Water Pressure Question
- Thread starter SAS
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SAS
Member
Thanks. That makes sense and should be easy enough to do.
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SAS
Member
Well, t turned out that it wasn't quite as easy as I had hoped. Here's what the installation looks like:
There is less than 1 inch between the end of the air valve and the wall. I tried various sources for an attachment that would enable me to pump air into that valve, but no one had anything that was small enough. I probably could have ordered something, but as one fellow in a bicycle shop (because they deal with Shrader valves all the time), it seemed like, I was spending hours to save 20 minutes. So I decided that I would just take the tank down, despite my wife's misgivings. Long story short, turning off the water, removing the tank, pressurizing it and re-installing it took less than 1 hour.
Unfortunately, the way it's installed means I can't check the air pressure without taking it down again. I don't understand why the plumber that installed it didn't just put a brass nipple and 90 degree fitting into the tee fitting. That would allow me to add air from the top, and I've read that installing the tank vertically is preferable. If I do have to take it down again, that's what I'll probably do, or maybe I'll use a bracket to mount it to the wall and run pex or a flexible hot water heater connector to it.
Anyway, thanks everyone for the help!
There is less than 1 inch between the end of the air valve and the wall. I tried various sources for an attachment that would enable me to pump air into that valve, but no one had anything that was small enough. I probably could have ordered something, but as one fellow in a bicycle shop (because they deal with Shrader valves all the time), it seemed like, I was spending hours to save 20 minutes. So I decided that I would just take the tank down, despite my wife's misgivings. Long story short, turning off the water, removing the tank, pressurizing it and re-installing it took less than 1 hour.
Unfortunately, the way it's installed means I can't check the air pressure without taking it down again. I don't understand why the plumber that installed it didn't just put a brass nipple and 90 degree fitting into the tee fitting. That would allow me to add air from the top, and I've read that installing the tank vertically is preferable. If I do have to take it down again, that's what I'll probably do, or maybe I'll use a bracket to mount it to the wall and run pex or a flexible hot water heater connector to it.
Anyway, thanks everyone for the help!
Jeff H Young
In the Trades
Couldnt have screwed a street 90 on there and pointed the tank away from wall. or give it a slight turn and rework the air connection Wait a minute why are we chasing after an x tank for lack of pressure ? Did you repair or replace reg ? how bout remove the reg . and test to see if you get flow to back of house ? We aint getting anywhere it seems. Im losing track on the objective here
Fitter30
Well-Known Member
Your problem is cpvc what size is it? Cpvc valves aren't full port have more restriction. Prv nomally have a strainer under big nut on the bottom.
SAS
Member
I did not have any fittings at hand, but I couldn't use a 90 degree fitting because that would put the tank in the doorway. So while I don't like the current configuration, my priority was simply to get the water pressure stabilized. My first step was to install a repair kit in the PRV. Prior to that fix, it didn't matter how I adjusted the valve, the pressure remained unstable according to the gauge and the volume at any fixture would drop precipitously if another fixture used water. After repairing the PRV everything seemed fine except I could see on the gauge that I had a problem with thermal expansion driving the pressure up over 100 psi. I think that the pressure in the tank was too low and I may have made it worse trying to add air without removing the tank, since I couldn't get a good fit from the pump or inflator.
Now everything appears to be working exactly as it should. If I start to see pressure spikes in the future, I'll prepare ahead of time so that when I take off the tank I can reinstall it in a more sensible configuration.
Fitter30
Well-Known Member
SAS
Member
That was my original plan, but if you look at the photo in one of the previous posts you'll see that there is no room to connect the pump to the air valve. There is actually less than an inch between the end of the air vavle on the tank and the wall. That's why I was considering reconfiguring how the tank is mounted, but I didn't have any materials on hand and I wanted to remedy the spiking water pressure ASAP.
Fitter30
Well-Known Member
Tank air pressure matched shut off water.pressure.
Jeff H Young
In the Trades
SAS Ok you seem on track ! assuming the tank had air in it and its a good bladder
SAS
Member
Yes, the only potential fly in the ointment is if the bladder isn't 100% and starts allowing water to pass through. When I inflated the tank it held the pressure, but that was only for a few minutes. Over time the pressure could drop, and then I will have to replace the tank. The only way I'll know is if I start to see large spikes in the water pressure since I can't put a pressure gauge on the tank due to the air valve being only an inch from the wall.
SAS
Member
I gave it some serious thought until I realized that the other side of the wall was the tiled wall of the bath/shower.
Fitter30
Well-Known Member
SAS
Member
The purpose of the expansion tank is to change the water pressure in the system. Or perhaps a better way of putting it is to say that the purpose of the tank is to prevent the water pressure in the system from rising due to thermal expansion. It does that by absorbing the extra volume of water into the tank. If there's a leak in the bladder, the portion of the tank reserved for compressible air is replaced by incompressible water. At that point it can no longer prevent spikes in water pressure when the water is heated and expands.
sajesak
Member
I need some help sorting out what I think is a water pressure problem but I could be wrong. Water board are busy doing nothing about it and with a baby due any day I need to get the problem sorted so hope someone can help. The water pressure in my house is lower than normal and has been for at least a week. Electric shower has stopped working (was acting like someone was running a tap at same time). I also tried increasing the pressure on the combi boiler using the mains valve but this is not doing anything. So what I wanted to know....is the water pressure valve on the boiler not working because the water pressure is low or would this not effect it? It worked a month ago when id had to bleed a radiator and top up the pressure. Water board recon its an isolated problem as noone else has reported a problem but there is no sign of a leak and next door's electric shower was also playing up but they are now on holiday. Need to know where to begin really...any guesses would be most appreciated.
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SAS
Member
I'm all set now, but I thought I would pass along a suggestion to anyone in the future who might run into the same problem with the pressure tank valve too close to the wall or ceiling. I found an inexpensive adapter that works great. I lost a bit of air pressure while attaching it to the tank as I tried to screw on the attachment without being able to see what I was doing, but it was simple to measure and adjust the pressure once the adapter was installed. I got it for $6 here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081DVPZJH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
Here's what it looks like on the tank:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081DVPZJH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
Here's what it looks like on the tank:
SAS
Member
I finished solving the last part of this problem today! If you go back to my original post, I started down this path because of water pressure issues in the master bath shower. After repairing the PRV, re-pressurizing the expansion tank and making sure that the water pressure was stable at about 70 psi, the master bath shower was still a bit iffy. So I figured something must be wrong in the shower itself (or the pipes leading to it). I first checked the shower head again, even though I've done that before. I then removed the valve cover to see if there was anything blocking the water in the valve. When I removed the cartridge, I noticed it didn't look too good, but it's really hard to tell. I flushed the valve, but everything was perfectly clear. It's a Danze valve, and I saw a video where a fellow repairing a Danze shower valve mentioned that they have a lifetime warranty on parts. So I contacted Danze, they sent me a new cartridge, and now I'm considering putting the flow restrictor back into the shower head because the flow is that strong!
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