very low flow in new home....

[rtstephn]

A larger line would have been the answer. At 525 feet, 1½" schedule 40 PVC or PE would be adequate. PEX might need to be 2". At this point, storage is really the answer. You mentioned a hill. Keep in mind that each 10 feet of elevation change causes pressure loss of 4.4 PSI. If it is a tall hill, that also has to be factored in.

Yeah, I can see now I should have gone with a larger pipe, and the cost difference between 1'' pex and 2'' pex was not huge. But digging up my road (I sleaved the pex line in 2'' PVC to protect it) and replacing all of that would be costly and time consuming. I think I would rather donate a kidney than to do that again.

The only other thing I can think of is that I bought the pex in 250 foot roles, so there are three unions on the run. Also, As I think back, the one area that might be a possible "kink" is where I brought the line up to go into my crawl space. I burried the line at over 3 feet deep (I'm in TN, where inspector told me 18'' is deep enough), then when I got to the house, brought the line up and then into the foundation. So the pipe does bend twice to go up into the house. I put 45 degree pvc corners over the pex to protect it for both bends. So unless the PVC has crushed (I doubt it), I don't think the line is kinked. But I did have to work pretty hard (it was cold outside at the time) to get the 1'' pex into the 2 '' pvc 45 degree turns at the end of the run.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

why not call the water department

just another thought....

I would call the water company and ask them to
check the .... WATER METER too just for fun..... to see if
something is not lodjed or stuck in the meter or see if the meter is not simply defective.........

or also I would call them and ask them to put in the next bigger size that will fit the yoke......

now if you really want to have some fun,
why not cut the pex line in the pit on your side
of the meter and install a boiler drain out there and see
how high you can squirt water ..........

if you can send it about 30 feet srtaight up in the
air my guess is you dropped a boulder on your pex pipe.

call the water company and ease your mind before you srart going nuts

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Terry]

One house I had was 1" at 350 feet at 70 PSI
I had water, but not nearly as much as I did from a 40 foot line.
That was years ago. I did it that way once, never again.
The house next door had a water service of 250 feet and 3/4" copper.
Changing that line from 3/4" to 1.5" PVC made a huge difference.
We also installed a second 1.5" line for the irrigation.
Previously, we had tried to run zones from the 3/4" since that is what we had. That was pretty useless, so that when the trench was dug, and two 1.5" line were run.
One for the house, the second one for the irrigation.
We never changed the meter.

 

[Jadnashua]

If you pushed the pipe through a 45-degree fitting, my bet is it is kinked right there. Pex works well in round curves...not angles. Depending on the fittings you used in the run (you should have bought a roll long enough to do it in one piece!), that could add restrictions as well. If you can get to the area where those two 45's are and curve it, you may see a world of difference.

 

[rtstephn]

If you pushed the pipe through a 45-degree fitting, my bet is it is kinked right there. Pex works well in round curves...not angles. Depending on the fittings you used in the run (you should have bought a roll long enough to do it in one piece!), that could add restrictions as well. If you can get to the area where those two 45's are and curve it, you may see a world of difference.

Yea, the two 45 degree fittings on the pex is right in my front yard, under dirt. I think it's probably worth my time to try to dig up that part of the run and cut out those two 45s(without cutting the pex...is there an easy way to do that?) I found that wellmate tank for a very reasonable price, so that is easy enough too, I guess. Looks like I'll do some digging tomorrow, at any rate.

 

[Jadnashua]

My guess is that you'll find kinks at the fittings.

I've not tried it, but I hear that you can put a bend in pvc if you use a heat gun. PEX likes real smooth curves.

 

[Leejosepho]

My guess is that you'll find kinks at the fittings.

I've not tried it, but I hear that you can put a bend in pvc if you use a heat gun. PEX likes real smooth curves.

Yes, those 45s sound suspicious.

I have shaped PVC pipe with heat, but I would not try what you need without a mandrel. Instead, just couple up to 3" or 4" to protect your line there by the house. To cut the 2" without damaging your PEX: Only cut part of the way through the wall of the pipe, then break it off and trim with a knife.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

that sounds like a fun Sunday...

I cant think of anything better to do on fathers day
than dig up my front yard looking for some
45s I buried last winter....

the easy approach is to take and put something hard behind the 45 to make it solid,
then smack the joint a few times with your
hammer,,, the pvc 45 will crack and break apart .... and it should not bother the pex inside at all...

then the truth will be revealed.....


my guess is the ground has settled and that upward run into the
crawl space has settled down somewhat.. and perhaps it
has kinked the pipe..

of course that is only my best guess....

you are the guy that has got to do the digging to
find out if I am right,

so dont hold me to it.

.....LOL

 

[Terry]

Once I was trouble shooting a home with very low water pressure, it was 1" poly about 40 feet from the meter to the soft copper looping around the concrete foundation at the front of the garage.

I dug up near the foundation, and saw where a backhoe had pulled the pipe tight around the corner of the foundations.
It was totally close off.
I cut out the kink, and tried to solder on a 1" coupling, but it was smaller than that.
I tried a 3/4", but it was bigger than that.
It was in between the two sizes.
When the back hoe had pulled the pipe, he had also stretched the pipe, pulling it longer and thinner.
I had to dig under the concrete slab a ways until I could find some real 1" soft copper.