Jonny John
New Member
I am not sure of the type of spiqot I have. I know it has a gate. Not sure of the brand. I will take a look and maybe take a picture for you guys if that would help determine?
Water Spigot Pressure
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Jonny John
New Member
The piping going to the spiquot is 1/2 copper piping. Is this okay?
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Flapper
Member
I've never heard of a hose bibb with a gate valve, usually they have a globe valve or ball valve. It's probably a globe valve (piston with rubber washer that presses on the hole when screwed in to stop the water)
Flapper
Member
should be fine; that is normal.
Was it working fine before or was it always like this?
Jonny John
New Member
I'm sorry I must of been calling it something different. The spiqot handle to shut it on and off is a gate. I will take a picture of the spiqot in the next hour or so to show all what i'm working with.
Never really paid attention to the water pressure to the spiqot until now. Been living in the home for 4yrs.
Never really paid attention to the water pressure to the spiqot until now. Been living in the home for 4yrs.
Jonny John
New Member
Do you feel I should replace the spiqot? I can pick one up at HD or Lowe's before heading home to take a look at it
Flapper
Member
So the flow has always seemed to be the same?
Flapper
Member
No first take the spigots off and test the flow to see if the issue is with the spigots or not.
???
If the pressure gauge is on a spigot, I would not say that spigot is running.
When you have the pressure gauge on one spigot, and you open the other spigot, what happens to the water pressure on the gauge?
Jonny John
New Member
I posted a picture earlie when I put the pressure gauge on the spiqot.
I will take the spiqot off and test the water flow.
I would guess the flow has always been the same. Like I said I never really paid attention to the flow cause I never really used the spiqot
I will take the spiqot off and test the water flow.
I would guess the flow has always been the same. Like I said I never really paid attention to the flow cause I never really used the spiqot
No. Don't take the pressure gauge off for the test. Get a helper to open the *other* spigot while you watch the gauge. Alternatively, open the other spigot, and go around look at the pressure gauge before shutting off the open spigot. The purpose is to see if there is a restriction before the point where the supplies for the two spigots separate.
Your pressure is high when there is no flow. Yet you get low flow. Why? A restriction somewhere. The restriction could be from various things. One example would be that there is a clogged filter restricting the water. If the pressure stays high while the other faucet is open with poor flow, that would be informative. If the pressure stays pretty high at the gauge when you open the other spigot spilling the water out, that will mean something else.
Jonny John
New Member
HJ and Reach4 want you to find the problem before spending money.
That said it can't hurt to replace it.
When I said investigate disassembly I ment to remove the stem from the hose bib/ spigot. Leaving the hose bib body attached so you could check flow it would be flowing outside the house. In the condition you are in now you can't turn the water back on without making a mess inside the house.
That said it can't hurt to replace it.
When I said investigate disassembly I ment to remove the stem from the hose bib/ spigot. Leaving the hose bib body attached so you could check flow it would be flowing outside the house. In the condition you are in now you can't turn the water back on without making a mess inside the house.
Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
A 1/2" pipe, using cold water, shouldn't be used to provide more than about 5gpm. That doesn't mean that it might not provide more than that, but from a design standpoint and longevity, that's about the limit. Run water into a bucket and see how much you get. With the pressure you have and the 1/2" pipe, if you're getting less, there's a restriction somewhere. Without being there, it's nearly impossible to tell.
A soda straw (about the size used for a water dispenser) and a fire hose could have exactly the same pressure, but you'd get LOTS more volume from the fire hose. The reason is the smaller pipes create more friction, and slow things down.
A soda straw (about the size used for a water dispenser) and a fire hose could have exactly the same pressure, but you'd get LOTS more volume from the fire hose. The reason is the smaller pipes create more friction, and slow things down.
Jonny John
New Member
So I put the pressure gauge on the spigot in front of my house. Turned on the water and getting 80 PSI. When I turn on the spigot in the back of the house at the same time, the front house spigot goes down to 0. Once I turned the back spigot off, the front spigot goes back up to 80.
Jadnashua: so you're saying that the main problem is the 1/2" pipe? I'm not sure if there is a restriction somewhere at the pipes are going through the walls. Only pipes I can see are the one's in my crawl space.
Jadnashua: so you're saying that the main problem is the 1/2" pipe? I'm not sure if there is a restriction somewhere at the pipes are going through the walls. Only pipes I can see are the one's in my crawl space.
This tells you that the problem is not either spigot, and it is not near either spigot. It says that the blockage is before the supply pipe splits to the different spigots.
Maybe monitor the pressure gauge with the spigots off, but with the various faucets running in turn indoors. That includes the hot water of the tub. Try a toilet flush. Trying the other water using things inside while checking the pressure outdoors could give more info.
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Flapper
Member
So there are three places that the fault could be:
- The valve controlling the spigots
- The pipe between the valve and the spigots
- The spigots (which we ruled out)
Jonny John
New Member
Could it be the piping before the valve?
Flapper
Member
Could be, if you haven't tested there.
That test I proposed in post 36 was to test for that. If you saw a big pressure drop at the outside pressure gauge when you turn on the bath tub or kitchen sink etc, then the problem would be before the valve.
