Water Pressure Inconsistent

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Roback

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My family woke up to inconsistent water pressure coming out of faucets in the house this morning. Checked around for any noticeable leaks in the house and did not find any. Checked the hot water heater, and noticed that the TMP valve must've opened up during the night because there were some water had come out of the discharge pipe. When I checked at the valve was closed properly. My Bradford White water heater is approximately 10 years old, however I serviced it recently, and it seems to be running fine. My set up is that the mainline hits a pressure reducing valve and enters the house. The pressure reducing valve is not leaking, which is usually a sign of failure from my experience. When I open the faucet, the pressure is fine for a few seconds and then drops to about 50%. Here in Los Angeles, the weather has changed dramatically in the last few days. It went from being very hot to being very cold. Not sure if this has any relevance? Any ideas as to what could be causing the pressure drop? What do I check next? Thanks for your help.
 

Reach4

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A bad PRV would seem to be able to explain each of your symptoms. You still want to check that the pressure tank sounds empty when you rap on it when pressure is normal. I am not a plumber.

I don't think that anything you did to the water heater could affect the cold water pressure. Still, I am curious: what did you do to service your tank-type water heater? Few people do that.
 

Gary Swart

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In your question, you don't mention an thermal expansion tank. Do you have one? If not that's the problem unless you have a newer PRV that has a bypass.
 

Jadnashua

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A fairly common failure mode on a PRV is for the pressure to creep. A T&P valve releasing could be from either excessive street pressure, or more commonly, a failed ET. If a PRV has a bypass, that will only open when the house pressure exceeds the street pressure, and if the street pressure is excessive, it could get high enough to open the T&P safety release valve. With a working ET and PRV, the house pressure should remain within a few pounds of the setting unless the street pressure drops excessively to a point below the PRV setting. A really great diagnostic tool is to have a water pressure gauge with a tattle tale (secondary, peak-reading hand) either installed, or available to screw onto a hose fitting. It's nice to have one both before and after the PRV as well.
 
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