Free a Stuck Shower Cartridge
Using a rubber drain-pipe coupling as a full-surface grip to turn out a seized shower cartridge that a wrench can't budge.
Get a Pull-Down Faucet Retracting Again by Freeing the Hose Before Touching the Weight
One of 2 takes on Pull-Down Faucet Hose Weight
The Problem
When a pull-down sprayer stops pulling back into the spout, the weight under the sink is the usual suspect, and it usually is the answer. But a hose that's snagged produces exactly the same symptom, and it's the one you should rule out first — because if the hose is caught, moving the weight changes nothing, and you'll conclude the weight is fine when the hose was the fault all along.
The Technique
Work in that order: free the run, then adjust the weight.
- Open the cabinet and pull the sprayer head out to full extension while watching the hose underneath.
- Trace the whole run. Look for it looping around a shut-off valve, hooked behind the trap, resting on the cabinet floor, or caught on a disposal or a stored bottle. Anything the hose bears against takes load off the weight.
- Clear whatever it's catching on and test the retraction again. If it now pulls back smoothly, you're done and the weight was never the problem.
- If it still won't retract, loosen the weight's clamp — his needs a screwdriver, though many are a hinged clamp that opens by hand.
- Slide the weight further down the hose, away from the faucet, and re-tighten. The longer drop gives it more hose to pull back.
- Test the full travel a few times and adjust until it retracts smoothly every time.
Pro tip: Do the trace with the head fully extended, not at rest. Most snags only happen at the far end of the travel, when the hose has been dragged into a position it doesn't occupy the rest of the time — a hose that looks clear with the sprayer parked will still be catching on the valve at full stretch.
Pro tip: Clear out whatever is stored under the sink before you decide the hose is free. The cleaning-bottle shelf is the most common thing a hose weight lands on, and it's the one that comes back a fortnight after you fixed it, because the bottles moved rather than the plumbing.
Electrical, plumbing, and structural work may be regulated where you live — check local code before you start, and note that a permit may be required. More in our disclaimer.
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