Over the two years that I've been in my new place, I noticed that whenever I turn the water on all the way to cold at my kitchen sink, the cold water comes out very very weak, but the hot water is just fine. This got to be very annoying since I can't effectively do much with the cold water, but bringing my faucet handle to in the middle of hot and cold still burns my hands. So I thought that there was something wrong with my cold water piping. I looked down and noticed that I can't even open/close the cold water valves because there are no wheels on them? On top of that, the plastic bit where the wheel should be is grey on the cold water valve, but white on the hot water valve, and I'm not sure why. Also, I noticed that the previous owner already tried to turn the little grey nib where the wheel should be, and damaged that part as well.

Here is what my plumbing looks like: http://imgur.com/xcnghDi

Is anyone able to tell me what's going on here and if my labels are correct? Anything I can do to fix this? Thanks!

Try to post your photo here. Click on "go advanced"

Hi filiptod

I found the link.The DOUBLE SHUTOFF for the cold water (handles missing) is probably feeding water to the sink faucet and the ice maker line (white plastic tube). The DOUBLE SHUTOFF for the hot water has handles and it feeds the faucet and the dishwasher.

As you noted, the handles are missing on the cold water and the grey colored stem for the cold water feed to the ice maker has been chewed up a bit because someone tried to shut the water off and stripped the stem. You want to try to work with the top shutoff... the one that feeds the faucet, right?

You could try to remove the handle from the hot water shut off and place it on top of the cold water shut off and see if that engages the stem enough to turn the shut off valve off without stripping the stem. You could also try a pair of pliers as a last resort. I would assume the valve is closed to start, so maybe try opening the stem to start... if all that fails to work post back and we can discuss other options.

Mark

Thank you so much for the fast reply massplumber2008! I'll try moving the handle from the hot water to the cold water stem, thanks for the advice :) I learned a lot, now I know that small tube is going to the ice maker! I'll report back as soon as I get a chance to work on it.

Mark nailed it.

FYI: If you know a plumber or a handy man, ask him to get you replacement handles for those missing ones. They may have old valves on the truck with handles that will fit.

Milo

It worked! I moved the handle from the dishwasher valve to the cold water valve and opened up the cold water a bit, now the flow is just as strong as the hot water. Thanks so much!

Hi Filiptod

Hey, I'm glad it worked out! We always appreciate a follow up post, so thanks for taking the time to come back and update us... it's a nice thing to do! Pop back any time!