Water pressure problem

[ramsey]

I'm having strange water pressure issues at my house. It's causing me all sorts of problems. Specifically, with my RO/DI unit. My wife and I noticed it yesterday just running water in the sink. It will go from blasting out of the faucet like crazy, to normal, to lower than normal then jump back up to blasting like crazy. I have a pressure gauge on my RO/DI unit. It's going from about 50-60 PSI (this is normal) to about 130 PSI, which is well into the "unsafe" range listed on the gauge. Any ideas what would cause this? Is there anything I can place on the line to give it a constant flow? It's already caused one leak.

[ramsey]

I may have answered my own question. I did some research and I think my pressure regulator valve may be failing. 130 PSI is enough to cause other things to start failing so I'll be calling the city. If anyone has any experience with this kind of thing, I still like your advice. :)

[Big_Pun]

I may have answered my own question. I did some research and I think my pressure regulator valve may be failing. 130 PSI is enough to cause other things to start failing so I'll be calling the city. If anyone has any experience with this kind of thing, I still like your advice. :)

one of sponsors is a very good plumber carlinsa (210) 355-3138 give him a call

[Gseclipse02]

im kind of having some of the same issues but lower pressure is my issue not high ....

[ramsey]

I talked to my neighbor and he's having the same issues. I bought a pressure gauge from Home Depot and hooked it up. My pressure sits at about 60 PSI, then suddenly spikes to 120 PSI, then goes back down to 60. 120 PSI is a lot higher than normal water pressure and can cause damage to more than just my RO unit (water heaters, etc.). I'll be calling NBU in the morning. If you're having the same issue, I would get one of those gauges and check it out. It didn't seem like the pressure was getting higher, it seemed like it was getting lower but that is clearly not the case.

[Gseclipse02]

what did you hook it up to ?

[Texreefer]

you should have a pressure regulator at your meter at the street no?? if it is higher than 60-80 psi then might be an issue with that... or I could be full of ....... something.. just thinking out loud.

[CoryDude]

I thought a pressure regulator was on the customer side. We had a plumber come out and install one for us for the same problem. Buckeye has a flow control valve you can install on the ro supply. I thought it ran around $3-4.

[ramsey]

what did you hook it up to ?

A *****et outside. The thing you'd hook up a garden hose up to.

[ramsey]

you should have a pressure regulator at your meter at the street no?? if it is higher than 60-80 psi then might be an issue with that... or I could be full of ....... something.. just thinking out loud.

No, just the meter. Maybe some do, but I do not.

[Gseclipse02]

A *****et outside

faucet ??

[ramsey]

I thought a pressure regulator was on the customer side. We had a plumber come out and install one for us for the same problem. Buckeye has a flow control valve you can install on the ro supply. I thought it ran around $3-4.

It is, I don't actually have one. I'm thinking about getting one installed though since that kind of pressure is enough to cause problems with more than my RO unit. I'm still going to call NBU and have them check it out but the flow regulator valve may be something I'd like to get as an insurance policy in case this happens again. Do you happen to remember what it cost you to have a plumber install one? I saw them at Home Depot but since it goes on the metal part of your pipe, I don't know tat I'm brave enough to mess with it. If it was PVC, maybe.

[ramsey]

A *****et outside

faucet ??

LOL! I misspelled spigot "s p i c k e t". Spigot is an outside faucet.

[Gseclipse02]

lol

[alton]

I replaced my regulator last year when I noticed my pressure was going over 100 psi late at night. Most of your flexible connections in your home are not rated for over 100 psi and may start leaking. I had this issue and only found it when I woke up at 2am to hear it. By the morning the pressure was below 100 and no leak. Just attach it to your meter after the valve with a union, install a 4" nipple and then a cutoff of some sort and change back to pvc. Takes about 20 minutes.

[CoryDude]

Here's a link to Carl's sponsor section. May want to call him for a current price.

http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?61982-September