low water pressure – main valve problem??

I shut the water main off to my house while doing some work. When I turned the valve back on there was no water. I turned it on and off a few times and the water started to flow. The problem is that now I have much lower pressure than before. I am assuming that the valve is only partly open. Please give advise. Are there any tricks to get that valve to fully open without having to shut off the water at the meter and replacing the main valve? Would heating the valve/pipe help?

I assume the pressure is there but not the volume. Is the volume low everywhere or just certain places? If it is at certain sinks only you may just have debris in the sink aerators. If you have the water flowing and turn the valve you should be able to ascertain if the valve is opening and closing. I would think if the valve was broken the valve would not change at all when turned.

Toliet water low

After flushing my toliet, the water in the bowl fills up to the proper level. Then very slowly it drains out to a level that is much to low. It usually takes about 3-4 minutes to do so. I have checked everything in the tank and that’s working properly and it flushes fine. The only problem is the low water level in the bowl. What causes this? Maybe a clogged sewer line?

Try filling the bowl with a bucket by pouring the water in very slowly, if it drops over a period of 3-4 minutes then you may have a problem with the toilet itself, possibly the trap-way. If it drops after flushing or when repeatedly using other Plumbing fixtures in the house, I would lean towards a problem with the drain, downstream of the toilet.

Leaking water supply lines

I just replaced an old three piece lavatory facet set with a new set. I have everything installed per the instructions however I have bad leaks where the water lines conncect to the new valves under the sink.
The connector nuts are not stripped and their is a washer in place with each water supply line. I have tried to tighten these conncections several times but they leak no matter what
I believe that these are compression fittings and I recall years ago I had similar problems reconnecting a water supply line under a toilet tank.
What can I do to connect these water supply lines so that I no longer have leaks? Thank you.

A pair of braided stainless steel faucet supply lines make installation “Idiot Proof” in fact, even I can use them!
I use them on every installation where the supply line will not stand out like a sore thumb. They are a incredibly reliable method of connecting toilets, faucets, dishwashers, icemakers, & washing machines. Your faucet more than likely connects with 3/8″ compression on one end and 1/2″ on the other end, they will be labeled as faucet supplies. Do not get the “Watts Floodsafe” connectors! If they are all the store you go to has you need to go to another store. If you want my reasons post back I have them! Lots of them!

toliet won’t flush

I was just curious if any one could help with this problem. The toliet will give one good flush first thing in the morning and then we have to fill up a bucket to get it to flush completely the rest of the time. we had a septic tank cleaned and new tank put on, but this did not fix the problem. Anyone got any ideas?

Your septic sounds ok since the bucket of water empties the bowl.

What is more important is the “NEW TANK.”
Mating a tank with a toilet base, requires not only OEM products and using the right tank replacement for your base.

A good example of this is using a 1.6 gpf tank on a toilet base that requires a 3.5 gpf. This might be the reason you need the bucket to complete the flush cycle.

I know that you tried your best and it didn’t resolve your problem.
The answer could be a new toilet. Maybe not. If you have doubts, contact a licensed plumber in your area for a professional resolve.

Best Wishes

lead drain pipe – toilet

My toilet drain pipe is lead & had a tiny hole on the top of the horizontal part of the elbow – repaired with plumbers epoxy. But 2 plumbers I had look at it for estimates said there were additional “cracks” in the pipe and it would have to be replaced. Are they correct? It was a quick, ” you have a crack -you have cracks” without really showing me where they were. (I did see one myself, see below.)Cost to replace pipe is between $1200 & $1400 = expensive. So the questions are: 1) Do lead pipes crack as lead is soft? 2) Could these cracks, one of them appears to be a simple line almost as if the pipe expanded at that spot – could these “cracks” be scoring? One opinion is that they are, whatever scoring is. If I must repair this pipe, fine, but wasting money is stupid. The building is over 100 years old and this lead drain pipe may last another 100 years. I also have a washing machine in the same area that vibrates a bit so if I replace lead pipe with cast iron (nyc code) maybe this new cast iron drain pipe has more chance to crack than a soft lead pipe. This is upsetting, please help asap.

“The building is over 100 years old and this lead drain pipe may last another 100 years.”

>Very unlikely. Have the toilet drain replaced ASAP, the price quotes may not be out of line but for your own peace of mind, get another estimate if you have two already. As for the vibrating WM, make sure that the machine is perfectly level and not rocking or it can ‘walk’ from its position and cause major problems.

Hot Water problem

IM RENTING A HOUSE THE OWNER SAID NO ONE LIVED HERE FOR TWO YEARS, NOTICED THE WATER PROBLEM IMMED AT FIRST THE HOT WATER SMELLED AND HAD A SHORT RUN, SO HE THEN REPLACED WATER HEATER, STILL DIDNT REMOVE THE CLOUDISH GRAY COLORED STINKY HOT WATER, IT BURNS TO TAKE A SHOWER, PLEASE HELP ME WHERE MIGHT THE SMELL BE COMING FROM

What is the source of the water? City? Well? You can take a clean sample of your water to the county for free testing. Based on the results you might have some suggestions for your landlord or the building’s owner.

The water system may be in need of major flushing too.
You can also have your water tested by a certified water specialist
to determine what is burning your body, besides the heat.

Zoeller Switch Housing Has Water In It

Hello..

Zoeller M53 stopped working the other day. Reading several posts figured I would check the switch. Opened up the housing and it was full of water. Played with the wires a bit and got it to work.

1) Since water got in the housing, is the pump ruined or can I replace the switch, gasket, and wire seal and be ok?

2) One of the posts that the switch connects to broke off so I rigged it up to make a connection. It is a plastic screw-in piece that connects the switch to the pump and provides a seal with the threads. Is this a part that can be ordered? EDIT: Yup..Found it online for $100

Pump is at least 15 years old..time for a new one?

Thanks

since it would cost more to pay a plumber to get the parts and repair the pump, you can understand why most of us don’t fix pumps. we replace them.
saw the pump you are asking about, online, for under 150.00

Tub drain gurgles loud when flushing toilet

We recently had a blockage in our septic line, I snaked the line through an access hole about half way down the line and was able to remove the blockage. I then flushed the toilet, ran the sinks, did a load of laundry in the washing machine and no problems. BUT as soon as I covered up the access hole, we had a loud gurgle in the tub drain when flushing the toliet. I took the sink trap off and no gurgle. I took the plug out at the cleanout of the waste pipe and no gurgle. Is this now an air issue? a Tank issue? or could there still eb something in the line?

sounds like it was not properly cleaned

water heater

my water tank is leeking hot water from the pressure valve what can i do?

Your pressure is too high, or the temperature is too high, or the valve is defective. Until you know which, there is no way to advise you. If it is either of the first two, changing the valve will not cure it.

most frustrating pipe knocking gremlins

we have a Pressure regulator valve set at 50 Psi.
we have an expansion tank.

issue: when recirculation system runs, pipes banging in three areas of house when we turn on kitchen faucet. If the recirc. is off, kitchen faucet and other faucets must be on to cause the noise.

regardless of recirculation system running or not, when upstairs tub is filling, the pipes are knocking in the walls. When washer is filling, the pipes are knocking. When toilets stop filling they knock a few times.

After we turn off the main to try new things, all noise goes away for half a day. After we flushed the hot water heater and the recirc. system, the noise went away for 3 days, but is now back.

The house is three levels. Water heater on first level; kitchen is on first level. laundry and bathrooms on second level. There is a basement with a bathroom as well.

COULD THIS BE AIR ACCUMULATING IN THE UPSTAIRS PIPES and if so, how do we eliminate the problem? As far as we know, system should be a closed system at this point.

Does it sound almost like a jackhammer? If so I would suspect a loose washer in a valve or, debris in a line. Seeing as it all centers on the kitchen faucet as you seem to think that sounds like the likely place to start looking. Maybe the angle stop valve below the sink.