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Corrosion on hot water valve only? [No OT]

39,439 5,562 January 3, 2017 at 07:06 AM
There's one faucet in my house where the hot water valve side corrodes. The house is 12yo - the original faucet (we are 2nd owners) corroded on the hot side. I stripped it down, cleaned up the corrosion (CLR), and put it back, but it corroded badly within months. With that faucet the corrosion started to limit the hot water flowrate.

I then replaced the faucet but now a few years later the corrosion is there again. It's not to the point where it's impacting water flow though. corrosion affects the valve/handle itself, not the "body" that is mounted to the sink itself. Sink is porcelain/ceramic-coated steel or iron, probably.

Other info - this is probably the "farthest" faucet from the water distribution (2nd floor MBR); water is from a well and I use a softener (NaCl); all copper distribution within the walls. I don't recall what the connecting lines between the copper and faucet are off the top of my head.

I don't know what the faucet is made of.... wondering if this is some sort of galvanic issue, but why THIS location only?
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DC
01-03-2017 at 10:57 AM.
01-03-2017 at 10:57 AM.
Quote from Dr. J :
There's one faucet in my house where the hot water valve side corrodes. The house is 12yo - the original faucet (we are 2nd owners) corroded on the hot side. I stripped it down, cleaned up the corrosion (CLR), and put it back, but it corroded badly within months. With that faucet the corrosion started to limit the hot water flowrate.

I then replaced the faucet but now a few years later the corrosion is there again. It's not to the point where it's impacting water flow though. corrosion affects the valve/handle itself, not the "body" that is mounted to the sink itself. Sink is porcelain/ceramic-coated steel or iron, probably.

Other info - this is probably the "farthest" faucet from the water distribution (2nd floor MBR); water is from a well and I use a softener (NaCl); all copper distribution within the walls. I don't recall what the connecting lines between the copper and faucet are off the top of my head.

I don't know what the faucet is made of.... wondering if this is some sort of galvanic issue, but why THIS location only?
So this faucet is used all the time being in the MBR Bath?
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Zoe Moon
01-03-2017 at 12:33 PM.
01-03-2017 at 12:33 PM.
I don't know much about plumbing but our hot water valve in the MBR keeps corroding too, I suspect it's something to do with the non-brass valve being in contact with the brass pipe and hot water flowing through it. The metal of the sink combined with the brass drain pipe also gets really nasty black looking gunk in it, we have to clean it all the time and it's impossible to get all the gunk out.

Edit: I keep asking DH to replace the sink in there but he just doesn't have the time.
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Last edited by Zoe Moon January 3, 2017 at 12:35 PM.
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DC
01-03-2017 at 12:49 PM.
01-03-2017 at 12:49 PM.
Quote from Zoe Moon :

Edit: I keep asking DH to replace the sink in there but he just doesn't have the time.
He is too busy training your voice activated network equipment bulb
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Dr. J
01-03-2017 at 02:02 PM.
01-03-2017 at 02:02 PM.
Quote from DC :
So this faucet is used all the time being in the MBR Bath?

Yes. We have 3 BR and a total of probably 10 faucets in the house of various construction. In this LOCATION only do we get this corrosion and on the hot side ONLY. I've replaced it once.... probably 3-4 years ago as I recall (an SD actually).

I think the issue might be galvanic but why this location only?
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MISHNAH
01-04-2017 at 12:57 PM.
01-04-2017 at 12:57 PM.
Pictures of corrosion?
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VorlonFrog
01-04-2017 at 06:53 PM.
01-04-2017 at 06:53 PM.
Quote from Dr. J :
Yes. We have 3 BR and a total of probably 10 faucets in the house of various construction. In this LOCATION only do we get this corrosion and on the hot side ONLY. I've replaced it once.... probably 3-4 years ago as I recall (an SD actually).

I think the issue might be galvanic but why this location only?
Is this faucet supplied by copper, galvanized, or PEX? It's possible there's a static difference between this faucet and the rest of the system. We had our entire plumbing redone during a renovation many years ago, and our whole system is PEX. There's no grounding on any cold water pipes, except where they come into the front of the house. Frown
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CheapestGamer
01-04-2017 at 07:14 PM.
01-04-2017 at 07:14 PM.
Flint, MI?
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Beartrkkr
01-04-2017 at 09:54 PM.
01-04-2017 at 09:54 PM.
What is the sink made of and is it different from the others?

Have you had your well water tested?

Maybe there is an interaction of water chemistry and metal interaction that is not occurring elsewhere.

Is your electrical system grounded to the only to the plumbing? You may have some stray current contributing to your corrosion issues.
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Original Poster
Dr. J
01-05-2017 at 05:41 AM.
01-05-2017 at 05:41 AM.
Quote from VorlonFrog :
Is this faucet supplied by copper, galvanized, or PEX? It's possible there's a static difference between this faucet and the rest of the system. We had our entire plumbing redone during a renovation many years ago, and our whole system is PEX. There's no grounding on any cold water pipes, except where they come into the front of the house. Frown
in-wall distribution is all copper. From the wall to the fixture varies and I don't recall what it is in this specific fixture.

I also don't know if the sink MOC is different from the rest; we have 3 of these (similar) ceramic sinks in the house which I assume are steel/iron core with a ceramic/porcelain "coating" although they are original to the house.

I am figuring that there's something galvanic (dissimilar metals/electrolytic) going on here but am struggling to determine what makes this specific location different than the others.

As far as the actual faucet construction - THIS [deltafaucet.com]is the actual faucet I installed sometime around October 2013. Actually looking at the cut sheet for it I also see "• Lifetime limited warranty on parts (other than electronic parts and batteries) and finishes: or, for commercial users, for 5 years from date of purchase."

That might help with a replacement but that one will likely just corrode as well.
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Dr. J
01-05-2017 at 05:53 AM.
01-05-2017 at 05:53 AM.
Quote from Beartrkkr :
What is the sink made of and is it different from the others?

Have you had your well water tested?

Maybe there is an interaction of water chemistry and metal interaction that is not occurring elsewhere.

Is your electrical system grounded to the only to the plumbing? You may have some stray current contributing to your corrosion issues.
How do you mean "Tested"? IT's done annually at our well water/softener servicing.
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Zoe Moon
01-05-2017 at 11:23 AM.
01-05-2017 at 11:23 AM.
Quote from Dr. J :
How do you mean "Tested"? IT's done annually at our well water/softener servicing.
The one thing I think you can safely rule out is the water quality. Our water is excellent, some of the best in the country, straight from the Cascades snow melt natural filtration and yet we still have corrosion in just that one tap. FWIW, it's the first hot water tap off the water heater. Is the one you're having trouble with the closest tap (based on the plumbing layout) to the hot water heater?
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Dr. J
01-05-2017 at 11:50 AM.
01-05-2017 at 11:50 AM.
Quote from Zoe Moon :
The one thing I think you can safely rule out is the water quality. Our water is excellent, some of the best in the country, straight from the Cascades snow melt natural filtration and yet we still have corrosion in just that one tap. FWIW, it's the first hot water tap off the water heater. Is the one you're having trouble with the closest tap (based on the plumbing layout) to the hot water heater?

Actually probably the furthest!
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Zoe Moon
01-05-2017 at 01:06 PM.
01-05-2017 at 01:06 PM.
Quote from Dr. J :
Actually probably the furthest!
Scratchchin Maybe I have that backwards, he told me how they run years ago, I'll ask DH when I can.
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Zoe Moon
01-06-2017 at 10:09 PM.
01-06-2017 at 10:09 PM.
DH said the problem sink is the last one, for what that's worth. Our setup is kind of weird, the water heater is in the house but the pipes run into the craw space then split with one pipe going to the kitchen and the other pipe going to the laundry room/bathroom and then upstairs to the guest bathroom and finally to the master bath.
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