Over the years, technology has evolved in every industry. Unsurprisingly, modern technology has been merged with faucets too.
Nowadays, many top brands build faucets with a touchless or touch feature. Because the touchless feature will make the faucet more convenient.
The best thing about Touchless faucets is they are easy to use, since you don’t need to touch the handle, you can simply turn on the water by waving your hand.
However, some people don’t want to use the sensor and would like to use their faucets manually.
So can we use our touchless faucet manually?
The answer is yes, touchless faucets can be used manually. To use your faucet manually, you have to simply disable the sensor. Once the sensor is disabled, the faucet will work as a manual faucet. But different models have different methods to disable the sensor.
In this article, we will learn how you can disable the sensor on a touchless faucet.
How Do I Make My Touchless Faucet Work Manually?
To use the touchless faucet manually, you have to disable the sensor on the faucet. Basically, different brands have different methods to disable the sensor.
Since Moen, Delta, and Kohler are three common faucet brands so we will see how you can disable the sensor on each of these faucets.
On A Moen Faucet
If you want to use your Moen Touchless faucet manually then you have to disable the sensor. The best thing about the Moen faucet is, you can easily disable the sensor within a couple of seconds.
This method works for Moen MotionSense Dual Sensor-Hands Free Faucet. These models have a black control box with three hoses underneath the sink.
Now the good news is, you don’t need any tool to disable the sensor. You can simply do it with your hand.
First of all, turn the faucet handle in on position; which is pulled out away from the faucet. Now hold your hands over both of the sensors for five seconds.
The blue light will blink on the lower front sensor which indicates that the lower front sensor is disabled. Once the front sensor is deactivated, turn the handle off.
If you want to disable both sensors then turn the faucet handle in on position and place your hands over both of the sensors for ten seconds.
The blue light on the lower front sensor will blink after five seconds and again after ten seconds which indicates that both sensors are disabled. Once both sensors are deactivated, turn the handle in the off position.
Although, you can easily activate the sensor by following the same steps again. The blue light will blink and the sensors will be activated.
If you have Moen MotionSense: Wave-Single Sensor Hands-Free Faucet then the process will be a little bit different.
Basically, these faucets have a black and grey control box that was installed after 2018. There is only a single sensor on this model.
Now let the faucet be in the off position, hold your hand over the sensor and rotate the faucet handle from hot to cold three times. The water will stop flowing which indicates that the sensor is disabled.
On A Delta Faucet
Disabling the sensor on a delta faucet is more complex than on Moen faucets. But don’t worry you can easily do it on your own.
To use your delta faucet manually, you have to remove the solenoid assembly (which is a black box). The solenoid is located underneath the sink.
First, you need to turn off the water supply valve beneath the sink. If you don’t have a supply valve then turn off the main water supply valve of the house.
Start by removing the clips from the solenoid valve. Then remove the hose clip and hose from the solenoid. Basically, the solenoid is connected to the top outlet tube and bottom hose.
Remove both of them and then reconnect the top outlet tube and bottom hose together. Now you can use your faucet manually.
On A Kohler Faucet
Disabling the sensor on a Kohler faucet is pretty much simple. The method can vary depending on the type of faucet you have.
On a Kohler faucet, you can disable the sensor by turning the manual override feature on the valve box.
You will see a manual override knob on the valve box which is located underneath the sink. The main purpose of this override is for a power outage.
Simply turn the knob in a clockwise direction to use your faucet manually. Once you turn the knob, the faucet will work as a manual faucet.
Some Kohler faucets have a slit switch on the valve box in place of the knob. Go under the sink where the valve box is located. Now use a coin to turn the slit switch counterclockwise.
By doing this, the faucet sensor will be disabled and you can use your faucet manually.
Although, some Kohler faucets have slightly different mechanisms to disable the sensor. Locate the valve box underneath the sink. Then turn the manual override feature on the solenoid valve.
Turn the feature clockwise to disable the sensor. This will help you to use your faucet manually.
Other Methods To Make Your Touchless Faucet Work Manually
There are a few other methods to disable the sensor on touchless faucets. If your faucet is of a different brand and you are not able to figure it out then try these methods:
Remove The Battery
One of the simplest and easiest ways to disable the sensor on a touchless faucet is to remove the battery. You will find the battery box underneath the sink.
Simply go under the sink and remove the battery from the battery box. After removing the battery, the faucet will work as a manual faucet.
In some faucets, first, you need to turn on the faucet handle and then remove the battery. Once the battery is removed, turn off the handle.
Pull The Plug
If your faucet is using power directly from the plug in the wall then simply pull the plug. As these faucets consume a small amount of energy, so you don’t need to worry about pulling the plug.
Turn Off The Valve Panel
When we are discussing each individual brand in the above article, we mentioned about control box underneath the sink. If your faucet has a valve box, then it would have a manual override option.
Simply go under the sink and check which type of manual override feature you have.
Whether it could be a switch, slit switch, or a knob depending upon the model you have. Flip the switch, turn the slit switch, or rotate the knob to disable the sensor on your faucet.
Remove The Solenoid
Since removing the solenoid could be a complex process and usually, it is not always a go-to method. Some faucet brands like delta have a solenoid attached to a blue removable clip.
Before we start the process, first you need to turn off the water supply valve underneath the sink. If you don’t have a supply valve then turn off the main water supply valve.
The solenoid is connected to the top outlet faucet tube and bottom hose. First, remove the clips attached to the hose then remove the solenoid from both outlet faucet tube and bottom hose.
After that connect the outlet tube and hose together. This will completely bypass the sensor and your faucet will work as a manual faucet.
Frequently Asked Question
Do touchless faucets need electricity?
The short answer is yes. Touchless faucets need electricity to run. Usually, touchless faucets required some sort of power source to run.
There are two ways through which they get power.
Depending upon the model, the faucet gets power through a low voltage current from an AC transformer or power may come from a dry cell battery, typically a lithium battery.
The electricity is needed to power the sensor, control the solenoid valve, and other electronics.
Do touchless faucets need batteries?
The answer is yes touchless faucets need batteries. However, most touchless faucets run on electrical power but they still need some sort of backup source.
Because when the electricity cut out, the faucet will stop working and if you have batteries in backup then you can easily use your faucet during a power outage.
Nowadays, many faucet brands give battery backup so choose your faucet according to that.