How to replace the cartridge on a Kohler Coralais kitchen faucet.

First, turn the water off under the sink, and make sure the water pressure is off by opening the Kohler Coralais kitchen faucet. Then remove the handle by using a hex key to unscrew the set screw and pull the handle off.

Once the handle is off, you should have full access to the Kohler Coralais kitchen faucet cartridge now. Remove it with needle-nose pliers. Grease the new cartridge and insert carefully into the faucet body. Reassemble the finish cap, handle assembly and finish handle. Turn on the water and youre good to go.

How to replace the handle on a Kohler Coralais kitchen faucet.

If the handle is broken, you will need to order the handle itself. And remove the old handle using the allen key.

How to fix Kohler Coralais kitchen faucet pressure problems.

If you are experiencing low pressure on your Kohler Coralais kitchen faucet, first you will want to check the aerator. The aerator is the small part that the water flows out through at the end of the spout. It usually has some sort of screens and can easily get clogged with rust or sediment. Unscrew the aerator using some pliers and tap it on a hard surface upside down to get the sediment out. Then rinse the aerator screen in some clean water and reattach it. If this doesnt solve the problem and the faucet is a pullout spray style, remove the pullout spray head and check the part of the spray head that attaches to the hose. There is flow restrictor and screen here to protect the spray head from debris and save water. Using a pick and rinsing the spray out, usually solves the problem.

The spray hose on my Kohler Coralais kitchen faucet isnt working right.

Try replacing the spray diverter. The diverter is located on the back of the brass faucet shank underneath the spout. Follow all the directions above for repairing a leak spout by replacing the o-rings. Once you have the spout off, remove the small cylindrical diverter from the back, and install a new one.

The spray hose is leaking on my Kohler Coralais kitchen faucet.

Install a new spray hose and head. You can buy these universally as a pack.

1) Remove the spray hose by turning counterclockwise from underneath the faucet.

2) Pull the hose out of its holder, and install a new spray hose and head.

3) Screw the new spray hose clockwise into the thread underneath the faucet.

If you have a pull out style spray hose, the spray head simply screws onto the hose at the back of the pullout head where it attaches to the hose.

Some of the advantages of the A.O Smith NEXT Hybrid Gas HYB-90N Water Heater is that it operates and performs just like a tankless model but it can also handle a high demand of hot water periods. This hybrid water heater is 90% thermal efficiency which is one of the highest ratings you can get. The NEXT Gas Hybrid System will eliminate any sudden interruptions that may occur during hot water delivery. The installation is simple so you can save money even on the installation.

Lets start with the energy efficiency of the A.O Smith NEXT Hybrid Gas HYB-90N Water Heater. These water heaters have a patented circulation system that can deliver 90% thermal efficiency plus ensure that the system is getting the most heat transfer all while saving energy and money. The Hybrid technology of the NEXT System is an advanced system that exceeds existing traditional and tankless water heater designs. The patented water flow circulation system will offer the performance of a tankless unit and the efficient quick recovery.

The first hour delivery on the HYB-90N is 189 gallons of hot water, the unit is smaller than a traditional 50 gallon gas water heater but it offers double the hot water delivery. With the NEXT Gas Hybrid Water Heater you can have continuous hot shower after hot shower, there are no cold water sandwiches, these units delivery water faster than a tankless system and it has an internal storage that can easily handle high demand peaks.
The A.O Smith NEXT Hybrid Gas HYB-90N Water Heater has a user friendly temperature controller with a LED numeric display which allows you to accurately program in precise temperatures. There are three different lifestyle modes, the Energy Saver, Vacation and the Boost Modes. There are safety locks in place that discourage unwanted access. You will find that the HYB-90N has an error code display for easy troubleshooting, now if there is a problem you can take care of it before it turns into a more severe and costly problem.

The A.O Smith NEXT Hybrid Gas HYB-90N Water Heater has a recovery rate of 121 gallons per hour on a 90 degrees rise. The first hour rating as we mentioned before is 189 gallons per hour. These units have an input of 100,000 BTUs per hour. The gas type is Natural Gas and it is rated for 120 volts with 60 HZ and 2.5 amps. Now is a good time to start looking at a new water heater to replace that old unit you have. The A.O Smith NEXT Hybrid Gas HYB-90N Water Heater is a great water heater manufactured by one of the leaders in the water heater industry today. Contact an A.O Smith sales representative for more information.

As cold water flows into the unit, the heat source is triggered and the cold water is brought up to usable temperature on demand. The water is usually heated by a gas burner or electric elements, which have to heat the water extremely rapidly as it flows through tubes.

As a result these tankless water heaters supply a steady flow of hot water without ever running out. The downside though, is that the hot water flow is limited by the heater design. Most tankless water heaters operate with a flow rate between 2-5 gallons per minute. Usually problems with flow can happen when multiple fixtures call for hot water simultaneously. To overcome this flow problem, two or more tankless heaters can be installed in parallel to meet large simultaneous hot water flow demand.

Gas tankless water heaters generally heat faster and therefore have a higher flow rate, and are the most popular choice because of this. Models that make use of gas pilot waste energy, because normal storage type water heaters use the pilots energy to heat the water, while a on demand water heater has no stored water to heat with the standing pilot. It is generally more efficient to choose a model with a intermittent ignition system.

Electric tankless are generally more limited in function due to heating generally slower than gas-fired units and this having limited flow rates. Another downside is that they require large incoming electrical power in order to rapidly heat the incoming cold water fast enough, so if you are adding an electric tankless water heater to your home, you want to make sure that your existing electrical service can handle the demand. The advantage of electric tankless water heaters, is they are generally cheaper and easier to install than gas tankless, due to the fact that they do not require a combustion gas flue, or gas piping.

Above right is the highly efficient Tempra electric tankless model manufactured by Stiebel-Eltron. A good tankless water heater can cut your water heating costs by 30%, but make sure you factor in the initial costs before buying. Get some estimates from local contractors that specialize in tankless water heaters so you can weigh the initial cost versus the longterm fuel savings.

The next article will discuss the classification of super efficient hybrid water heaters, which are usually even more efficient that traditional storage type water heaters, or tankless demand type water heaters.

*WARNING!*Reliance electric water heaters as discussed in this repair guide utilize 240 volts of power and draw 18 amps!!! This is plenty to cause serious electrical shock or death from electrocution! Always disconnect the power to your water heater when handling any wires, or working on the water heater. Reliance electric water heater troubleshooting requires the testing of the electrical components, and if you are afraid of handling electrical like many people, I would suggest calling a professional. Electrical testing is a dangerous job!*

No Hot Water troubleshooting a Reliance electric water heater

The most common problem you will encounter with a Reliance electric water heater having no hot water, or very little hot water. The first thing to check is the circuit breaker or fuse in your electrical service panel. Make sure the fuse is not tripped, or the fuse blown. Also if you have an electrical switch or power disconnect servicing your Reliance water heater, make sure that it is in the on position. If the electrical seems to be all in the normal on positions, then it is time to check the Reliance water heater for incoming power.

1) Turn the Power OFF at the circuit breaker and lock the breaker switch in the off position, and/or disconnect the power using the electrical switch or disconnect box.

2) MAKE SURE THE POWER IS OFF! Test the incoming power to the Reliance water heater. Using a screwdriver, take the upper panel off of the front of the water heater, and remove the insulation and plastic cover. Be very careful not to touch any wires until you have tested for certain that they are not live! After you have exposed the thermostat, element and wires, you should see something very similar to the picture on the right.

Reliance Electric Water Heater Troubleshooting & Repair Guide In the photo to the left, you will see 7 terminals on the thermostat or t-stat for short. Then you will see the element below that with two terminals. Test the incoming power using a voltmeter on the upper two terminals on the electrical thermostat. If the power is off it should read around zero volts. If the power is on you will get a reading of 240 volts across the two upper terminals. If you have power to the water heater when all the breakers and switches are on, but still no hot water, then you will have to continue testing to troubleshoot exactly which component is broken. There are only four components to the electrical heating system. The upper thermostat and upper element, and the lower thermostat and lower element.

3) How to test and replace Reliance Water Heater Elements.

Make sure there is no power coming to the upper terminals. Open both the lower cover and the upper cover. The lower port once opened will look very similar to the upper port. A photo of the lower t-stat and lower element are on the right. Youll notice only two (or sometimes three) terminals on the lower t-stat and two terminals on the lower element. With the power off and disconnected, use a screwdriver to remove the wires from the two element terminals of the upper element. Using an ohm meter to test the electrical resistance of the element is the safest, simplest way to troubleshoot whether the element is burned or not.

Use the ohm meter and measure by touching each poles of the ohm tester to each of the terminals on the element. A bad element will give you a very high reading because they element is broken, and the resistance is very high. A good element will give you a low reading of around 12-14 ohms. Now test the lower element the same way as the upper, after disconnecting the wires from the element terminals. If you dont disconnect the wires from the element, then the wires will interfere with the resistance test and resistance will read as zero.

If youve tested both elements and one of them is bad, you will have to drain the Reliance water heater using a garden hose, and remove the bad element using an element socket wrench and install a new element. If neither element is bad, then one of the thermostats must be malfunctioning.

4) How to Test and replace Reliance Water Heater Thermostats.

Testing the thermostats is a little more dangerous, because they have to be tested live! So be very careful or hire a professional. Reconnect the wires to the elements. Turn the power on to the water heater and use a small screwdriver to turn the upper t-stat all the way up. Now use your voltmeter to test that the upper t-stat is sending power to the upper element. It should read 240 volts across both terminals together, or 120 volts on each terminal.

If the upper t-stat is sending power to the upper element, then turn the upper t-stat all the way down and make sure it shuts off. Then, repeat the t-stat test you just completed on the upper t-stat by testing the lower t-stat the same way. If one or both of the t-stats is not switching on, it wont send any power to the associated element, so you will have to disconnect the power, disconnect the wires, remove the bad t-stat and install a new one. Make sure to pay attention to the wiring, and the new wiring diagram that comes with the new t-stat.

When water freezes, it expands, and this expansion can not only cause you have no water, it can expand enough to burst your water pipes, and then you are looking at water damage, and possibly expensive plumbing repairs.

Preventing Frozen Water Pipes

Heat tape and pipe insulation to prevent water pipes from freezing.

Frozen water pipe prevention begins with proper insulation and/or heat tape. First of all, you have to find out where the water pipes are exposed to cold weather and freezing air flow. Freezing cold air flow is the number on cause of frozen plumbing pipes.

Heat tape, like easy heat brand heat tape, can be installed using electrical tape along the side of any water pipes that are exposed to cold air. Once the heat tape is installed, you can wrap foam or fiberglass pipe insulation around the water pipes to keep the cold air off of them, while keeping the heat tape heat in.

Let a faucet drip for frozen water pipe prevention.

If for some reason, you cant get heat tape or insulation on your pipes, let a faucet drip slightly. Letting a faucet drip is a proven way to prevent your water pipes from freezing, as moving water will not freeze as easily as still water.

Enclose your crawlspace or basement from any drafts.

Cold air flow is the enemy when you are trying to prevent frozen pipes. Seal all cracks, insulate your crawlspace, and make sure there are no drafts around the plumbing pipes. If you have mobile home or trailer, make sure the skirting is air-tight and the underneath of the traile is insulated and covered with plastic wrap. Make sure any pipes exposed under the trailer are protected with heat tape and pipe insulation.

Remove your hose from the outdoor hose spigot in cold weather!

Every year, I replace countless how spigots because people were careless and left the hose attached during the winter. This makes it so that the spigot cannot drain, and the water trapped in the spigot can easily freeze and rupture.

Thawing out frozen water pipes.

If your pipes are already frozen, thaw them out with a space heater, or electric blow dryer, then insulate or heat tape them as soon as possible. If the pipes have already split or burst, turn off the water and call a plumber.

I have seen this situation all too often. The kitchen sink is the most common drain to clog in the entire house plumbing system. Why? Well the kitchen drain pipes are not very big for one thing. Then there is the fact that the kitchen sink gets used all day and soap, grease, food chunks, and god knows what else is always going down the sink drain. If you have a garbage disposal, then its even worse! Potato peels, fibrous vegetables, pasta, bones! I have seen people try to stuff all kinds of things down the garbage disposer, and they wonder why the sink drain clogs up!

DO NOT USE CHEMICALS in your kitchen sink drain clog!

I cant begin to tell you how many empty bottles of clog-busting goop I have seen on the counters of people that finally decided to call the plumber. Drain chemicals are dangerous, some are caustic, some can damage your lungs or skin, some can damage your plumbing pipes., drain chemicals rarely work, they make it harder for you or the plumber to actually work on the drain, and they are a WASTE OF MONEY!

Step 1) Use a plunger (or two!) on the kitchen drain.

Using a plunger is surprisingly effective on kitchen drains, but you have to know what you are doing! If you have a single bowl kitchen sink with singel drain, then you can just use the plunger normally, seal the plunger to the sink, and build up some suction by pumping the plunger up and down until it starts to suck to the sink and feel like it is vacuuming the drain. Once you have a good suction going, then pull the plunger up forcefully as if you were sucking the clog UP out pf the drain, this is usually enough to knock it loose.

If you are like most people, you have a double-sink bowl and two kitchen drains in your sink. You already tried the plunger and the gross, stinky water just came up the on the other side of the sink! Now what? If you have a partner to help you this will make a big difference. If you have two plungers, even better.
Kitchen sink drain clog clearing guide
First, have one person seal off one of the kitchen sink drain with a plunger, or rubber plug or kitchen drain strainer plug. Then the other person uses the plunger on the other sink drain. This prevents the water from coming up on the other side of the drain, so you can develop some suction with the plunger.

Step 2) The plunger isnt working on my kitchen sink drain clog now what?

If the plunger method isnt working, and you can hear the drain water sloshing about in the drain pipes when you plunger, chances are the drain is further down past the kitchen drain vent pipe and a plunger wont work as the pressure is just escaping out the vent pipe in the wall.

Garbage disposer clogs.

If you have a garbage disposal that is clogged and the plunger isnt working, you might have to take the drain pipe apart and remove the food debris manually (using rubber gloves of course).

Step 3) Use a powered drain snake or Call a plumber.

In this case, you will need to get an electric powered drain snake, or better yet, you really should call a professional drain service plumber at this point! Good powered drain snake cable machines are expensive and dangerous to use. Youll probably save some money and headache by just calling a drain professional, instead of attempting to buy your own drain snake and snake it yourself.

Most heated toilet seats utilize a low-voltage heating element, and use only a trickle of energy. Since these are luxury items, many heated toilet seats feature other exotic luxuries such as slow closing lids, venting fans, even radios!
The japanese in particular seem to have a cultural fetish with exotic luxury toilet seats, and they have led the market in heated, high-tech toilet seats.

Toto leads the way in luxury toilet seats.

The Toto washlet s400 may be the Ultimate in toilet seat luxury, it features a hands free flush and automatic open and close lid along with gentle warm water to wash your backside like a bidet! A temperature controlled seat, warm air blower and air purifier, remote control and so many luxurious high tech features, youd think it was from a science fiction movie! How much does it cost? The online price for one of these Toto washlet s400 toilet seats is around $999 at the time of this writing!

Brondell is one manufacturer of luxury plumbing products that has a line of heated toilet seats.

They have the Breeza with an exhaust fan and deodorizing system!
Also featuring a gentle close lid, and antimicrobial surfaces, these seats are nice. I found the cost was not too high, the price for these seats are around $150 online.

Ultra-touch Heated Toilet Seats

also features antimicrobial surfaces on their seats and they have a heated seat that uses only a minute amount of energy to heat the seat up to about 20 degrees F above room temperature.

Kohler Heated Toilet Seats

features a heated french curve toilet seat that raises the temperature above the room temp, using only 12 watts of electricity. They also have some fancy features available, like self-closing lids and automatic hands-free flushing when the seat is closed.
Available in a wide variety of beautiful colors, the Kohler french curve K-4649 was priced around $226 online.

The first water heater we will consider is the old standby, the gas fired conventional storage type water heater. Storage type water heaters are the most simple, and most conventional style. These are the tank type water heaters that we are used to seeing all across America in traditional homes.

They work by storing water in an insulated tank and heating the incoming cold water to a comfortable hot temperature and then storing that heated water for future demand. The positive side to these heaters is a relatively low installation cost and if sized correctly, they can produce a large amount of hot water flow to multiple fixtures simultaneously. The downside is that the stored hot water has high standby heat loss percentage due to the large amount of stored energy in the tank. A gas water heater combusts gas in the gas burner located underneath the storage tank and heat the water directly by flame and indirectly by hot combustion gases traveling up teh flue baffle. Here is a photo of a high efficiency energy star rated storage type, power-vent gas water heater.

Electric storage water heaters have heating elements that heat the water using electrical resistance. These water heater heaters remain popular due to their cheap cost, and very easy installation. However, their efficiency as far as environmental footprint, and financial costs of operation are among the worst! A traditional electric water heater may be cheap, but it will cost you a bundle in utility bills and these are not very green at all! There ar some more energy efficient models available with energy star ratings, and to the right is a picture of one manufactured by Rheem.

The energy factor (EF) of a water heater is based on recovery efficiency (the amount of hot water produced per unit of fuel consumed), standby losses (percentage of heat los per hour), and cycling losses. The higher the energy factor, the higher the efficiency of the heater. As discussed above conventional storage type water heaters tend to have a lower EF due to lower recovery efficiency and higher standby losses associate with storing energy. So, now in the next article, we will move on to more efficient water heating technologies with higher energy factors.

To replace the toilet handle, first you must remove the old one. The first thing that you will notice on a typical toilet is that the nut that holds the tank lever onto the tank will be reverse threaded. This is important, because many amateurs will try to take off the nut by applying counter-clockwise torque (lefty-loosey, righty-tighty) and they will just end up breaking it, as counter-clockwise torque will actually tighten the nut! The shank and nut on a tank handle lever mount are designed reverse threaded because over time of multiple use of the toilet handle, the nut would loosen up and come off if the threads were normal clockwise threaded.

How to replace a toilet handle

Once this bit of information is known, then the whole process is quite simple. Just twist the nut clockwise using a small adjustable wrench or pliers and it will loosen up and come off. Then unhook the flapper chain from the tank lever and remove the entire handle assembly. Now insert the new handle assembly through the toilet tank handle hole and screw the new nut on counterclockwise. Then clasp the hook off the flapper chain onto one of the holes in the new tank lever and you are done!

Usually this is also a good time to replace the flapper. Or at least follow the directions in that article on adjusting the flapper chain.

How does the Envirolet low water composting toilet work?

The heart of the envirolet system is a composting toilet unit. Simple to install, the envirolet composting unit is an automatic six way aeration and evaporation process, an engineered composting system by Sancor. Two fans work together with natural microbes to circulate large amounts of air and maximize composting action. This efficient toilet composting system is smaller than many other toilet composting units, and is fully automated unlike the manual crank comporting drums that you have read about.

Up to three Envirolet low water toilets can be connected to one unit. So even if you have three bathrooms, you wont need to buy a second composting container.

How much water do Envirolet Low Water Toilets save?

The low water systems use only 0.5 liters a flush! That is just a small cupful! And if you really want to go Green, they have the FlushSmart Vacuum Flush System that uses only 0.2 liters per flush, or even completely waterless units! Installing this composting toilet system in your home could save you thousands of gallons of water in just a couple of years!

What about odor in composting toilets? Does the Envirolet composting toilet smell?
The composting unit container is fully sealed and is vented out the top. The vent allows all the odor to vent away out of the vent pipe, which can be secured to the outside of your house and terminate above the roof line, keeping all odords away from your nose!

Also, the Envirolet toilet low-flush toilet itself features a self-closing hatch that easily opens and closes upon use, keeping all odors trapped away like a conventional toilet.

Is the Envirolet composting toilet a lot of work to maintain?

Upon start-up you add aerobic microbes, then the Envirolet composting system begins its automated work. If you follow the instructions, and use only easy to biodegrade, single ply toilet paper, your composting system will only require occasional addition of microbes and use of the aerator bar. Other than that, you can let it work on its own!

How much do these low water composting toilet systems cost?

Costs can vary widely depending on the brand, and type of composting toilet system that you purchase. If price is your only concern, and you could care less about convenience, then you can make your own composting toilet system for pennies, but it will be a lot of hands on work and about as convenient as using an outhouse! If you want to go green, save water, but still have the luxury and convenience of modern indoor toilets with no hassle, then you could buy an envirolet toilet system for your home. A high-tech, low maintenance composting system can cost between $2,000 and $6,000 depending on the system. So they are not the cheapest, but luxury and convenience always carries a price tag.