Hopeful for some sage advice. Recently, my wife and I noted that the water pressure in our house seemed to have increased. Not severely, but definitely higher. I don’t mind this, however, am concerned about possible damage/wear to fixtures and appliances. I measured the water pressure with a Watts gauge I bought, and got 80psi at a hose bib that is the closest fixture just past the regulator (like less than 3 feet). The regulator says it is a Wilkins Model NR3, with range of 15-75 and max inlet of 400 psi. What I read seems to indicate max residential water pressure should be 80, but the fact it’s above the regulator max and we’ve noticed change makes me think that replacing the regulator may be in order. Any plumbers able to advise? Many thanks!

Sounds like it has failed or is beginning to. It may also have debris stuck in the diaphragm. Might try removing the assembly and flushing it.

You should be able to buy a repair kit from a local supply house rather than having to replace the whole assembly.

Pressure regulators should be "exercised"
(adjusted up/down reset) every few years. Maybe this is what you need to do.

I've replaced quite a few and dissected some as well. I believe most have a strainer at the inlet to capture particulate from fouling the orifices and seating surface so I doubt that's the issue.

Parts to rebuild can be bought but generally not locally in my experience. Best to replace the whole unit ($60-$120 depending on size).

I think they generally only come with one union when purchased. In the past I used that new union in the kit and left the original in place. Takes some modification to make the additional clearance for the second union, but is worth it when the time comes to replace it again. With two unions it's easy to back them off, pull the old and install a new pressure reducing valve. Obviously the replacement unit should have the same dimensions and threads for this to work.

Unions don't rely on tapered threads, teflon tape or pipe dope to seal... just an oring.

Also, call the city. Ours used to replace the first one for free. After that it is up to the homeowner

If one is going to replumb to add a second union and the space / existing piping allows, having the two unions ninety degrees to each other makes life much easier. On 3/4” or 1” one might get away with having them inline an pulling them apart enough to get the regulator or whatever other part out, but when you up into 3”, 4”, or larger the 90 degrees becomes critical.

I wish I hade that "problem"! We Are provided only 35 pound from the city.

We bought, installed and maintained pressure reducers by the case years ago when the city upgraded an entire section of town from ~40 pounds to 100 pounds It was a stock gap method done to serve a expanding area serviced by undersized main lines.

City sent out letters that home owners should add a pressure reducer, many did some actually didn't. 60 to 70 pounds is a pretty good target pressure.

One of two things usually happen when a regulator goes bad. It sticks, or it leaks through.

If it sticks it may be stuck partially open and may not close or open completely either one. The symptom of that is you get high line pressure when at zero or low flow (valve won't close fully) but low pressure at full flow (valve won't fully open).

If the valve is leaking through... you usually get proper regulated pressure when you are using water, but when you have zero flow the pressure will creep slowly up to line pressure... leaking through.

Either way, or for any issues really, the preferred solution we found is to replace the valve. Rebuilding them usually wasn't cost effective or a dependable solution, but then we were doing it on the clock for people.

If installed properly changing one out is a pretty quick process.
Then there are the ones buried in the ground at the meter at the street... done so by some to protect and older/questionable water lines to the house that they didn't want to upgrade.

Pressure regulators have internal parts that wear out over time, resulting in the pressure increasing. They need a rebuild, or outright replacement, every decade or two.

Is there a hose bib before the PRV? Typically houses are plumbed with an immediate hose bib, then the PRV, then everything else.

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:
Is there a hose bib before the PRV? Typically houses are plumbed with an immediate hose bib, then the PRV, then everything else.

That might be common in your neck of the woods, but none of my four houses have been plumbed like that...

They've all gone: Street Supply -> Meter -> Shutoff -> Pressure Regulator -> All house fixtures (including hose bibs)

And considering supply pressure around here is like 100-150 PSI, I'd be very surprised if any houses had a full 150 PSI hose bib!

I plumbed a bib ahead of the PRV. Gives me 120psi when I need the pressure for hosing something down and don't feel like dragging out the power washer. Good for troubleshooting as well. I don't use my good hoses on it though.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:
Is there a hose bib before the PRV? Typically houses are plumbed with an immediate hose bib, then the PRV, then everything else.

That might be common in your neck of the woods, but none of my four houses have been plumbed like that...

They've all gone: Street Supply -> Meter -> Shutoff -> Pressure Regulator -> All house fixtures (including hose bibs)

And considering supply pressure around here is like 100-150 PSI, I'd be very surprised if any houses had a full 150 PSI hose bib!

Very common around here. All 3 of the houses I've owned have been like this and I know a few plumbers who recommend that. Although, we probably don't have 150 at the street. I don't have a meter but might snag one to check it.

It's very nice to have that extra pressure for the hose and I'm thinking about replumbing the back HB to also be in front of the PRV.

Thanks for all the advice. The regulator is on the wall in my garage. Pretty easily accessible. I ordered a repair kit which should be here in a couple days and got the instruction PDF from the manufacturer, looks like a fairly easy job. The piping is PEX with crimp rings on the unions to the valve, so I’m going to try the repair kit route first so as not to need to mess with those replacing the full valve. Will update when completed.

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:
I don't have a meter but might snag one to check it.

You can get a decent brass water pressure gauge at the hardware store for $10-$15, and it's a good thing to keep in your homeowner toolbox. It's helpful to check the water pressure as part of your annual maintenance routine, to notice when your pressure regulator might be in need of adjustment or rebuild/replacement. (Before the increased pressure starts to cause issues with the seals in your fixtures and appliances downstream.)

Update:
Got the repair kit Saturday (quick shipping from supplyhouse.com!) and had time this morning to tackle it. Straight forward instructions, took about an hour all told, mostly trying to dial in the pressure. Have it set about 62 psi right now, will check it every few days to make sure all is well. Thanks for the advice!

sorry to resurrect the thread but got a meter tody and checked a few things. shop sink is right at 50psi in the basement after the PRV.

Hose bib in front of the PRV:

Cool!

I'm sure that's nice for stuff like hosing off your siding and outdoor AC unit, or giving your car a quick bath. Times when you don't need or want a full-blown pressure washer, but still want some decent pressure.

I've never seen that around here.

We had substantial water damage from a plastic housing water filter system even though our pressure was tested by the forensic engineer to be something like 60 psi. The filter was rated at 100 or 120 psi.

Just a word of caution about all these newfangled plastic plumbing parts. The engineer had seen other such failures.

So be sure you have a pressure regulator and it is working. And avoid plastic components even if they are rated for more than your actual pressure.

We had pretty bad water hammer in our house and I got tired of hearing that so I had my plumber come and check our street water pressure and it was like 115-120 psi so he put on a regulator and dialed it in to something like 55-60 psi.

Yeah, unregulated 120 PSI all throughout your house is going to beat your fixtures and appliances to death. I'm glad they got it addressed before more serious issues than water hammer occurred.