How to fix Mondella Dahlek water flow issues?

[georgiathacker]

Hello,

about 2 weeks ago, we had the above mixer installed into our kitchen as our first improvement project in our home. 

we noticed right away that the flow was almost completely constricted for both hot and cold to the point where it’s becoming impossible to do anything. We have instant gas hot water and it is no longer triggering the hot water to turn on. This is the tap: I found this product at Bunnings Warehouse you may like: Mondella WELS 6 Star 4.5L/min 35mm Chrome Dahlek Pull Out Sink Mixer
https://www.bunnings.com.au/applinks_p0718454?source=product_share&utm_source=bunnings&utm_medium=re... 

we have tried everything - tried replacing the aerator, pulling the aerator apart and reinstalling it (this just makes the water go everywhere and get really messy), uninstalled the tap to check for any blockages and reinstalled, to no luck.

we made a trip to Bunnings last weekend to try and get a new tap and return the Dahlek, however unfortunately the workers there advised that we cannot do a return as it has been installed for about 2 weeks now. A worker then proceeded to help us as much as he could, even gifted us a new aerator to no luck. As the end of this tap is not normal, we cannot use any new heads to fix our issue.

we understand we bought one with a flow rate of 4.5 l/m - understood that this will be a big change from the potential 7.5/9 l/m that we had in our kitchen, however upon testing it doesn’t even do 1 litre a minute. 

we are stuck with what to do now - we have pulled the end out to check the vege hose, and we can see that the opening is a tiny hole - is this normal? It seems that the tap has pressure in it, as when we take the aerator off the water SHOOTS out like you wouldn’t believe. We believe that due to this, the water is hitting the aerator as such speed that it is counteracting the flow too much. 

we are ready to call it quits on this tap and buy a new one again due to the fact that we literally don’t have hot water in our kitchen anymore, but we want to see if there are any other options that we haven’t considered yet as we really love the look of this tap.

any help and advice is greatly appreciated!

[JacobZ]

Hi @georgiathacker,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community and thank you for your question.

You have already taken the troubleshooting steps I would take, but just as an exercise to confirm things, could you try disconnecting the hoses, check for any kinks and then reinstall them and retest?

If you still have the old tap, try reinstalling it and testing. This will help confirm that the issue is, in fact, with the new tap.

Could I also trouble you to get a photo of the hole in the veggie hose that you mentioned?

The flow restrictor is often located in the aerator, so it makes sense that you would get better flow with the aerator removed, but a flow rate below 1L/m does not sound right to me and implies something is not sitting right.

Can you locate a washer on the back of the aerator?

Is it sitting correctly?

Any further details you can add will certainly help.

Let me know how you go.

Jacob

[georgiathacker]

Hi Jacob,

I appreciate your prompt response to this issue! 

1. definitely no kinks in the hoses. When we disconnected everything on the weekend, we made sure that the hoses had their natural bend and weren’t twisted or kinked in any way

2. I will try and find the time to reinstall the old tap, however it was working just fine before it was taken out! We just wanted a change

3. no trouble, I will try and get a photo when I am home and will upload it here

4. we have seen forums about a washer on the back of the aerators - we have never been able to locate any washers with them however I will double check this when I take a photo of the hole 

I will post my photo responses in a few hours!

[JacobZ]

Hi @georgiathacker,

I will wait to see what you find and assist as best I can.

Jacob

[georgiathacker]

 it looks to me like it’s a manufacturing fault? Surely the water shouldn’t be expected to flow through a pin hole?

[georgiathacker]

 

[georgiathacker]

I can also confirm that the rubber ring on the aerator is intact and in the correct spot 

[JacobZ]

Hi @georgiathacker,

I'll reach out via PM for some more details.

Jacob