Plumbing Issue

[Northendzone]

So it seems that the cold water supply line to my washing machine has quit working.

I was having issues with my front load machine showing an error message, so I had an appliance repair guy in and he disconnected the cold water line and if you open the tap there is no water coming out of the spigot.

My laundry room is upstairs, and given the weather I figure perhaps the line froze, so I open up the wall cavity and it is nice and warm in there with no signs of frost.

I looked at the lines in the basement, and of course they in a difficult spot to access, but I can feel them with my hand and there does not appear to be any cold spots. I tried going on long the line and tapping with with a hammer and still no cold water at the laundry tap.

My house is plumbed with pex. It is like there is a blockage in the line somewhere, or perhaps the tap is siezed in a closed position.

Anyone ever run into this?

[Northendzone]

Oh and just to confirm, no, I have not stood on the machine or the plumbing

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

Oh and just to confirm, no, I have not stood on the machine or the plumbing

well I'm out of ideas

[GoinAllTheWay]

That is indeed puzzling. The wall you opened up, it's an interior wall yes?

[zamler]

I don't see how a shutoff valve could fail and not allow any water through when you turn it does it feel normal? Most likely explanation to me would be a frozen line but I'm no plumber.

[puckedoff]

Drink lots of water

[surferguy]

When you opened the wall was the plumbing on the inside or outside of the vapor barrier? I've seen this screwed up before

[Northendzone]

The wall where the water lines are is a stub wall. No vapour barrier in there at all. No frost in area either. I also had a 1500 watt heater blowing in the area for a couple of hours

Cold and after valve feels a little stiffer to turn. I am going to call a plumber on monday

[zamler]

Can the shut off valve be disassembled? I'm guess it is a handle type (think they are called a ball valve) which is not designed to be serviced or repaired.

[Northendzone]

I don't believe the valve could be disassembled. It is like a tap.

[DeanOMac]

I am having a similar problem, except it is the toilet and faucet in the basement washroom that won't receive cold water (upstairs works normally).

I was thinking a pipe froze as well but haven't been able to confirm (or exclude) that is the case yet.

I did make sure to check the water meter to verify that the pipe wasn't burst and leaking elsewhere, which thankfully appears to be the case.

I am very interested in your solution and if I uncover anything I will circle back.

[Northendzone]

No real solution as the problem fixed itself as it is all working now.

Put some foam pipe cozy around the pipes, and insulated the void in the stub wall. I will cover over the hole I cut in the wall with plastic covers for a cold air return and will stuff the void in my basenent where the water line runs with more insulation.

[speede5]

Sounds like it was frozen somewhere along the line, best thing you can do for that is leave the tap open and let the water flow on it's own. as soon as a tiny bit of water starts flowing past the freeze it thaws it out.

If you can't find the spot that freezes try not to shock the cold side of your system when the temperature gets low outside. A lot of times the line isn't frozen until you drop the pressure in the line, just like how your coke turns to slurpee when you pop the top. Flushing the toilet or having the washer come on drops the line pressure rapidly and you get instant freezing. Open your bathroom faucet really slowly first thing in the morning and anytime during the day after it's been off for a while before running the washer and you should be ok.

It's not a fix but it helps prevent the issue. In the long run you want to find the spot as it will continue to give you issues. Pex connectors are quite a bit narrower, and the 90's are sharper than copper ones so they tend to ice dam a lot easier. They reduce flow a fair bit compared to copper.

[Fuzz]

Interesting, I had always assumed PEX would be more resilient to cold.

[Northendzone]

Whatever the issue was, it is now back and I have no water at the spigots for my washing machine.

I have a plumber coming in tomorrow, because the way I see it, I need to start cutting plumbing lines, and I don't want to get into the point of no return and create a massive mess of water.. seems to me that main floor washing machines are a pain.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Please don't forget to update this post when you find the cause, I've been trying to think of what could cause this since you first posted.

If this line is on an exterior wall, the only cause I could think of was freezing but I assumed waterlines on exterior walls was against code?

[Northendzone]

My water lines run up from the basement via a stub wall that is against walls to my garage and outside. I opened up the stub wall and found no evidence of frost in stub wall cavity, not could I find a cold area of the lex pipe.

Right now I am thinking that perhaps, the taps at the end of the water lines are packed with crap, and potentially sealed off.

I could cut them and then reinstall new taps whoich would be joined to a new length of pex; however, I don't want to dick around with this, so I am going to wait and have a pro look at it.

I will update tomorrow.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

I will update tomorrow.

Inquiring minds!

[Cube Inmate]

I recently had a line (to an outside hose) that would run fine for a while, and then just suddenly sieze up and shut off. I never found the root cause, but it resolved itself every time after closing the shutoff valve for a while and then re-opening it. I assumed there was a loose chunk of solder in there (or something) else that jammed in the shutoff valve, and only worked its way out after the pressure was released. Or maybe a defective washer in the valve that somehow got jammed closed by the flowing water.

Moral of the story: don't install cheap shutoff valves.

Good luck with yours!

[Ducay]

It would take a lot to perfectly seal off a supply line (say if solder did break off in your case). There shouldn't be any sources or debris in the lines anyways.

Thinking it is some issue with a shut off; either by defect (ie on failure some valves default to closed), or by user error (did you shut off a cold line thinking it was an outside tap? But actually its your washer?)..