Weird water pressure issue in house... tenants moving in today, any ideas? (w/pics)

[Tireshark]

Wow hj, i really dont appreciate the 'what's your problem' attitude.

#1 i had no idea what a PRV was until smooky mentioned it.
#2 i only posted this yesterday and i didn't have access to the house at the time, in addition to a million other things i had going on.
#3 most of the 'ensuing verbiage' is because people wanted to criticize stuff that was irrelevant to the plumbing issue. the rest of it is me learning about how a PRV works, among other things like pressure checkers.

Sorry to have wasted your time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On a brighter note, i adjusted the PRV and it fixed the low pressure. When i told the renters that i fixed the water pressure, they had no idea anything was even wrong with it. I told them to monitor things and let me know if it fluctuates or stops working correctly again.

Thanks to everyone for the help... but i'll give you 3 guesses where you can stick all the criticism/attitude, and the first two dont count.

 

[DonL]

Nice work tireshark.

Great that you have it going with just a adjustment.

It was my fault for getting the forum off topic, you can put all of the blame on me.


Come on back, never give up... Keep up the good work.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Tireshark]

No worries don.

Heck even i enjoy a little drama now and then, it keeps things interesting... but i'm gonna hold my own when im on the wrong side of it.

 

[Terry]

I'm laughing

hj gets my son mad too. He gets pretty grumpy. My son Taylor is in college learning computer programing, and has a Summer job doing it full time. Yup!

It's good that you were able to ajust the prv.
At some point, you may need a rebuild kit, (something we don't spend time looking for) or simply replace it.
For us, it's easier to just pull a new one off the shelf.

 

[Reach4]

In the first post he said these things among others:

- the washing machine cold water supply (2nd exit point in the house off of the main line) appears to have a normal high pressure flow.
[snip]
- the washing machine hot water supply appears to have normal high pressure

I'm stumped. Normal high pressure at the washing machine outlets indicate that the pressure is ok coming from the street. A second of normal pressure at the sink faucets before the pressure drops indicates that the lines aren't built up with deposits (otherwise it wouldn't flow with normal pressure for that first second, right?).​

Those points tend to point away from the PRV

 

[Terry]

"Those points tend to point away from the PRV"

Seems so.
Sometimes it's a rubber washer heating up too.

 

[Tireshark]

Yeah, reach4 i still dont know what the deal is with that. I mean, you can see in the video that they had a good bit of pressure on them... dont know why they were so high when the rest of the house was being restricted by the PRV. The only thing i've heard was DonL saying washer connections have a reduced flow, which might have made the pressure appear higher than it actually is... that is, IF he was talking about connections like you see in the video. I always thought they were just regular shut off valves (or whatever you call them) with no restrictions, but i dont know maybe some of them are special for washing machines.

Also the spigot that branches out right after the PRV has better pressure than it did, but it still appears on the low side... i'm hoping that is just a problem with the shut off valve and/or sediment build up in the pipe. This would be consistent with an earlier observation i made where i realized that the spigot did not exhibit the initial spurt of built up pressure like the rest of the house... it was a constant low flow.

Anyway, i'm not worried about the spigot... just glad the rest of the house is working properly now. Tub/shower now have a much stronger flow, as well as the sinks, and the toilet only takes about 50-60 seconds to refill now.

 

[FullySprinklered]

The aggravation factor in plumbing is pretty high, so try to cut us some slack on that. Somehow it doesn't seem to bother Terry. I'll have what he's having.
Job # 3 today I was stomping up and down the driveway inventing new ways to express myself because I couldn't get in a house to do a punch list from an inspector. Finally got in and discovered that I'd left my tool tray at job# 2, a no money call-back. I'm totally covered up with work and got in one hour's work today. And I've got a toothache.
Don't be surprised if you have to get reacquainted with that PRV sometime in the near future.

 

[Terry]

The aggravation factor in plumbing is pretty high, so try to cut us some slack on that. Somehow it doesn't seem to bother Terry. I'll have what he's having.

I was kind of testy on a quote today. And I got called on it. Sometimes it's not so much the one thing, it may be things building up until something sparks it. I sometimes need to remind myself that my customers have been so nice to us. I guess it's the heart logo. I don't get grumps.

What stresses me is being busy, and seeing the van clutter just when I need to find things.

 

[Gary Swart]

Something that you may not be aware of is the need for a thermal expansion tank. I'm surprised you have not had complaints about the T/P on the water heater leaking. When water heats, it expands. When you do not have a PRV, this expansion is absorbed by the city water main. However, a PRV has check valve built in that prevents the expansion from entering the mainline and results in the pressure exceeding the T/P limits. The thermal expansion tank gives this water a place to go until the pressure is normal. It is really a small amount of water, but it is enough to cause a problem. If there has been no leak to this point, it is likely you have toilet valve that is leaking enough. Might want to check this out. The expansion tank goes in the incoming cold water line before the water heater.

 

[Tireshark]

Interesting Gary... i was not aware of that. The water heater is outside in a utility closet where most tenants dont go, so a leak from the t/p might not have been noticed. I'll keep this info in mind, in case it comes up in the future. Thanks.

 

[Reach4]

Note that the T+P relieves pressure at about 160 PSI. With the small pressure tank, you don't subject your items to that high pressure.

 

[DonL]

I'm laughing

hj gets my son mad too. He gets pretty grumpy. My son Taylor is in college learning computer programing, and has a Summer job doing it full time. Yup!

It's good that you were able to ajust the prv.
At some point, you may need a rebuild kit, (something we don't spend time looking for) or simply replace it.
For us, it's easier to just pull a new one off the shelf.

hj is ok. We all have our days.

It would not be a bad Idea to start looking for a rebuild kit for that valve.

I would rebuild it, and the way it is mounted, it would not even need to be removed.


There is not much to cleaning one up and rebuilding it. I did not see a main shutoff tho.

I wonder if the valve at the street side is open all of the way ?

 

[hj]

I haven't time to read the intervening replies, but if the pressure went UP when no one was using the water it IS DEFECTIVE. All you did was raise the adjusted pressure so the increase was either irrelevant or unnoticeable. A partially closed valve COULD cause the symptoms, but NOT if increasing the pressure cured them.

 

[hj]

Rebuilding a PRV is usually a "fool's errand", because it may not work and then you still have to replace it.

 

[hj]

A defective PRV will let water flow both ways so that is why the lack of an expansion tank did not cause any symptoms.

 

[hj]

quote; hj gets my son mad too. He gets pretty grumpy

You should tell your son NOT to be grumpy. Getting people "mad" is nothing new. I did it when I was an apprentice and was the superintendent over the journeymen. I made one of the local plumbing inspectors "mad" also, (the inspector's post was part time so he worked for us), when I fired him because of poor workmanship. The apprentice at his new company was in apprentice school with me and he told me, "I don't know what you did to him, but if you get a couple beers in him and then ask about apprentices, he will go on for hours about that ****** apprentice who thinks he knows everything and I have been in the business for over 30 years".

 

[Reach4]

Note that in reply #21 tireshark said "On a brighter note, i adjusted the PRV and it fixed the low pressure."

 

[Tireshark]

@ don: There is not a main shutoff at the house, the valve at the street is open all the way.

@ captain dipshit: Yes, since the pressure would rise when the water was off (for that initial 1 second spurt when i turned the faucet on, before it dropped to weak) it probably means the PRV is defective, and that would also explain the lack of a leak from the T/P. I'm going to leave it for now, because as far as i know the only problem it would cause would be a possible fluctuation in house pressure.

 

[LLigetfa]

How high does the pressure spike? You risk ruptured supply lines and property damage if left ignored.