When ever we turn on the cold faucet in any room in out house we only get luke warm water. I have heard that a faulty washing machine inlet valve can cause this. are there any ways to test that theory? Also any other suggestions to check? We do live in phx, but we should still be able to get semi cold water. Any help is appreciated
Plumbing – How to determine why all the faucets are giving only warm water when turned to cold
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Related Solutions
The only time I ran into something similar it was due to a failed anti-sweat mixing valve on a toilet that allowed back-flow through the hot water pipes. That would also explain in your case why the kitchen sink doesn't seem to be effected by the issue.
About the only way I can think of to test this theory (without opening walls) would be if you can cut your cold water off to the bathrooms without cutting the supply to the hot water heater. In the unlikely event that you can do that, your toilets would still be able to fill from the hot water line when flushed.
When this happened at my house it was the antiscalding valve at the water heater. These mix cold and hot water together to reduce the temperature of the hot water to safe levels. Some places install them at each faucet, others install them at the water heater itself.
Turning on one faucet would just give cold water no longer how long it ran. But opening others, or sometimes turning the tap on and off rapidly a few times would bring the hot water.
The anti scalding valve was getting stuck, and the pressure changes of opening more faucets, or maybe water hammer effect from opening and closing would make it work for awhile.
If you installed a new one at your new water heater it might be defective. If you kept an existing one it may be worn out or have minerals trapped in it - sometimes things like that never cause a problem until you turn the water off and it moves around.
Also check under the sink to see if it has an anti scalding valve. It might need replacing too.
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Best Answer
Check the temperature of the main home water supply pipe, and compare it to other pipes in the house. Nothing else will be colder, but the other cold water pipes shouldn't be much warmer.
If you find a presumed cold water pipe that's significantly warmer than the main supply, then you can search for the source of the heat. If, for instance, the washing machine is bridging its cold and hot source, then perhaps your cold water faucets are pulling some hot water through the washing machine.