How Does A Touchless Kitchen Faucet Work

Touchless faucet is a magic faucet. Yes, you read it right. It’s really a technological miracle. And when you will know how a touchless faucet works, you will surely be amazed.

Earlier touchless faucets were only used in stadium bathrooms or international airports.

But, currently, these ultra-modern faucets are getting increasingly popular everywhere, starting from personal residences to academic institutions.

They are a great option for kitchen sinks or children’s bathrooms as well.

What Is A Touchless Kitchen Faucet?

As the name suggests, a touchless kitchen requires a wave of your hand to turn it on. Moreover, this beautiful faucet not only makes your life easy but also brings modernity to your lovely house.

Additionally, these wonderful faucets are typically pull-down models, so you can easily utilize them for washing cups and plates.

Parts of A Touchless Kitchen Faucet

Before knowing the working mechanism of a touchless faucet, you should understand different parts of this faucet.

Most of these top-class faucets consist of 3 common parts. They are

Solenoid valve

The solenoid is mainly an electromagnet that may push or pull, based on the polarity of the electron.

Diaphragm valves control the water. This valve makes a quick response to any kind of signal that the sensor may receive.

Sensor

The faucet sensor typically controls the solenoid-actuated diaphragm valve. In a touchless faucet, it is placed at the base or lip of the spout.

Actually, it is not a motion sensor rather it’s a presence sensor intended to sense the presence of hands under the spout.

However, the majority of faucet sensors use a small infrared light with a light detector.

When your hands go under the lip of the spout, infrared light bounces back to the detector, which turns on the valve.

Spout

The faucet spouts, that hold all the functioning parts, are made of zinc in inexpensive models, while in the expensive ones they are made of brass.

Nickel or chrome is plated on them for appearance and robustness.

There are many types of spouts available for a standard kitchen, bathroom use, bar sinks, lab sinks, etc.

The size, shape, and finish of the touchless faucets’ spouts are main reasons buyers prefer one over the other.

How Does A Touchless Faucet Work?

Here, I will let you know how a touchless kitchen faucet works.

Usually, a solenoid-actuated diaphragm valve is used to start and stop the flow of water.

When the presence sensor detects anything below it, the sensor permits the solenoid valve to let the water flow out. But, as soon as the presence sensor detects the absence of that object, it will instruct the solenoid valve to discontinue the water flow after a fixed quantity of time.
On the other hand, some advanced faucet models have an ultrasonic field sensor that orders the valve to start water flow when your hands interrupt the ultrasonic field.

The spout holds optical fiber cables that attach it to the presence sensor. Then, the presence sensor conveys its signals through this fiber optics. The spout may also include batteries in some models.

This is, in a nutshell, how a touchless faucet works.

Simply, when the presence sensor or light sensor detects an object, it permits the solenoid which pulls the valve to begin the water flow.

If it does not detect the same thing or anything in front of it, it orders the solenoid that will stop the water flow after a period of time (around 30 seconds) by pushing the valve.

In addition to that, these touchless faucets not only save water, but they are great in preventing the spread of bacteria which leads to illnesses.

Moreover, this faucet is well-organized compared to regular faucets as it lets you use both hands while washing dishes.

Do Touchless Faucets Have Batteries?

The sensor and solenoid of a touchless faucet need batteries as a power source. However, some modern faucet uses current from an AC transformer.

But, a large number of models use AA batteries while some use 9-volt or 6-volt Lithium batteries. Additionally, battery-powered faucets consume less current than the transformer-powered ones.