Faucet pressure peaks and then drops off

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dimenox

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I have a single-handle kitchen sink faucet. Over the last few months it has developed this problem where the water pressure/flow increases as expected till the lever/handle is about half-way through its range, and then it suddenly drops instead of increasing further as the handle keeps going in the open-more direction. I tried cleaning and replacing the aerator and also replaced the cartridge. When I replaced the cartridge I tried moving the protruding stub on the cartridge itself (the hard plastic piece that gets pushed/moved by the handle once attached) in the up/down direction before attaching the handle to it and it showed the same behavior. The flow increases initially, but after about half-way through it suddenly drops and then stays low (please see the attached picture). I apologize for using incorrect terminology, a novice DIYer here. Thank you for taking time tor read this. Any suggestions?

faucet.jpg
 
If you take the spray head completely off and just run water through the pull out hose does the flow still reduce ?

You could also take the spray hose off the faucet and check the flow there.

The above would make sure certain parts of the faucet are not reacting negatively when exposed to the full flow of the cartridge being turned all the way on.

If this is the second cartridge and the same problem persists after trying the above, I’d replace the faucet
 
Excellent suggestion! I took the spray head off and the water is flowing without any drop in pressure (flow increases linearly with the range of the handle). I will see if any way to open the spray head (to avoid waste) or else order a new one. I'm little embarrassed to admin that it didn't occur to me that the spray head comes off completely. I just took the aerator out from the very tip and then focused on the cartridge (assuming it to be the cause). Thank you!
 

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