The faucet has two cold and hot inlet pipes at the bottom. both need a 1/4" brass male to connect. The water supply valve is 3/4" compression. Where can I find such connecting pipes? Thanks.

Turn off the water supply valves beneath the kitchen sink. Turn on the faucet and squeeze the trigger on the sprayer to empty any water left in the supply lines, faucet and sprayer.
Trace the sprayer hose from the end of the sprayer to where it connects to the faucet. Use pliers to loosen the connector holding the sprayer hose to the faucet.
Remove the sprayer hose from the faucet to expose the male threads. Wipe the threads dry with a towel. Wrap the threads with pipe-joint tape. Twist a 3/8-inch threaded brass flair cap onto the male threads. Use the pliers to tighten the cap.
Reach beneath the sink and loosen the mounting nut securing the sprayer support to the sink or countertop. Use a basin wrench if you are unable to reach the mounting nut with your hand.
Slide the mounting nut off the hose attached to the sprayer beneath the sink. Pull the sprayer support and the sprayer from the hole in the sink or countertop.
Insert a sink hole cover into the hole left by the sprayer. Depending on the style of hole cover, it could snap in, or a mounting nut could hold it in place.

Things You Will Need

• Pliers
• Towel
• Pipe-joint tape
• 3/8-inch threaded brass flair cap
• Basin wrench
• Sink hole cover

Hot water heaters are a collector of sediment. The proper care includes flushing out the collected debris through the low side drain faucet. The problem is the faucet is not designed correctly to carry out the needed task. If you are handy... turn off the water and gas or electricity to your water heater. Relieve the water pressure through the temperature/pressure relief valve on the side of the water heater tank. Once pressure is relieved close the valve. Determine if you have a 1/2 inch or a 3/4 inch diameter drain valve hole in the side of the tank where the drain valve is located. The drain valve can be removed with channel lock pliers, an 8 or 10 inch adjustable wrench, or a small 8 to 10 inch pipe wrench. Water will leak out the threaded hole while the valve is out. If everything is closed maybe 2 cups of water will leak out of the hot water tank as you check drain valve thread size. DO NOT take your time checking thread size. After you know the pipe thread size go to the hardware store ( Home Depot, Lowe's etc) purchase a short nipple (1 1/2 to 3 inch depending on available space) and a ball valve (brass) due to the water temperature. You will also need a brass adapter for pipe thread to garden hose thread (male both ends). This adapter goes into the ball valve to allow for the connection of a garden hose. Connect the pipe and valve together using the correct pipe thread sealant and install in place of the original plastic drain valve. Install pipe to hose adapter using thread sealant. With the ball valve in place turn the water back on. Gas or electricity back on. Connect a garden hose to the ball valve. Place the other end of the garden hose in a safe area as hot water and debris will be expelled through the hose. With water on, Gas or Electricity on and the relief valve closed actuate the ball valve to the full open position for approximately 3 seconds then close the valve. Repeat the open and close of the ball valve three times. Observe the debris that emptied out of the garden hose. You may be surprised at what you see. If the water runs clear, disconnect the garden hose the task is completed. You can wait until the following year to repeat the process. Your pipe and valve are now a part of the water heater, they may remain in place. Put the hose away.

Those are for the supply inlets, hot and cold to the faucet. If you are using supply hoses from your hot and cold water, you will not need these washers. You will need them if you are using rigid copper or chrome pipe to connect from your water supply.

If you have a choice, use stainless steel braided supply hoses instead of rigid pipe.

you need to clean the latticed

1) Low-boy water heater, cold water connects to lower inlet pipe and hot to upper outlet pipe.
Cold enters bottom of heater and then hot water rises to top where it leaves tank.
http://waterheatertimer.org/images/20-gal-heater.jpg

2) With larger water heaters both hot and cold connections are on top of tank, but the cold water goes to the bottom through the dip tube.
http://waterheatertimer.org/Water-heater-dip-tube.html

If pipes are reversed, the water heater will not work.

It sounds like two problems.
Problem 1) Clog inside faucet or clog inside pipes at faucet
Remove supply tubes leading to faucet and see if problem is inside pipes or inside faucet.
My bet is clog inside faucet.

If you have galvanized pipe that meets copper pipe, this can be trouble spot.
Article on clogged water pipes at Inspectapedia:
http://www.inspectapedia.com/water/Water_Pipe_Clog_Repair_Guide.htm

Article on clogged pipes:
http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/WHRpages/English/Troubleshooting/Tanklets/backflushing.html

Problem 2) Water heater leak ... you say tank valve is leaking? Is that cold-water shut-off valve? Or tank drain valve? Or TP valve?

If cold water shut-off is leaking, then replace shut off.

If tank drain valve is leaking, then check if plastic valve is cracked. If drain valve is cracked, then replace with a brass valve from Home Depot. If plastic valve breaks off, then use hammer and screwdriver to gently chip out the broken plastic valve. New valve threads need teflon tape to seal pipe. If valve is just dripping, then put garden-hose cap over end of valve and screw down tight.

If TP valve is leaking, then replace with same temperature and pressure rating. New TP valve threads need teflon tape to seal pipe.

Problem 3) If pressure is low all over house:
Buy pressure gauge at hardware store that screws onto hose connection.

Test pressure on outdoor spigot.
Open faucet and check if pressure drops. This says if problem is inside pipes that enter house.

Test pressure on water heater drain valve.
This says if pressure problem is before -or- after water heater.

If problem is before the water heater, then shut-off valve located on cold water line is suspect.
If problem is after water heater, it could be in hot water outflow pipe on top of water heater, or a nearby elbow.
Remove hot water line leading from water heater and check pressure. This says if problem is where hot water leaves tank.
Read articles above about clogs inside water lines.

3 minutes?? does the water run cold then? or just warm?
Is this what the tank you replaced was doing? If so, then you may have: 1 a recirculating pump instant hot water system thats faulty and allowing cold water backflow into hot water piping. 2 A tempering valve that has stuck, allowing cold water into your hot water system.
Or maybe a broken or missing dip tube in your new heater.
If after 3 minutes the water is coming cold out leave that faucet running and go to heater and feel the hot water outlet pipe from the heater. if that pipe is hot then the heater is not the problem. If the hot pipe from the heater is cold the heater is the problem. (Make sure the cold pipe coming into the heater is connected to the Right side marked "cold" !) If there is a tempering valve by the heater: feel the output from the tempering valve, if it is cold and the pipe from the heater to the tempering valve is hot, then the tempering valve is the problem. If all these are OK somewhere in your plumbing system hot and cold may be connected possibly a faucet or showerhead that is shut off at the spout/head, but hot/cold handles are left turned on then cold water can backflow thru hot pipe.

Verify the cold water outlet has equal pressure as the hot side outlet at the wall. Check the inlet screen on the cold side water line where it attatches to cold water pipe. The screen could be plugged. Then check the cold side hose for any restrictions. Also check if there is a screen on the outlet side of the cold water hose and see if it is plugged. Otherwise the faucet valve is mis-aligned and will need to be rotated and re-tightened to align the valve to the center so both sides have equal water flow.

This error code indicates a water supply problem.
Are both the hot and cold water faucets turned on?
Turn on the water. Check the household faucets to see if the hot and cold water faucets are turned on. Completely open both faucets for proper fill.
NOTE: Both hot and cold water must be connected to the washer and turned on; the washer will not properly operate with only one incoming source of water.
Are the water inlet hoses kinked?
Straighten the water inlet hoses.
Are the water inlet valve screens on the washer clogged?

1) After shutting off the water and gas or power supply to the tank, connect a hose to the drain valve at the bottom of the tank, open the valve, and run it to a nearby drain or outdoors. Use two wrenches to unscrew the inlet and outlet fittings from the top of the tank. 2) For a gas water heater, shut off the gas inlet valve and use two wrenches to disconnect the union or flare fitting between the gas supply pipe and the inlet valve. Also remove the flue hat that expels gasses into the flue at the top of the tank. 3) After removing the old unit, set the new one in place with the controls and burner accessible. Allow at least 6 inches of clearance around its perimeter, and keep it away from flammable materials. Use a level to check it for plumb; shim the base with pieces of asphalt shingles or plastic wedges. 4) Wrap the threads of the heat trap fittings with pipe-wrap tape, and screw the fittings into the water heater (blue into the cold water inlet and red into the hotwater outlet). Be sure the arrows marked on the fittings point in the direction of water flow. 5) Install new flexible connectors on the water inlet and outlet pipes. If there is no shutoff valve on the cold water side, install one before connecting the water heater. After all connections are complete, open the shutoff valve to fill the tank. While it is filling, open several hot water faucets in the house to bleed off air in the pipes. 6) Assemble the gas pipes as shown. Spread pipe dope on the threads, and screw together the parts, tightening them with one pipe wrench on the pipe and another on the fitting. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for connecting the unit with gas supply tubing. After turning on the gas, test all connections by brushing soapy water on them and watching for bubbles.