In a difficult and "rigged" installation, a friend installed a single handle Moen bath faucet in my only bathroom. Needless to say, it would be a bear to remove the entire unit and replace it. Because I live in a rural area, the water well is sometimes unpredictable and has tiny bits of grit and/or rust in it, which is transmitted through the faucets. I have a Peerless in the bathroom sink and a Price Fister in the kitchen, that I've never had a problem with, but the Moen apparently has a cartridge that is super sensitive to grit, and so after a month or so, the hot water will simply quit flowing. That necessitates the cartridge being pulled and replaced. This faucet is only 5 months old and the cartridge has been replaced three times... Moen tells me it is a "scald control" on their faucets, and I'm sure all bath faucets are required to have a form of scald control, but do ALL SINGLE HANDLE FAUCETS have a cartridge arrangement like Moen does? Would I be better off to pull the Moen and replace it with another brand, or am I going to have the same problem, no matter what? Moen, to their credit, guarantees their faucets for a lifetime, but this problem is quickly aging me! Any brand recommendations if replacement is necessary would be appreciated~ HELP, please!

ballengerb1

You bought one of the best brands and their Buy It For Looks/Buy It For Life guarantee is well worth it. You need to install a whole house filter right where the water enters the home. Home depot and others have good kits that run about $200 with cartridges for about $25. Seems pricey but with your well water I'd think its what you need. On the other hand when a Moen cartridge gets plugged with grit they can be cleaned out with a small amount of back pressure water through the cartridge.

whatswithit

THANKS so much for the prompt answer! I actually HAVE a whole house filter installed, but apparently the water is too dirty for even that to work properly.It is smaller than the one you mention (or at least it cost less, but I was assured that for the water consumption rate, it would work). There is only one person in the home and the filter cartridge clogs within three to five days, effectively reducing the water pressure throughout the home...Count three or four filters per month at $12 each and see why I bypass the filter unit. Several years ago the well had bacterial rust infection which is now cleared; all the trouble started then, and although a qualifed well driller "shocked" the well twice, it seems to still be a problem with rust and dirt, although NOTHING like it was at the onset. I have had my hot water tank replaced and several water lines as well. Outside of redrilling the well (which may not solve the problem anyway), I think I'm stuck!! Do you think a larger whole house unit would not clog so quickly? Others have suggested softened water, but that is NOT an option. Any suggestions gratefully considered. Thanks again. Oh, and how do I "back pressure" the cartridge??

Milo Dolezal

Clean aerator first - and periodically.

hkstroud

You might want to try a sand trap. That would basically be the largest sealed tank you can fit in. You pipe the well water into the bottom half and out the top to your pressure tank. Let's say that you put in a 100 gallon tank and that you use on average 200 gallons a day. That would mean that on average, the water you are using has set in the tank for 12 hours, letting the sand settle to the bottom. The sand tank would of course have a drain at the bottom that you would periodically open and flush out the sand. How often depends on how much sand you have in the water. With that and a filter you should experience a significant improvement. The tank would just be a galvanized tank and should not be terribly expensive. No cost for maintenance.

whatswithit

Harold, have you ever MADE or SEEN a tank such as this? I have a steel welding shop available, but I need to know what it has to be lined with....

hkstroud

Yes , I have a small mobile home park. At one time, when it was on a smaller well, a sand trap was installed. The pump was connected to a 100 gal. sand trap which was connected to a 300 gal pressure tank. The well was later replaced with a larger well.

The sand trap was a regular galvanized well pressure tank. I presumed it was galvanized on the inside. If you can make one cheaper than you can buy one go for it. Don't know if it has to be round to to sustain the pressure. I guess that would depend on the thickness of the material. I guess you could silicone the welds. That's all assuming you can weld galvanized material without burning away all the galvanizing.

PS
An aerator is the set of screens on the end of a faucet spout. They break up the flow of water into many smaller streams to prevent splashing. They some times get clogged.

ballengerb1

Rather than rigging up a filter that may or may not work you should look into a large whole house filter designed for high volume. These filters are about 14" tall and as big around as a bowling ball.

Milo Dolezal

Whatswithit: Aerator is the removable strainer installed on tip of every faucet. It gets clogged up all the time. It slows down water flow and in some cases it blocks flow completely. Same with shower head: it has flow restrictor in the female threads of the head. As with aerators, it gets clogged up all the time. If your tub runs fine - but shower is slow - then remove head and clean the restrictor. When one faucet in your house runs slowly, but others run ok, remove aerator and clean it. It is a quick-fix problem.

kaylar97

Moen has two pressure balancing shower valves, that is brass body behind the wall that the cartridge goes into. One is a positemp which has shower shock but not volume control and the other is Moentrol which has both shower shock and volume control. If there is debris in the valve you just pull the cartridge and flush the valve. This means turning the water on full force for just 10 seconds. Then rinse the cartridge and reinstall. Otherwise the sand trap is a great idea.