Water pressure woes

[Anon125]

i did not see which forum this fit in! please move it accordingly.

our water pressure regulator woes continue. city water.

i adjusted the pressure reguulator to reduce the pressure from 72psi.

the nearest tap is on the laundry tub and the gauge fits it.
after adjusting the guage still read 72psi at the sink.
BUT the kitchen and bathrooms water pressure is way less than it was before!
yes they are all on the same water circuit - we checked in the crawl.

does it take days to settle down? we ran the laudry tap for a little while - still 72.
we tried to get adapters to fit the guage to the other taps but it would not fit.
thanks all

 

[Reach4]

Measure the pressure while you trickle cold water out of a faucet. What is that number? Turn the water heater to vacation mode if it has one, otherwise turn it off. Close the water faucet. Does the pressure then rise to 72 PSI? If so, I suspect your PRV has gone bad. How quickly does the water pressure rise? What is the make and model?

On the other hand, you may not need a pressure regulator. Can you turn your PRV up to 82 PSI?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jadnashua]

While probably not a major issue, the relative height of the fixtures will affect the supplied pressure. Water pressure will drop as the result of gravity by about 0.43#/foot of elevation change. Say your supply was near the floor of the basement, and you're talking about a sink on the second floor, it could be nearly 20', or 0.43*20=8.6psi less, just from the elevation change when water is flowing, not counting any pressure loss because of friction while it is running. There are tables you can find to calculate the pressure loss with various flow rates based on the pipe size, the distance, and the number and type of fittings used along the way. The faster the flow rate, the more friction.

You can buy adapters, remove the aerator on one of your faucets, and then attach the water pressure gauge to use it almost anywhere as a test.

 

[JRC3]

While probably not a major issue, the relative height of the fixtures will affect the supplied pressure. Water pressure will drop as the result of gravity by about 0.43#/foot of elevation change. Say your supply was near the floor of the basement, and you're talking about a sink on the second floor, it could be nearly 20', or 0.43*20=8.6psi less, just from the elevation change when water is flowing...

This was my initial thought as well. I lose 2-3 psi just going up 6' from the crawl to the gauge on the floor above it. My water doesn't even have to be flowing.

OP, do you know the psi before you adjusted it to 72, was it higher? 72 is pretty good pressure. Maybe the gauge itself may not be accurate. I bought one from HomeDepot, a 200 psi with a hose bib fitting that screwd to the hose type spigot on laundry sink right next to 2 other gauges in the system...It was nearly 20# off. Do you have this one by WATTS? http://www.homedepot.com/p/3-4-in-Plastic-Water-Pressure-Test-Gauge-DP-IWTG/100175467 I'm not saying I use expensive gauges but that particular one was garbage.

 

[FullySprinklered]

E=mc2. This means, you can throw a cat through a plate glass window without breaking the glass if you can throw it hard enough.

Now, replace the PRV.

 

[Reach4]

Now, replace the PRV.

Is it possible that the incoming water is under 81 PSI, and the PRV is not actually needed?

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

The first thing you need to tell everyone is do you have copper pipes or
older galvanized pipes in your home....???
This is critical ---- "need to know"---- information...

if you have galvanized lines they are probably corroded shut down stream from the
first fixture off the meter...... It might spike at 72 but then drop off because of the older lines..
normally on a copper system the pressure and flow will remain
constant if their are no obstructions in the line....

If you have all copper you probably just need a new prv valve