Posted on 12/12/2005 10:14:10 AM PST by ElPatriota
Hi all,
All of the sudden when I was taking a shower, the pressure just increased at least by a factor or 2X... too strong!...I had to reduce the pressure from the shower head. Anyway, the water company came to check and found the pressure (78 lbs) which is normal so they said to check the "Water Pressure Reducer." (about $50.00) it seems this is what it is, although I can never be sure until a plumber looks at it. I already found out it costs $250.00. Not a lot but still....
On the surface it does not seem like replacing it is a very difficult job to do... the thing is, I am not a plumber! Does anyone know how easy/difficult is to do this?
QUESTION 2: Anyone knows of other forums on the web, with lots of people to ask questions of ? it used to be that USENET had it all... but everything has changed nowadays.
TIA
Crack kills!
Guess I should have resized that pic.
5 minutes... how MUCH did it cost you? curious
Very good!... I also knwo the basics of linking pictures etc, but it gets a little foggy when I get deeper into it...but is something I have to learn, because like they say "a picture is worth a million words," :)
80 PSI would be way to high for internal piping which is why the house has a pressure reducer in the first place.... To ensure water pressure through the entire system, water is delivered often at much higher PSI than a typical home system can handle.. you solve it with a Pressure Reducer.
Generally replacing them is simple.. turn off the water supply, remove the old one and install the new one. Usually requires nothing more than a wrench or two and some teflon tape.
There is no way to test, but you could remove the Anode rod and see how much of it is left, if any.. the Anode rod is basically sacrificial scrap metal put in the water heater for the rust to attack before the actual heater itself.
At 15 years you are way past life expectation of even the best water heaters... So, start budgeting for a replacement.
Did you see the pictures? pls take a look - I hope you can see them.
http://mythings2005.blogspot.com/
Aja!... see? I better learn some plumbing in a hurry or I will have to pay a fortune for all the plumbing needs I will have... Someetimes, the item itself (heater), just like in a cars, is not that expensive, it's the labor that is so expensive.
Probably little or nothing. He's th e owner of a construction company that's doing a MAJOR restoration/renovation job on my house and was here on other buisness when I asked him to snake the growler. If I'd had to call a plumber it would have cost about $100 for his time coming out and going back plus the work. The problem with do it yourself plumbing, like do it yourself motorcycle repair, is that the pros know little tricks of the trade we innocents don't; thus, calling one usually saves a lot of money in the long run.
I agree with you. The WPR must in place at 50psi for my house.
I have also seen tons of tv programs on home-projects, plus i have a good collection of how-to books.... and by reading on plumbing, it does not seem that difficult - I mean for certain things such as this one and other little stuff - I would not dream of handling a "design job/building a house or.. a big job.." that requires a professional. We all know intuitively, where to stop..
I also agree, that it should be and "easy" job... the think that scared me a bit... is the "handling" of the water in the pipes... since they have to be drained for the pipes to heat-up.... I also heard the pipes must be completely dry and clean.... in other words, all those little things you MUST KNOW, before you tackle the job...
there is no question I will have to take one of those plumbing classes at an Adult Education center or something like that... to gain basic knowledge.
Dead on. The 'ideal' water pressure in the shower flays the skin from my body.
I will check this out... but I doubt it in my case. But I will check. thnks.
http://mythings2005.blogspot.com/
Who is the picture? 714... (Phone), where is 714? :)
"Methinks 78 lbs is not normal."
I think sixty is about normal but it can go higher at night when demand is down..
They use water pressure to cut steel... trust me, there is definately such a thing as too much of a good thing.
FYI ours was placed on the main line right underneath the outside water spigot. This is the main line from the community H2O supply. If the pressure is from municipal sources it should be their reponsibility. If you just want a reducer on your shower or inside the house chances are they will deny your application. They should have a plumber on retainer who could check it. The last thing they want to find out is that the H2O pressure is coming from the main lines into the houses. There could be a major lawsuit if more than one house is affected. Most HOA;s are about preventative maintenance. If your present it this way to them they should check it for themselves. Hope this helps. PS where are you? Are you in So. Cal.?
Saw the pic. The tag says the pressure range is 25-75#. It's adjustable.
Instead of a screw it has a bolt. Everything else I wrote applies. Loosen the locknut and turn the bolt out 1 turn.
It is an imprecise way of changing the pressure but unless you have a gage I don't know of another way. You may have to do this several times. If something inside it is broken then you won't be able to change the pressure.
It looks like the valve has a cleanout nut on the bottom. I'd clean it first.
One other thing. The main valve is a gate valve.
They are notorious for breaking when you try to open them back up. The gate inside sticks in its track and a little brass tab breaks.
To try to avoid this, tap on the side of the valve with a wrench handle or hammer handle as you are applying pressure to turn it open.
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