water pressure restrictor valve

[George the greek]

I have a question on using the restrictor valve. When I first started R V ing  I read to always use the restrictor valve as many camp grounds have hi pressure that may damage your rigs water lines. I use the valve but have low pressure in the camper. so how do you determine if the pressure coming out of the spigot needs or does not need the restrictor?

George the Greek

[remoandiris]

Depends on the rig.  Some claim to have plumbing that can handle 110 psi.  I have my pressure regulator set at 70 psi.  It is infrequent I find a park higher than 50 psi.  

And I ALWAYS use the regulator, whether I need to or not.  Just part of my set up routine.

[George the greek]

2 minutes ago, remoandiris said:

Depends on the rig.  Some claim to have plumbing that can handle 110 psi.  I have my pressure regulator set at 70 psi.  It is infrequent I find a park higher than 50 psi.  

And I ALWAYS use the regulator, whether I need to or not.  Just part of my set up routine.

Oh my regulator is not settable its just one setting screw into hydrant then attach hose perhaps I should look into one that I can set like you have thanks for the idea

GtG

[Kirk W]

3 minutes ago, George the greek said:

I have a question on using the restrictor valve.

What you need to be using is a pressure regulator which has enough volume to provide all of the water your RV can use, and still control the pressure that it will ever see, I am not sure what it is that you are using, but the cheapest pressure regulators that are sold in RV stores also have very small diameter water passages and so they do restrict the amount of water through them. A proper water pressure regulator that is sized for the need of your RV will not do that. I suspect that you did like we once did and bought the cheapest regulator that you could find, see the first picture. 

                     

The second picture shows what most of us recommend be used. The one on the left has a water passage of about 3/8" diameter while the one to the right has a passage that is 3/4" in diameter. The one to the left will prevent over pressure of water in the RV but it will also restrict the water volume such that when in high demand the water pressure falls well below the pressure set point. The one to the right has many advantages, as it not only can supply the most volume of water that you will ever need, but it is also operator adjustable so that you can set it to the pressure that you wish and a large enough passage to supply as much water as your RV can ever use, without impacting the supply pressure. 

There is also another possible cause for your water problem as some RV parks have very low water pressure and no regulator of any kind is able to increase the pressure above what the park has. For that reason I have always used a pressure gauge on the hydrant also, so that I know what is available. 

                          

[remoandiris]

1 hour ago, George the greek said:

Oh my regulator is not settable its just one setting screw into hydrant then attach hose perhaps I should look into one that I can set like you have thanks for the idea

GtG

Consider one like this.  Adjustable with a screw driver and you can see what the pressure is.  DO NOT let it freeze or you'll have to replace the the gauge.  Don't ask me how I know.  Twice.

 

[George the greek]

5 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

. I suspect that you did like we once did and bought the cheapest regulator that you could find, see the first picture. 

                     

 

 

yes you are correct I bought the cheap version looks like the picture other than mine is not plastic its cast. I will for sure buy one maybe today, that is adjustable, thanks for the great information.

G the G 

[mptjelgin]

After using an adjustable Watts unit for ten years, rebuilding it twice, replacing the pressure gauge twice (note the freezing comment above) I decided to try the much simpler Fairview high-flow unit sold by the RV Water Filter Store. After a couple of years I'm sold on the unit.  I never adjusted my Watts unit after the first time (at around 50 psi), but got it for the higher flow. 

Now that a simple high-flow unit is available I find that I prefer it. 

Fairview 55 PSI inline regulator with great flow

[George the greek]

out with the old    and in with the new  

so now its on to replacing the shower head 

 

 

 

couldnt fint anything in the owners manual about pressure so I set it at 55 

Edited September 6, 2020 by George the greek
forgot something

[Kirk W]

Make that an Oxygenics shower head, available from Walmart or Amazon. 

     

[George the greek]

I changed out the pressure valve to an adjustable. Started with 55 lbs then tweaked it to 60lbs now I have nice pressure in camper. Thanks for all the advice as I work my way through learning curve of R V life

George   

[amarie1]

Huh. Maybe you can help me out. I bought and have been using this model: 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EDQQD8/

Which has a yellow, green, and red zone (red indicating too high pressure). I'm in an rv park right now where for the first time it went into the red zone. I wasn't sure what to do so I dialed down the water source (what Kirk called a "hydrant" ... learning as I go) until it went into the green. 

Now I'm not getting much of a flow of water in the coach. It's enough, and I'm only here for one day. But can you tell me if I'm doing this right? I'm not clear what to do if the regulator shows red.

 

[remoandiris]

3 hours ago, amarie1 said:

I'm not clear what to do if the regulator shows red.

That is the problem with a color-coded gauge...it is non-specific.  The specifications on the Amazon link you provided says it is set to 40 - 50 psi at the factory.  

Since you're there for only 1 night, I'd just deal with the low pressure you adjusted to and see what happens at the next park.  Or, you could contact the office and ask if they know how high the park's water pressure is.  If it is 70 psi, your regulator is telling you it's high, but appears to be handled. 

[bigjim]

It is hard to tell by looking but it looks like it might be registering on the discharge end which might indicate that the pressure is not being reduced enough to protect your rig. I may be wrong but I believe that just the dial part of the guage can be replace with a numbers dial. My limited experience with these are that the dial part of the guage can freeze up pretty easily and destroy or distort the reading on the dial.

[Kirk W]

From the Amazon link:

Quote

• Pressure is factory pre set at 40 50 PSI
• Easy to read gauge indicates the regulated pressure

This seems to indicate that the regulator isn't doing it's job as if it were doing the job it should never get into that read zone. I don't have much faith in the regulator or it's gage at this point. 

6 hours ago, amarie1 said:

I wasn't sure what to do so I dialed down the water source (what Kirk called a "hydrant" ... learning as I go) until it went into the green. 

As I understand you mean that you partially closed the valve on the water hydrant to get that out of the red zone? Was there water running inside when you did this? When you partially close a valve it will reduce the pressure downstream of it as long as water is being used by lowering the volume supplied but it does not perform pressure regulation so if all water use stops, the pressure will rise back up to whatever the supply pressure is. The function of a pressure regulator if working properly is to control the pressure at is preset level so long as the supply is at or above that preset pressure, even if no water is flowing and without reducing the volume of water supplied. That is the reason that most of us recommend the use of one of the more elaborate pressure regulators that can be adjusted and I prefer one that also has a gage that shows actual pressure. (see photo)

             

 

Just for clarity, I added the second picture of a typical water hydrant commonly found in campgrounds and RV parks. My best guess for your problem is that your regulator has failed. Since you have not had it for very long, you may want to try returning it to the place you purchased it. 

[bigjim]

Kirk don't you think there is a possibility that just the dial is wrong. Even if it is it will probally  be easier to just return it and of exchange it.  Makes you want to have a guage to check the guage. I have used one similar to the watts valve you pictured.  Your picture of the freeze proof faucet helped me to verify possible issue on the site I am on now. If you know am I correct that to operate properly it should be open fully and if it is not it will bleed off underground. Which is what seems to be happening here.

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, bigjim said:

If you know am I correct that to operate properly it should be open fully

With the frost proof hydrants that are commonly used where things can freeze you are pretty much correct. The bleed off doesn't open immediately but it would be possible to have some bleed off before the water is completely closed. The design is to have water closed before the bleed off valve opens, but I have seen them leak at some point. 

[RandyA]

Unless you have a camper that dates back to the 80's your water lines should be PEX.  Earlier systems were a gray colored plastic pipe made of Polybutylene.  Some campers continued to use soft copper pipe with no-solder compression fittings. The weakest part of the PEX system used on RV's is the cheap plastic L's and similar connectors/fittings commonly used to save a few pennies.  Hopefully you have brass fittings rather than black plastic - the gray plastic fittings are somewhat stronger than the black ones.  The brass Shark Bite no crimp connectors are very durable.  1/2" PEX has a burst pressure of almost 500 psi at 75 degrees F.  It will expand under pressure - the plastic fittings will not expand.  You will not break a PEX line unless you hook directly to a fire hydrant. When the "fixed" regulators first appeared and Polybutylene pipe was used most all RV manufacturers advised a maximum pressure of 40 psi.  These in-line fixed 40-psi devices were NOT true regulators but rather flow restrictions with a spring loaded stop valve that caused a drop in pressure once a water faucet was turned on.   IMHO, the most sensitive part of a RV water system to high pressure is the toilet.  The flush valve can easily fail at "high" pressure.  Second is the water supply hose - the "white hose" that sits in the sun on a hot day with a park having 80 psi at the water connection.  Anyway, I use the adjustable brass unit with a gauge as shown in the previous pics and set the pressure going into the camper at 60 psi provided the particular park I am in has that much pressure.  I try to put the regulator at or as close as possible to the park connection.  If the park pressure is below 40 psi I fill my fresh water tank and run my 5.2 GPM variable speed pump set to 60 psi. I have encountered park pressures as low as 20 psi and as high as 110 psi.  They are all a crap shoot.  BTW - the glycerin filled gauges are a better quality than what we usually buy for our regulators.  They are externally water proof, made of stainless steel and brass and less likely to be damaged by freezing temps.  

 

[GlennWest]

I have never used one with the Teton. Now with the DRV we had a line blow off due to pressure. I used one for a while after that and had to remove it later. Park we were at in Virginia had very low water. Removed and not had one since. That was years ago. 

[Pat & Pete]

24 minutes ago, GlennWest said:

I have never used one with the Teton. Now with the DRV we had a line blow off due to pressure. I used one for a while after that and had to remove it later. Park we were at in Virginia had very low water. Removed and not had one since. That was years ago. 

I don't like pressing my 'good fortune' , so I always attach our Watts at the spigot . 

I have it adjusted to about 55 pounds .

Guess what , we've never had a line blow from too much pressure .  

[GlennWest]

One on the DRV was loose to start with. It was a compression plex fitting. I replaced with crimp. 12 years without I wouldn't call pushing luck.

Edited September 29, 2020 by GlennWest

[Jinx & Wayne]

On 9/6/2020 at 5:12 PM, Kirk W said:

Make that an Oxygenics shower head, available from Walmart or Amazon. 

     

Kirk,

We had the shower you listed but then switched to the Oxygenics Fury.  The fury is vastly superior.  We run with water pressure set at 40 PSI.

Wayne and Jinx

[57becky]

The last park that we stayed at that had high pressure, they told you to not connect to their system without a good pressure regulator was Park Sierra south of Coarsegold, CA and the lower you are in the park, the higher the pressure because their water system water tanks are on a hill above the park.  The pressure can exceed 100 psi.  If you are somewhere that has high water pressure and you don't have a reliable regulator, I would recommend filling your fresh water tank and use your water pump while at the park.

[rynosback]

20 hours ago, 57becky said:

The last park that we stayed at that had high pressure, they told you to not connect to their system without a good pressure regulator was Park Sierra south of Coarsegold, CA and the lower you are in the park, the higher the pressure because their water system water tanks are on a hill above the park.  The pressure can exceed 100 psi.  If you are somewhere that has high water pressure and you don't have a reliable regulator, I would recommend filling your fresh water tank and use your water pump while at the park.

You still will be getting high pressure while filling your tank, as I fill my tank through valves in the rig. Unless you have a tube that fills your tank. I would not take the risk. Especially if the park is telling you not to connect with out one. Why not go to Walmart or somewhere and pick up a cheap regulator to fill your tank? 

[57becky]

We have a heavy duty Watts regulator that keeps the pressure below 50psi, so for us it's not an issue.  Also, with those kind of pressures,  I wouldn't trust a cheap regulator.  I connect with the regulator everywhere we hook up, regardless of what the normal pressure is in a park.

[Ray,IN]

On 9/6/2020 at 10:29 AM, remoandiris said:

Consider one like this.  Adjustable with a screw driver and you can see what the pressure is.  DO NOT let it freeze or you'll have to replace the the gauge.  Don't ask me how I know.  Twice.

 

If the gauge freezes the regulator workings are also frozen with water, which expands and cracks the brass housing.

Edited October 19, 2020 by Ray,IN