# bathroom faucet suddenly stops



## sisyphus (Feb 1, 2013)

Hi all, as the title says. tonight while my son was using the faucet in the downstairs bathroom, it suddenly stopped working. I was able to replicate it myself. when the hot water faucet is left on for a few secs. it suddenly makes a banging noise and then the water stops flowing. this only affects the hot water side. I checked the other faucets in the houe and everything else is working fine. I took the stem out and turned on the water and there was no issues. the stem looked fine with no deposits. when I increased the water flow via the stop valve underneath the sink it seems to have corrected the problem. what would cause this problem? never had a problem until tonight. thanks


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## Wuzzat? (Feb 1, 2013)

Loose washer or almost never a loose valve seat.  The problem should also stop at very low flow rates.
The banging is "water hammer" caused by liquids being virtually incompressible and the pipes they're in being virtually 'unstretchable.'  No water hammer with garden hoses, they give.


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## CallMeVilla (Feb 2, 2013)

When you open the "stop valve" --  proper name is angle stop  --  open it all the way then turn the handle 1/4 turn toward closing.  This will give you some slack for the future.  If you ever have to work on the plumbing, BACK the valve toward open, then close it off completely.  This breaks up any sediments and prevent tearing of the rubber washer.


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## sisyphus (Feb 2, 2013)

thanks all for your responses. but on the stem there wasn't any washer. it's plastic and when you turn the stem there's two triangular openings on the bottom that opens and closes.


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## Wuzzat? (Feb 2, 2013)

Maybe the angle stop has the loose part.


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