million chance.
We now have wonderful cold water and our faucet is wonderful. We are very happy with this new style and hope that it will last many years. (It seemed strange about the bad Moen postings above - they did not appear to be legitimate answers.)
Thanks for everyone's advice. Trying the supply lines first to determine the source of the problem was great. Luckily, Dick, thought to probe the cold water pipe which had appeared to be working just fine. And, luckily, the water pressure was enough to push the screw out. My misgivings about his plumbing ability on easy jobs were wrong! Have a great week everyone. Sharon

Your faucet works, and your husband's a hero -- life is good . I rise to defend Moen -- every faucet in my house, aside from the hose bibs and one old shower, is Moen, and I'm very happy with them. Their customer service is the best I've had from any supplier of any kind. Having said that, I must admit that the old shower faucet is a Delta that's presumably been in place since 1973, and is still working fine. And, the reason I know how good Moen's customer service is, is that I call them so often. I installed a kitchen sink faucet about 11 years ago, and have replaced lots of parts over the years, which I blame on really cruddy water. Nevertheless, they've helped me through all the repairs, and keep sending repair parts at no cost. I'm a happy camper.

Why would you install a new faucet using the old supply lines? When the faucet is removed, the supply lines come off as well. I usually end up installing new supply stops as well. Glad it worked out for you, though.

Supply lines

We did use new supply lines. I think I was confusing in explanation. When we first did new faucet, we also did new supply lines. Incorrectly thinking it was the faucet at fault, we exchanged and reinstalled the 2nd faucet but used the same new supply lines. As it turned out it was neither of those but a screw in the copper pipe attached to the valve - the pipe that you screw the new supply lines onto.