How to Bypass or Disable Touch Feature on A Kitchen Faucet

In recent years, technology has evolved by leaps and bounds. Not surprisingly, the convenience of modern technology has been integrated with kitchen equipment, such as faucets. Many top brands have developed kitchen faucets with touch capabilities to make the process of getting water flowing easier.

While faucets with bells and whistles are great in some situations, they may be inconvenient in others. So, no matter why you need to disable the touch feature on your kitchen faucet, we’re here to help!

What’s The Difference. Touch Vs. No Touch

High-tech kitchen faucets come in two very understandable forms: touch and touchless. Since many people often confuse the two or use the terms interchangeably, we’ll start by explaining the difference between the two.

Touchless faucets are exactly what their name implies: they do not require physical contact with the faucet. These faucets are much more expensive than touch technology faucets because they usually have sensors that capture sound, motion, heat, or all three of these things.

Touch technology faucets, on the other hand, require physical contact with the faucet. The exact design and functionality of the technology depends on the manufacturer. For example, some touch sensors work similarly to touch screens on cell phones, while others have more complex designs. These faucets are generally cheaper than touchless faucets, but still more expensive than your regular faucet.

The methods for disabling motion sensors in touch and non-touch faucets are usually very similar. Therefore, you can use this guide even if you have a touchless product.

How Do I Disable The Motion Sensor On My Kitchen Faucet?

The way you can disable the motion sensor on your kitchen faucet depends on the type of faucet you have. Since Moen, Delta and Kohler are three common faucet brands, we’ll look at how you can disable the motion sensor on each kitchen faucet.

How To Disable The Touch Feature On Moen Kitchen Faucets

Disabling the touch function of Moen kitchen faucets is very easy. This process applies to Moen MotionSense dual sensor hands-free faucets. They have a plain black control box under the sink with three hose branches.

You don’t need any tools to disable the sensors; all you need are your hands. Simply turn the handle to the on position, which is pulled out away from the faucet, and place your hands on the two sensors for five seconds.

After five seconds, the blue light on the lower sensor will flash once, which tells you that the lower front sensor is disabled. Once this is done, turn the handle off.

Alternatively, if you want to disable both sensors, turn the handle to the on position and place your hand on both sensors for 10 seconds. The blue light on the lower sensor will blink after five seconds and again after ten seconds, indicating that both sensors are disabled.

To enable the sensors, follow the same steps again. These lights will flash to indicate that the sensors are activated.

How Do I Disable The Touch Function On My Delta Kitchen Faucet?

The touch function of the Disable Delta kitchen faucet is more complicated than the Moen kitchen faucet. To bypass the solenoid valve, first remove the batteries from the battery pack. Remove the spade clip from the solenoid valve.

After that, remove the electronics module, which is the black box. Then, connect the positive terminal of the battery to the negative terminal of the solenoid valve. On the other side, connect the negative terminal of the battery to the positive terminal of the battery, which only takes a second. Once that is done, the touch function on your faucet should be disabled and the faucet should work manually.

How Do I Disable The Touch Function On My Kohler Kitchen Faucet?

Kohler kitchen faucets are fairly easy to operate when the touch function is disabled. Disabling the sensors on these faucets depends on the type of faucet you have.

Some Kohler faucets can be disabled by opening the manual override feature on the valve box. Locate the valve box under the sink and manually operate the faucet by turning the manual override function clockwise. The faucet should now work as a manual faucet.

Alternatively, other Kohler faucets have a slit switch on the valve box. Locate the valve box under the sink, then use a coin to turn the switch counterclockwise. This will disable the sensor and allow your faucet to operate manually.

Other Kohler faucets have a slightly different mechanism that allows you to disable the sensor. Locate the valve box under your sink. Then, locate the manual override function on the solenoid valve. Turn the feature clockwise to disable the sensor and operate the faucet manually.

Other Ways To Disable The Touch Function On Your Kitchen Faucet

There are a few other ways you can go about disabling the touch function. If you don’t have one of the above brands of kitchen faucets, or simply can’t figure them out, you can try these methods.

• Remove the battery. One of the easiest ways to disable the touch function is to remove the batteries. Find the battery pack, then lift the cover and remove the batteries. This is an easy and straightforward way to replace your touch faucet with a manual one.
• Unplug it. Depending on the brand, your touch faucet may draw power directly from the wall plug. If this is the case, unplug it. There’s no need to worry about unplugging because these faucets only consume a small amount of energy.
• Turn off the valve panel. We mentioned the control box under the sink above when we discussed the individual brands. If your faucet has a valve box, there should be a manual override option, whether in the form of a switch, a slit switch, or a knob to turn. Flip the switch, turn the slit switch, or rotate the knob. This should allow you to bypass the touch function.
• Removing the solenoid: You can remove the solenoid if you wish. However, this process can be complicated, so it is usually not an available method. Delta touch faucets usually have a solenoid that is attached by a blue removable clip.

Before you attempt to remove the solenoid, turn off the water supply to the sink. You may be able to limit the water supply to the sink itself by using the shut-off valve under the sink, but if not, you’ll have to go to the main water valve.

To remove the solenoid, remove the clamp. Then, remove the solenoid. Once removed, you will need to connect the sprinkler hose to the faucet outlet, which will allow your faucet to work with the lever handle, which completely bypasses the mechanism because you removed the solenoid.

Can Touchless Faucets Work Manually?

Yes, touchless and touch faucets can work manually. Generally, there is a way to disable the sensor that controls the mechanism. Whether you complete the process of switching the faucet to manual mode by fiddling with the valve box or by manipulating it with your hand in front of the sensor depends on the brand.

Most contactless and touch faucets have a manual sensor override mode that essentially allows the faucet to operate properly in the event of a power failure.