Kitchen Tap - Hot vs Cold

14 years ago

Bit of a strange question here...

I have a new Peerless single handle tap for my kitchen and I hooked it up using the installation instructions from Peerless (ie. the hot water line is the short pipe).

When I use the new faucet it seems to me the hot and cold are reversed - ie. when you pull the handle (mounted on the right side of the up-right tap body) forward towards the sink you get hot water and when you push the handle backwards away from the sink you get cold water.

This seems (I think) to be opposite to the usual convention - ie cold water when pulling forward and hot when pushing the lever back)...

To fix this I can obviously reverse the hot and cold feed lines under the sink - which w/b easy to do.

But - and this is where my question comes in - it is curious how the handle works...

When you move the handle forward it travels only about 30 degrees , whereas when you move the handle backwards it goes about 45 degrees of rotation.

So I wonder if this a normal/usual design consideration to provide a bit more 'control' of the water flow for the hot or cold??

I would logically think that there s/b a bit more lever control for the cold water since it is used most often - or is my logic faulty here...?

Assuming my thinking is valid then reversing the cold/hot water feeds will mean a) cold water is turned on by pulling the handle forward (which is what I want) but b) there w/b only 30 degrees of cold control (versus 45 degrees of rotation control for the hot).

Can some one help me get my head around this - not a huge issue- but I'm frustrated with it...

Many thanks and regards, Glen

P.S. I guess I wouldn't be having this issue/question if Peerless manufactured the tap to move the same amount for forward vs backwards rotation... - so I'm wondering why they don't do that... - or is there a good reason for the different degrees of rotation?

P.P.S. I'm also wondering if maybe my basic problem (and fix) is that perhaps the cartridge was put in backwards???

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Comments (7)

weedmeister
14 years ago
Front/back is usually On/Off. Left/right is usually Hot/Cold.

The difference in angle for On/Off is for clearance to the rear.
User
14 years ago
I'm thinking you installed the handle in an incorrect position. Because as mentioned, forward is on, back is off, left is hot, and right is cold.
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User
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the replies.

I installed the unit exactly as per the picture on the Peerless box, which in essence is similar to the attached pix - noting that the handle/lever is mounted facing to the right.

So to turn on the hot water (in my case) you pull the handle forwards (and of course moving it outwards to the right - and for the cold water, move the handle outwards to the right and push the handle backwards...
And as I mentioned this seems backwards to me... ... would you agree that conventionally in this setup configuration it s/b cold to the front and hot to the back...

The difference in rotation (ie. 30 degrees one way and 45 the other) may in deed be due to logically allowing for clearance against the backsplash... - however the set up I am confronted with is that the 30 degrees movement is towards the front and 45 degrees towards the back; in other words the opposite of providing a narrower rotation for the backwards movement...

So I'm back to where I started - is perhaps the cartridge somehow installed backwards...? - or something else...?

Thanks and regards, Glen
weedmeister
14 years ago
is there a marking on the unit at the handle for H and C (might be blue/red)?

Is there any mention of any differences in mounting with the handle to the left, center or right?
weedmeister
14 years ago
I was looking at the install for model P188103 that looks similar to this picture. For this one, Hot is the longer tube and is on the right. It also had a tag on it.
homebound
14 years ago
Just flip the supply lines and you'll be fine.

On similar models by other mfr's, when the handle is installed to the right one pulls the handle toward you for cold. Maybe the mfr flipped it because of those folks who install the handle centered. When they do that, folks complain that it's backwards (left-cold, right-hot).
User
Original Author
14 years ago
Appreciate the comments.

Surprisingly there are no markings on the handle etc to indicate hot or cold.

It was from the Peerless 1-800 # that I confirmed, according to them, that the short tube is for the hot supply - but it is not marked on the supply tubing or installation instructions!

You are very right about this configuration being right for a front/center position - since (by simply swivelling the handle assembly around to the front (ie. rotating it 90 degrees clockwise) that in fact would allow the hot to be turned on by moving the handle to the left and vice versa for the cold - which in my mind would be the proper convention.

Definitely sounds like however for my right-sided handle set up, I should just swap the hot/cold water supplies and not worry about the front/ back angular rotations being different.

Many thanks for the help and advice.

P.S. I'm still wondering if I can reverse the cartridge and if that would correct the for the front/back angular rotations - so maybe some time I'll open up the cartridge and have a close look at it...