OK smart guys

[skeets]

My bad guys,, I should have said it is city water, yeah on the well I know what I was looking at but city water I dont know,,, They put a regulator where it comes into the cellar and its warm so I dont think freezing is a problem. I called the water people and got we dont have a clue,, so here I am. This just started maybe 2 or 3 weeks back and has gotten worse,

 

[OrangeKrush]

Well you've come to the right place.. I'm sure someone here can help!

 

[GreensvilleJay]

city water..city regulator..city problem
get them to replace it PDQ
sure hope the 'upstream' shutoff is accessable !

 

[skeets]

Jay according to them when I called. I was told anything on my side of the meter is on me.

 

[ctfjr]

Jay according to them when I called. I was told anything on my side of the meter is on me.

The water company I had to deal with told me it was mine from the tap on the line in the street
Have your tried adjusting the regulator? Sometimes just loosening the adjustment locking nut and running the adjustment screw to its extremes may help.

 

[Daren Todd]

city water..city regulator..city problem
get them to replace it PDQ
sure hope the 'upstream' shutoff is accessable !

Anything from meter to house is a homeowner responsibility.

 

[Daren Todd]

Have you checked at your meter to make sure it's not frozen there. Sometimes the cold can wick inside the pipe shrinking the diameter where some water passes but restricts the flow.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re: Jay according to them when I called. I was told anything on my side of the meter is on me.
well that's a bummer, but I understand it.
I though the city installed the reg with the meter.
hmm do you have a Tee and spigot between the meter and regulator ? If so, open that up and check water flow for say 4-5 minutes ? If it's like Niagara Fals..for sure the regs at fault, if not then maybe meter is pooched ??

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Sounds like debris in the regulator.
Try tuning the pressure up and and down on the regulator with a hose bib or facet (with the screen taken out) open and flowing on cold.

 

[Henro]

I am having 2 issues here, first with a loss of water pressure when thing is using water like the washer every thing drops to a trickle,, and then some time when ya flush the fill sounds like it is cycling and you can watch the flow go up and down. Now the static pressure is 50psi, and when like the washer is filling it drops to like 25 psi. So I am thinking, and I could be wrong, there is something amiss with the regulator. I was wondering before I do something stupid,,, again ,,, if I screwed the adjustment screw in and back out would that make a difference ?

I did read the whole thread, but my memory is not as good as it used to be sometimes.

I don't remember if anyone replied to the question of messing with the regulator, but can tell you years ago, and I also am on city water, I did have a regulator fail and had to replace it. I do not remember the details.

I can't see how adjusting the regulator a bit, and returning it to the original setting, would cause any real issue. You could even do it with a valve open so you would not develop overly excessive pressure while doing it.

Also if you could put your pressure gauge close to the regulator, and opened a tap, and saw the pressure drop, then you would have a pretty good idea that the issue was from the point of measurement back to the main line somewhere.

Let's say you were able to put the pressure gauge right after the regulator, and the pressure dropped when you opened a tap. This alone would not indicate a problem with the regulator necessarily. BUT it would indicate a problem between the output of the regulator, and the water main.

If the pressure stayed high at the output of the regulator, but flow dropped somewhere down stream, the problem would be a restriction after the regulator.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[Henro]

Jay according to them when I called. I was told anything on my side of the meter is on me.

That's great for you if that is the case. Here where I am everything on my side of the shut off valve at the road is my responsibility...

How high is the main line pressure? Perhaps as a test you could eliminate the regulator and see what happens? In years past lots of homes never had a regulator to begin with...just another thought...

 

[skeets]

THanks guys, all good points

 

[RCW]

Skeets - - my apologies for sending you in the wrong direction for a well system.

Does your "regulator" look something like this, with a dome-type thingy on it? With a threaded adjuster through the dome-type thingy?

Figured I use technical terms....HA!

Won't look exact, and probably different materials.

They vary a lot, but most I know of have a similar looking set up....

It's one to my boiler in the cellar. It came with cobwebs, right out of the box...

Was hoping we could figure out what it was before you started tinkering with it.

Another thing that could be on your service is some type of backflow preventer. There are many types of check valves. You probably saw some in the coal mines in your day.

Those you do not want to tinker with. Doubt they would cause your problems anyway, so no sweat.

If you're sure it's a PRV, similar to mine, I agree with Wolfman.

Run water in your bathtub. Usually no screen in the faucet.

 

[skeets]

That looks like the one on my boiler too,,lol,,, yes is a dome with the adjustment on the top,,, so I will get the screw it in and out a couple times and see,,, the water here is harder than an old ,,,, you know,,, heart

 

[Daren Todd]

That looks like the one on my boiler too,,lol,,, yes is a dome with the adjustment on the top,,, so I will get the screw it in and out a couple times and see,,, the water here is harder than an old ,,,, you know,,, heart

If you have hard water. Then it's probably glogged.