Whenever the sprayer for our kitchen sink is used, the water will suddenly cut off (to both the sprayer and the faucet) and not come back on again for several minutes. This has been going on for several months now, but today when it happened, the water didn't come back on at all (it's been about half an hour). Does anyone have an idea about what might be causing this and how to fix it?
Note: I checked under the sink and everything looks normal but I'm not sure if that means anything, the faucet doesn't feel any easier/harder to turn off than normal, all other water fixtures in the house work fine
Water – When sprayer is used, all water to sink (faucet and sprayer) shuts off, how to fix
faucetkitchen-sinksinkwater
Related Solutions
Sounds like it is a problem with the diverter. It could be clogged, rusted, or even damaged, and as such, may either need to be cleaned (soaking in vinegar may help), or outright replaced.
There are a couple types that Moen seems to use, so which one depends on your model. There is a collar-type vale:
And there is another type with a smaller inner valve:
You'll have to open the faucet to get at it (how you do this again depends on the model), and then pull out the diverter with pliers.
First confirm that the problem is at the valves and not a clogged faucet screen.
Backing-up the valve with an adjustable wrench you could turn your knobs with channel locks but be prepared for a few drips, or something completely catastrophic to happen. Not something to be messing with on a Saturday evening. Being frank, those valves are crap. Preferably use 1/4 turn valves. Seeing that these are compression fitting, they're easily changed. Ask for these.
The choke point is at the valve, this clears the blockage: Once you have the valves spinning freely, shut them off and disconnect the leads at the faucet (back this up carefully, do not twist the copper leads). Run the lines into a bucket, completely opening and closing the valves several times. Reattach them, turn them on. Do not touch them again without repeating these steps. Remove the faucet screen and run some water for a bit. Reinsert a cleaned screen, done.
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Best Answer
Your sprayer unit is not designed to sit at full system pressure, so the faucet unit that it came with is specially designed to shunt water towards the sprayer hose and head only when the sprayer lever is pressed. The faucet itself has an integral diverter valve to perform this function, it sounds like yours is not working right.
All faucet brands use their own proprietary diverter mechanism, you will need to get a manual for your faucet to get it apart and replace the valve. It might look something like this: