Solution
What to do to fix the problem, what actions should be taken?
- Check the proper functioning of your own mixer and non-return valve. To do this, touch the pipes in the area of the valves. If the pipes are hot and cold, the reason is in the mixer. If both pipes are hot, the problem is outside the apartment and you need to find out the problem in the management company and the responsible plumber.
- Clarify the situation with the management company: are repairs being carried out, has there been an accident.
- You need to go up to the neighbors from the apartments above and clarify a few questions about the presence of check valves, the serviceability of the faucets.
To do this, you need to prepare a tool:
- pliers;
- screwdrivers ("Phillips" and "minus");
- wrench;
- hexagons (may be required for some models).
To repair plumbing, you must have an adjustable wrench
How to remove and disassemble the mixer? Consider the option with popular single-lever devices. First you need to turn off the water by shutting off the valves on the pipes. The valves are usually located next to the meters.
After shutting off the liquid, we proceed to dismantle the mixer. Sequencing:
- On the handle, remove the plastic plug that closes the hole where the screw is located. There are two blue and red dots on the plug. It is removed with a flat screwdriver or a knife blade.
- Unscrew the locking hexagon with a hexagon or a screwdriver.
- Remove the handle by lifting it up. The separation occurs with effort, but it is not worth pulling hard so as not to damage the landing nest.
- We unscrew the screw cap, which is located under the lever.
- Unscrew the clamping nut with a wrench.
- Carefully take out the cartridge.
- We examine the nest where he was. We remove grains of sand and other substances, if they are present there.
After that, with the old cartridge we go to the store and buy a similar model. We install it in the mixer and assemble the mechanism in the reverse order.
A malfunction in the functioning of the water supply system, when hot water flows from a cold water tap, may be due to various factors. Most often, this is a short-term phenomenon, which was the result of certain work being carried out by the housing and communal services company. In this case, the concern is in vain. After their completion, the water supply will resume in normal mode. However, if the situation is of a long-term nature, measures must be taken.
Cold water comes out of the hot water faucet
Since almost all apartments have water meters, and hot is more expensive than cold, this issue is always relevant. It is difficult for the owner of the apartment to cope with such a deviation in the system. There are several options to fix the problem:
- Refuse the central hot water supply. It can be safely replaced with a boiler, which many do. When choosing this option, you will need to purchase the heating device itself, allocate space in the bathroom for its installation and pay only for electricity costs.
- Check if the central valve is open. But it is available to people who have the keys to a common basement and a lot of free time for constant checks.
- Chat with neighbors. Some, when dismantling the heated towel rail, install a shut-off valve that blocks the access of hot water to other apartments. Cold water, which appears periodically, indicates that the neighbors have a faulty single-lever mixer in which the cartridge needs to be changed.
- Re-equip the heating unit. If interruptions in hot water begin to occur when there is no heating period, then the problem lies in the wrong connection of the individual heating unit.To eliminate such a deviation, the intervention of an experienced heat power specialist will be required.
- Contact ZhEK or HOA. The temperature leaving the faucet must be heated to 75 degrees, but not less than 60 degrees. If the temperature of the water coming from the hot tap is below these limits, then you can demand a recalculation of its value, referring to the legislation.
But, of course, it will no longer be possible to pour hot water from the heart - the capacity of the water heater is limited, and if you have drained all the water (for example, the children took turns splashing in the bathroom), you have to wait until it heats up again.
An important reminder - if you do not have a hot water meter in your apartment, then when installing the boiler, officially put a plug (seal the tap) at the entrance from the hot riser. Otherwise, you will still be charged for hot water based on current regulations.
If you have a hot water meter, then when installing a water heater, you do not need to drown out the hot water riser. Just close the inlet valve. And also check that hot water from your boiler is not mixed into the house water supply system.
Hot water meter with temperature sensor
Finally, it is worth mentioning another way to save money on the family budget - a hot water meter with a temperature sensor.
This device takes into account separately the consumption of really hot water (which has a temperature that meets the standard) and actually cold water (the one that comes from the hot water riser, but in reality is a little warm).
The principle of operation of such devices is based on the distinction between the volumes of water consumed: the volumes of hot water and the water that comes from the hot tap, but its temperature is below normal, are taken into account separately. Cubic meters, which the meter counted in the second case, you add to the volume of cold water consumption and pay at the appropriate rate.
An example is the Sayany T-RMD hot water meter, this is the most common device of this kind. Although there are others that are similar.
At first glance, everything looks nice - without contacting public utilities, you pay only for that "hot water" that meets the standards.
What is a bug and how to deal with it.
The morning may or may not be good. Someone gets up on the left foot, and someone on the right. In general, everything happens differently for everyone. But only one need is the same for everyone - the need to visit the toilet.
Having done your job, and without suspecting anything, you press a button or a lever to flush out your waste products. In this case, events can develop in two scenarios: you discover that there is hot water in the flush tank instead of cold water, or you jump up from the push, scalding your ass.
Of course, to find that hot water is flowing instead of cold water, you can decide to take a shower and jump out of the bathroom in which the mother gave birth, or by deciding to wash the dishes. This phenomenon is called submixing. In apartment buildings, mixtures are very common.
So, what to do in this case and where to turn? Naturally, and first of all, you grab the phone and frantically start dialing the number of your Management Company, ready to tell them everything you think about them. But do not rush to blame the Management Company for this. This is not her fault. Of course, there were cases when the piping was confused, but this happens very rarely. Yes, and the workers now do not drink so much.
For what reason there was a mixture, the plumbers of the UK have to find out. They do it very reluctantly. you have to go around all the apartments located on your riser. Because the mixture, most likely, appeared due to faulty or incorrectly installed plumbing in one of these apartments. Cartridge faucets often fail, bidets are connected without non-return valves, boilers are installed with violations, etc.In general, who, what would be much cheaper. Sometimes they hire such "specialists" who have no idea how and what to install and connect, but they will do it quickly and cheaply.
The physics of this phenomenon is simple. It's all about the pressure difference. Hot water has more pressure (8A) than cold water (6A) and hot water gradually, through faulty plumbing, squeezes out cold water.
It will take time for plumbers to calculate such an apartment, because the detour must be done several times a day. However, it all depends on the desire and conscientiousness of the worker himself. (See here) The search may drag on for an indefinite time. Not all tenants are at home at the same time. Many are at work, in the country, on vacation. Yes, and plumbers may not be allowed into the apartment.
When an apartment is installed in which the plumbing is faulty, the Criminal Code issues an order to the tenant to eliminate all malfunctions or malfunctions. Even if the plumber was not allowed into the apartment. Now it all depends on the promptness of the owner himself - how quickly he will fix all the problems. To speed up this process, you can tell this tenant how uncomfortable it is for you to live with boiling water in the flush tank.
Why can cold water come out of a hot faucet?
According to the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, hot water flowing from the tap should not be colder than 75 degrees Celsius. However, in most water supply systems, these figures are far away, and either completely ice-cold water or slightly warm water flows from the tap. There are a lot of reasons why cold water runs from a hot water tap. The main ones are:
- insufficient water pressure - a reason familiar to many houses with more than 5 floors. The pump cannot pump hot water to high floors and therefore only cold water flows from the tap;
- the water supply company has an open water supply system and water, in the absence of a constant drain (at night, in the early morning), stagnates and cools. In this case, it is necessary to drain the cold one for a very long time in order to wait for the hot one. This affects the payment for water, since most of the houses in Moscow are equipped with water meters,
- an accident occurred on one of the sections of the network, or the pipeline of the entrance. In this case, the hot water valves are closed. This also happens during preventive maintenance on this section of the network.
We can help you in filing a complaint for poor quality services, contact our lawyers in the online consultant window (bottom right of the screen), if all our lawyers are busy, you will be asked to write your question in order to transfer it directly to a lawyer specializing in in this area of law and indicate your contact phone number, our lawyer will call you back and advise you Or just call us at 8 (800) -350-30-02 (the call is free for all regions of Russia).
We fix problems with our own hands
Not in all cases it is possible to fix the breakdowns on their own. However, this is quite possible if the malfunctions are insignificant. Below we consider the easiest ways to repair plumbing with your own hands.
Option 1: fixing a broken faucet
Gasket wear. This is the easiest repair. The gaskets most commonly worn are semi-turn faucets and faucets that have shower diverters. You need to replace the seal, and the problem will be solved. You can buy a new gasket at any hardware store. Before replacing, turn off the water supply to the apartment, then remove the old gasket, install a new one and assemble the structure again.
Seal wear. To access it, remove the tap knob, then the decorative cap. A crane box will open, and above it is a hexagon, with which you can unscrew the nut and get to the stuffing box. By the way, often it does not even have to be removed, it is enough to tighten the nut more tightly.If this does not help, you need to replace the gland packing and reassemble the valve.
Step-by-step instructions for replacing the oil seal
Removal of the mixer itself. Devices don't last forever. If the mixer is old, then it is better not to repair it, but to replace it immediately. Repairing worn metal is pointless.
Faucet mixer. Sometimes the mixer is simply defective, and the problem arises due to the poor quality of the casting. Such a plumbing fixture should be changed in the store, and if the gasket is dry, you can buy a new one.
Option 2: if the problem is in the hygienic shower
In recent years, apartment owners are increasingly installing a hygienic shower. This is a simplified version of a bidet for bathrooms where a full-fledged plumbing fixture does not fit. Such an “upgrade” of the toilet bowl is very functional, but not everyone uses it correctly. This may be one of the reasons why hot water flows from a cold faucet.
In order for water to start flowing from the shower, press the start button on the mixer. When the procedure is completed, you need to release the button, close the valve. Many people forget to perform the last step, because the water stops flowing after pressing the button.
If the mixer is not closed, hot and cold liquids are still mixed in it. At the same time, it does not flow out of the hygienic shower, but enters the system. At the moment when a cold water tap is opened in a neighboring apartment, the pressure drops, and hot water flows through a pipe designed for cold water.
Option 3: when the water heater fails
Why does hot water flow from a cold faucet? If a non-return valve is not installed on the boiler, it will still have to be installed after the shut-off valves so that there is no mixing of hot water with cold water. But sometimes warm water enters the cold water system when the valve is installed and working. The reason is the incorrect operation of the water heater.
To use the water heater, close the hot water shut-off valve. Otherwise, the water will go into the cold water system. When turning off the water heater, close all valves and taps so that they do not affect the pressure in the system.
It happens that the reason why hot water flows from a cold tap is utility services. In this case, it makes sense to contact them for help. This does not always give the expected effect, so you should be prepared for drastic measures - the rejection of centralized hot water supply. You can install an electric heater, meters and no longer depend on service providers. These are considerable expenses, but they always pay off, because your own nerves are more expensive.
Where to go
The city water utility is not responsible for the quality of water supply, this is the concern of the management company, you should call her. It is necessary to attract specialists who must take samples and document the low water temperature. The drawn up act is transferred to the management company for recalculation.
Making a complaint (statement) is legal both for one tenant and for tenants of the whole entrance.
In the second case, the signatures of half of the residents of the entrance are needed. If the problem is not solved on a call, in response to a complaint - silence, and only cold water still flows from the tap, a registered letter will help, in which you should send a statement.
Such a course of action on the part of the tenants will oblige the Criminal Code to create a commission in order to eliminate the problem that has arisen. Experts are forced to understand the cause of poor-quality water supply.
If during the proceedings the fault of the resource organization responsible for the supply of water is revealed, then the company sues it.
This also happens during preventive maintenance on this section of the network.
We can help you in filing a complaint for poor quality services, contact our lawyers in the online consultant window (bottom right of the screen), if all our lawyers are busy, you will be asked to write your question in order to transfer it directly to a lawyer specializing in in this area of law and indicate your contact phone number, our lawyer will call you back and advise you Or just call us at 8 (800) -350-30-02 (the call is free for all regions of Russia).
Why can cold water come out of a hot faucet?
According to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, the current
tap hot water should not be colder than 75 degrees Celsius. However, in most water supply systems, these figures are far away, and either completely ice-cold water or slightly warm water flows from the tap.
There are a lot of reasons why cold water runs from a hot water tap. The main ones are:
- insufficient water pressure - a reason familiar to many houses with more than 5 floors. The pump cannot pump hot water to high floors and therefore only cold water flows from the tap;
- the water supply company has an open water supply system and water, in the absence of a constant drain (at night, in the early morning), stagnates and cools. In this case, it is necessary to drain the cold one for a very long time in order to wait for the hot one. This affects the payment for water, since most of the houses in Moscow are equipped with water meters,
- an accident occurred on one of the sections of the network, or the pipeline of the entrance. In this case, the hot water valves are closed. This also happens during preventive maintenance on this section of the network.
We can help you in filing a complaint for poor quality services, contact our lawyers in the online consultant window (bottom right of the screen), if all our lawyers are busy, you will be asked to write your question in order to transfer it directly to a lawyer specializing in in this area of law and indicate your contact phone number, our lawyer will call you back and advise you completely free of charge. Or just call us at 8(800)-350-30-02 (the call is free for all regions of Russia).
What kind of water flows from the tap cause effect
As mentioned above, ignoring such a breakdown as hot water in a cold tap does not bode well - moreover, the consequences of such an ignorance can be very unpleasant. The thing is that in most cases, equipment designed for cold water does not withstand prolonged exposure to high temperatures. As a result, you may get the following troubles.
In addition, if the presence of hot water in a cold tap is due to the absence of a check valve on the water tank in your apartment, this is fraught with huge energy consumption. Judge for yourself - instead of providing hot water only to your apartment, you will supply it and all your neighbors in the riser. In general, the consequences are by no means rosy - as you understand, it is better to deal with such a problem right away. An excellent solution in such a situation would be to install check valves directly in front of the meter, at the water supply inlet to your apartment.
Sample letter of complaint if cold water flows from the tap instead of hot
Application for an administrative offense under Article 7.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses “Violation of the standards for providing the population with public services”
At the address ___________, the managing organization violates the norms of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and the Rules for the provision of public services, namely in the apartment: low temperature of hot water.
In accordance with the Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354 dated May 06, 2011. and sanitary rules and norms of Russian legislation (SanPin 2.1.4.2496-09), the temperature of hot water should not be lower than 60°С and not higher than 75°С.
In accordance with paragraph 31 of the Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings adopted by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 N 354, an organization providing utility services to a consumer is obliged to independently or with the involvement of other persons carry out maintenance of intra-house engineering systems, with the use of which utility services are provided to the consumer, as well as to recalculate the amount of payment for utilities, including in connection with the provision of utilities of inadequate quality and (or) with interruptions exceeding the permissible duration.
In accordance with Article 154 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, payment for residential premises includes payment for the maintenance and current repairs of common property in an apartment building, as well as payment for utilities.
In this regard, the performance of work to eliminate this violation does not require additional funding from the owner.
Article 2 of the “Regulations on State Housing Supervision”, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 493 dated June 11, 2013, states: “The tasks of state housing supervision are to prevent, detect and suppress violations by public authorities, local governments, as well as legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and citizens established in accordance with housing legislation, legislation on energy saving and on improving energy efficiency requirements for the use and preservation of the housing stock, regardless of its form of ownership, including requirements for residential premises, their use and maintenance, use and maintenance of the common property of owners of premises in apartment buildings, the formation of capital repairs funds, the creation and activities of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs managing apartment buildings, providing services and (or) performing maintenance work maintenance and repair of common property in apartment buildings, the provision of public services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, specialized non-profit organizations that carry out activities aimed at ensuring the overhaul of common property in apartment buildings, as well as energy efficiency and equipment requirements premises of apartment buildings and residential buildings with metering devices for energy resources used.
In addition, in accordance with Article 28.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, the Prosecutor's Office has the right to initiate a case on any administrative offense.
Paragraph 149 of the Rules establishes that the contractor - the organization providing public services, is responsible for violating the quality of the provision of public services to the consumer, including administrative.
Violation by persons responsible for the provision of communal services of the standards for providing the population with communal services forms an administrative offense, liability for which is provided for by Article 7.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
In connection with the above, on the basis of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 26, 1994 No. 1086 “On the State Housing Inspectorate in the Russian Federation”, the Federal Law “On the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation”, the Federal Law “On the Procedure for Considering Appeals from Citizens of the Russian Federation”, I ask:
- organize an on-site verification of the stated facts;
- issue an order to carry out the necessary measures and work to eliminate the violation and recalculate, set the deadlines for their implementation;
- initiate administrative proceedings under Article 7.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, identify the perpetrators and bring them to administrative responsibility.
You can file complaints about the inaction of your housing office, management company and HOA in the field of housing and communal services with the prosecutor's office or Rospotrebnadzor in your region.
Where to complain if cold water flows instead of hot
Where to complain if cold water comes out instead of hot? If the services provided do not meet the requirements of the Government, you must contact the company that manages the house. It is the UK and the HOA that are responsible for high-quality water supply, and not at all resource organizations like a water utility. Therefore, if you don’t know where to call, if cold water comes out instead of hot water, call your company.
Specialists will conduct sampling, draw up an act on water of inadequate quality and temperature.This document must be submitted to the company servicing the house for recalculation.
In this case, one tenant, or maybe the entire entrance, can file a complaint. In this case, a collective complaint is written, which requires the signatures of at least 50% of the residents of the entrance. It happens that the Criminal Code or the HOA do not want to respond to the complaint or do not accept it at all, then it is worth sending the complaint by registered mail.
Based on the fact of the complaint, a commission is created, which is designed to solve the problem. Therefore, experts find out why the temperature drops, and if it turns out that the organization supplying water is to blame, then after recalculation in the residents' receipts, the company files a lawsuit against the resource organization. If instead of hot water it is cold, then you can download a sample complaint to the Criminal Code here.
Control of water supply to the apartment
On an industrial scale, devices are produced for measuring the temperature regime of the water supply in the tap, as well as the level of heating of the battery.
The installation of water meters with a temperature sensor allows the consumer to pay only for the period of receipt of the service that meets the requirements.
The meter takes into account not only the liquid in the hot water pipes that meets the standards, but also the one that does not.
Note! The cost of purchasing and installing a meter with a temperature sensor quickly pays off, because the meter significantly reduces costs for poor quality services. Be prepared that the management company will be against the installation of such a meter, especially if its employees work in bad faith
But in accordance with the law, this violates consumer rights.
Be prepared that the management company will be against the installation of such a meter, especially if its employees work in bad faith. But in accordance with the law, this violates consumer rights.
Causes of breakdowns
The choice of a too cheap, low-quality faucet is often the reason that there are leaks or problems with the water supply to the consumer. It must be remembered that savings in this case usually result in additional expenses for repairs and the purchase of a new crane. Problems with the work of plumbing can be the result of improper installation of equipment. Usually this situation occurs for beginners when there is neither experience nor knowledge for this. Of course, the installation of a crane is not the most difficult job, but it also needs to be done correctly, in full compliance with all standards. This is especially true for complex models, when installation is carried out according to special instructions.
Improper operation is another reason why water does not flow from the tap. Incorrect operation, valves turned too tight, mechanical loads and shocks that are not at all intended for such equipment, lead to its failure. The spout must not be pressed hard, the same rule applies to valves that must be moved smoothly and carefully.
The cause of the breakdown of the mixer is often the wear of its parts during operation.
Often the reason that the crane simply does not work is the natural wear and tear of the equipment. A large number of on / off cycles leads to abrasion of individual parts, the appearance of chips, cracks. Over time, moving elements are damaged, gaskets fail. Sooner or later, this situation is typical even for expensive and high-quality models. But such wear rarely leads to the fact that the water stops flowing, usually, on the contrary, there are constant leaks that increase over time.