Thanks for the video. I had a plumber come to check my water heater. He actually turned up the water pressure to 95PSI and then told me I need to spend $1000 to replace the pressure regulator, in addition to $5000 to replace the water heater. He said he tried but was not able to adjust the pressure lower. After he left, I noticed the shower pressure was extremely high. I figured out how to adjust it and it's fine now. Gotta be careful with these Plumber scams!
Thanks SO MUCH! After I bought my home I was determined to have my dream refrigerator...REAL stainless steel Frigidaire Gallery Professional Series BIG side by side. Abt a year or so later my ice maker quit working. It was still under warranty from Sears. I was a under 30, a single homeowner & I'm female. I'm also the daughter of a former steamfitter who taught me how to do everything he taught my brothers. I did everything I was supposed to do. It was just a bad unit & needed to be replaced. The guy came from Sears & 1st tried to tell me I broke it & it wouldn't be covered. I KNEW I DIDN'T & it SHOULD & WOULD be covered. After he knew I wasn't budging he then went down to my basement & after several mins came back up & turned on my kitchen faucet. He rudely shouted @ me said "SEE?! :LOW WATER PRESSURE! YOUR PRESSURE VALVE IS BROKEN, WARRANTY IS VOIDED & YOU'RE PAYING FOR THIS!" He demanded over $500 for my new ice maker & the service call b4 he'd even order the replacement. I was so perplexed, ticked & a little scared but tried to keep my cool. Standing in my suit & heels I blurted out "Hey buddy, don't let the blonde hair fool you." That caught his attention. I had amazing water pressure before he went downstairs & told him so. Also told him my father, IQ of 165, former youngest foreman steamfitter, now President of a nationally successful automation company he started himself not only put in my hot water heater but my faucet & sprayer too & it was powerful before he came to look @ my ice maker...bcz it was...my dad would always joke how much stronger it was than his own. I asked him if he'd like me to call my father so he could tell my dad what he told me. He declined & the warranty covered it. I was so rattled & didn't know what the Sears guy did but knew he did something & also bcz I thought Sears would never be ok w/their employee doing that. I was young & naive but I know now THAT was part of his job. He JUST adjusted/lowered my pressure. I bought a new PRV & was going to learn to fix it but life happened & then my dad was in a fatal accident & water pressure was but wasn't high on my priority list. I still have the awful pressure & it's messing w/my Whirlpool fridge's ice maker & it brought it all back along w/the sadness of missing my dad...but YOU just taught me how to fix it. I'm sorry I am being so longwinded but I needed you to know YOU made a huge positive impact on my life w/your video today. You are AWESOME! I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart! I know my dad does too!🙏😇
Thank you Adam. I bought the part from Amazon and hooked up to outside hose. Psi was 42....Went under house and increased it to 60 as the valve could handle up to 75. This was my first successful project after watching it on youtube first!
Just wanted make sure I dropped a comment here to let you and any of your viewers know that this is a very good, spot on , no bs, easy to understand and follow video that I've actually had different homeowning friends and customers look up and watch to help them with there water pressure issues. All have had good results afterwards. Thank you for your time and sharing your knowledge.
I'm not one to comment on many videos, but I have to say that this was nearly a perfect tutorial vid. Limited b.s., good demonstration, and nice explanation. Two virtual thumbs up.
Agreed!! Thank you so much. All of it is great. After my guy replaced my water heater he said he turned down our pressure. My sprinklers won’t Eve pop up now!!! I need to turn it back up and I think I can with this video!!!! Thank you!!! ( and I never comment either!!)
Adam, you may want to mention to the people that Have a Thermal Expansion Tank on their system that when you adjust the water pressure in your water system that you also have to adjust the air pressure in the expansion tank. The two pressures must match for the expansion tank to work properly. This is a good informative video. Thank you for posting.
What happens if you adjust the prv but not the expansion tank? My prv was an issue (psi went up to 100) and it was just replaced under warranty, but ive noticed the psi increases throughout the day or early morning hours. At one point, it got back up to the max prv level of 75, but it was set to about 65...so its fluctuating anywhere from 5-10 psi When plumbers came to troubleshoot the psi and when they replaced the prv (and adjusting the psi after the prv replacement), they never adjusted the expansion tank
the air in the expansion tank is extremely easy to adjust yourself with a simple bicycle pump that has an air gauge attached to it. But be careful. Because I do not know the max air pressure of the expansion tank. You will have to do your homework on that part. My water pressure and expansion tank are both set at 45psi.
Just a footnote. If you try to attach the bicycle pump to the expansion tank and water comes out, that means the air bladder inside the expansion tank has gone bad and you will have to replace the expansion tank.
Easy to follow. Your video helped clarify exactly where I could test the water pressure and where and how to regulate it. Exactly what I was looking to learn. Thank you for taking the time to make it. Much appreciated.
please contact me. I am a local here at West Valley City and my first spring I already encountered the problem of having leaking sprinklers. I hope that is not the case.
Adam thank you very much for sharing this procedure. Besides fixing or regulating the water pressure; you seem to have very soothing voice, and photogenic face. You should be a Hollywood movie star.........really!!!!!!! Thank you.
This was easy to do and seems to have help out with the water pressure. I was thinking about going 1 or 2 more turns but I thought I would give it a couple of days and look for water leeks. Thank You.
Great tutorial. Simple and to the point. My water constantly makes a running/hissing sound inside my garage. Hopefully this gauge and adjusting the pressure helps. Thx again
thank you sooo much for this!! the water pressure in my place was terrible and i was thinking it was the fault of the regulator that my landlord installed recently. Then I did some research, found this video, and just had my boyfriend fix it!! I can't wait to wash my hair tonight.
I'm a Kiwi living of the grid. My water comes from a storage tank that is feed via the roof from rainwater. I don't have anything like yours, but that valve thing you turn is that what is called the A-Jax valve here in NZ, ours being entirely different in shape and size. My hot water cylinder has a tap but it does not have an out let like yours. God knows where the hose joining the tap goes to perhaps outside, that being the case then ya it would be like your used to drain sh?? from the cylinder, but then to confirm this would be a test in its self when I know there is no way one could crawl under the house to check. I like your video and will test things my way as ya my hot water is almost none existent when it comes to showers. Takes much time just to wet the body let alone to wash :).
Adam you are from heaven sir. We've been dealing with low whole house pressure since we moved into our home. It took longer to watch your video than it did to fix this problem. We went from a sub 50 to nearly 80 and the difference is amazingly wonderful. Just took a shower that felt like I was in a spa. Thank you sir. I actually am looking forward to washing dishes now.
Thank you soooo much for your Video . It took me 10 minutes to fix the problem.. I am sure there are many of us would greatly appreciated like I do. Stay safe, be safe. Happy New Year to all of yous!!!
This was perfect man. I know nothing about this stuff and 2 years ago in my condo I did the exact opposite thing and broke my PRV and $600 later the plumber fixed everything. I used your video tonight and adjusted it in my new house and it worked perfectly. Thanks so much for doing this.
Thanks Adam, I suggest that you mention the physics of liquid pressure in a closed system (no escape), is distributed equally through the system to the farthest point and in all directions. When a faucet is opened, the system is no longer closed, and the pressure will drop and I would expect the regulator to compensate to keep the pressure close to the adjusted setting. Mine drops from 60 psi closed, to 40 with a faucet open. I was hoping to find a hint as to how much of a drop can be expected. I would guesstimate that nearly a 50% drop indicates a malfunction of the product. Think I may have to call Watt Customer Service for the info; not having much luck on the web. My source psi from the county is 150psi which kicks of the relief valve on most water heaters, interesting.
Thanks so much AdamDIY...I found the exact same PRV in my basement and now the pressure is much better. Just think. I bought the house a month ago and have been taking trickle type showers, now I'm back in waterpik massage HEAVEN. Bless u. LOL
THNX-- for the info I am a senior on SS and having help like this is a big savings.. I will now see if I can find -- and do as you showed... I will try and remember to post later what I did..
Thank you so much!! Had a pipe burst and the regulator was turned way up when they were trying to shut the water off which resulted in the water pressure in the house being way too high. The adjustment at the pressure regulator is counterintuitive, you would think turning it clockwise would decrease the pressure. I found one of the gauges at Home Depot and I used it to adjust the pressure down to 50 PSI.
I live in a residential place with a second floor. The water supply does not come from a well. When I moved in I noticed our whole house had low water pressure. We changed out all of the out-dated pipes and had the same result. I had my plumber install a Grundfos Scala 2 booster pump that conveniently began to leak after the warranty. Before trying to repair this device, is there another water pressure booster device that the plumbing community can recommend that has a history of reliability? TYIA
Excellent! I'm going to pick up a water pressure gauge and do this tomorrow. I am so sick to death of my terrible water pressure! Someone flushes a toilet in my house and every faucet in the house is reduced to a trickle.
Hi, I have a pressure reducing valve as part of a Navien combi tankless water heater. There is also a pressure relief valve. The tankless needs to be less than 30 psi, otherwise the pressure sensor is constantly leasing pressure. I want to know if I can reduce the pressure to stop the constant release.
excellent. I have one question how do we define one turn i saw it looks two turns each time. i have recently changed the regulator the pressure was almost 90. the plumber who changed set the new one at 65 psi but pressure is very low in the second floor shower head
My regulator appears to be in a water meter box in the carport. When I opened to check, it was covered in dirt all the way to the top of the meter box space. I've dug to find it under the dirt. Someone in my condo (50yrs old) had a flood inside because the regulator was "corroded" and it blew out the water heater inside. Now everyone including me is wondering if we should all replace our valves. What do you think? Thx.
my pressure relief valve is made by Watts and looks to be really old. the tag says 50-75 psi. i just had a new water heater installed and the pressure gauge i had installed with the expansion tank ready 90 psi when i came home from work (no one was home all day and the water wasn't used from 8:30am - 6:30pm). does this mean my pressure relief valve has failed and needs to be replaced?
Zainab Muzzafar If it is only your shower that is low pressure and no other tap in the house is low pressure then you have a problem with a clog in the shower head or the shower valves. The head is easy to unscrew. Take it off and look inside the shower head inlet. You may see a filter or some debris blocking the flow. If you are sure it's not your shower head then you will want to look at the valves.
Yes, the low pressure is only with the shower. Water is flowing quite fast from the spout. The sink faucets in the washroom and kitchen are also fine. Many thanks for the advise, Adam. Will try to work on it according to the guidelines you gave.
If you take off the shower head and turn on the water you will see if the water flow is still bad. Then you will know for sure if the problem is the head or further back.
Zainab Muzzafar Not too bad. Depending on the brand of your shower faucet you may be able to get the replacement part for free. You may just need to replace the cartridge.
I have a Watt pressure regulator (LF25AUB-Z3) and there is no screw but a second nut on top of the brass nut When I try to loosen the brass nut the second (outer) steel nut moves as well How do I tighten this nut, which I think represents the screw in your video, ?
Thanks for posting, a life saver. I was about to call a plumber because I was trying to increase water pressure but turning counterclockwise instead of clockwise
My plumbing looks almost identical to your video except I have a double check valve leading to the house fire sprinkler system. Also, I have a permanent pressure gauge near where the sprinkler drain line is located. This gauge reads 150 psi (not controllable by PRV since it's not in that part of the line) . I bought a gauge like yours and checked pressure at a hose connection and at water heater drain connection - both read about 105 psi. I did all this because we had a recent violent pipe rattling when both washing machine and shower were in use. I discovered that the water heater expansion tank diaphragm has broken. (A pressure check at bottom of tank emitted water instead of air.) Our water pressure does not seem extreme, but it sounds like we need to get it down to a maximum of 85 psi.
Adam you do a great job of explaining your subject!we live in a second and thirdfloor apartment and the water pressure sucks since they put the valve in plus they r replacing the very old water lines in the street and now its worse.i use a nice shower as therepy for my heath issies and I will give it a try.thanks
Excellent tutorial.! My pressure regulator is a Zurn Wilkins and it has no screw driver type slot to adjust the water pressure.Only a xex bolt on the end. I guess i just hold the inner bolt nearest the valve with a wrench and just use another wrench to turn the bolt clockwise to increase the water pressure?
our water pipes in the house always explode because the pressure is too high when all faucets are closed. what do we need to avoid this? Pressure Regulator or Pressure Relief Valve?
Sooo i don't think I have this valve thing in my house,never seen it.. is it possible to install one of those so that all the bathrooms have the same amount of hot/cold water.. im tired of one thing getting turned on and then I am either burnt or frozen🥶🥵
Question, one of our sink all of sudden dropped in water pressure both hot and cold about 5 month ago but we thought nothing of it and kept using it. But then today in our bath tube the hot water water pressure was very very low. I have no idea what’s going on. Everywhere else it good. Hope you can help. Thanks.
Good video just one thing I noticed is the comment about water psi and water bill. One thing to note is adding pressure does not necessarily mean adding water volume. Meaning if you increase psi and leave hose on extended period of time your water bill could be more. I don’t think that will change just by adding psi. Because the water bill is determined based on volume. Again more psi does not equate more volume. If anything more psi would be less volume
I been getting a hissing or whistling noise everytime I turn on any water. 2 story home . You can only hear it on the bathroom downstairs . If I turn on the faucet on top u can hear it downstairs . The whistling . If I turn on the kitchen sink , it whistles in the bathroom as well. No matter where in the house you turn on the water , it makes a whistling when u turn on . And it stops once you turn off the water. Is this high pressure ? Bout to go buy a water pressure gauge
If you have a thermal expansion tank on the water heater be careful with bumping up your water pressure as you might cause the pressure relief valve on water heater to leak. My expansion tank was installed horizontally and there is no room to allow me to add air to expansion tank due to a wall in the way.
My home inspector tell me my psi is at 90 and is high and suggest setting it lower. Brought a rain gauge , installed it outside reading show 60 psi. Got a defect reader out of the package? I keep hearing loud BOOM nose everyday down in the basement . I haven't adjust it yet but I think my inspector reading is more accurate vs my cheap rain gauage. I hear most are defect straight out of the package.
Good video. However, any idea where I might find this pressure reducing valve? I'm in a stand-alone house using the city water supply. Looked around, but saw nothing other than the pressure valve on the pipe feeding the hot water heater. Is it possible the reducing valve is located inside the small manhole-like container in the front yard containing the shutoff valve for the city’s water supply?
Hmmm.... I must say I don't know. Anything is possible. I have a hard time believing that you don't have one installed. How old is your house and what state/city are you in?
My overhead shower hardly has any pressure and water does not gush out. It is more like an inconsistent sprinkler jus flowing down with no volume. Is it the lower faucet valve that may be at issue here?
arindam chanda The first thing to check is the shower head. It is either clogged with mineral deposits or it has a clogged filter screen. If its not that then your shower valve could be an issue. You would need to take that apart and see if something is clogging the flow. This is all assuming that you have great flow in other parts of your house.
This is a good video. I would like to add some comments. 1. The water heater is connected to the cold water at all times so the pressure is the same with no flow condition. 2. The pressure reducing valve also acts as a check valve *). The PRV shuts off when set pressure is reached and it does that with a rubber washer just like a faucet. Faucets will leak eventually and so will PRV's, causing the house pressure to creep up slowly. I have fixed them frequently but it's a pain. A new one at HD is about $100.- . From. China. for about $15.- , better build and easier to fix. (And it includes a gauge!) 3. After using hot water, cold water will fill the water heater up and the colder water heats up causing it to expand. This will increase the pressure in the pipes. *) In my case ~150PSI. (The pressure release valve on the water heater is usually not working.) (same brand at HD !). A pressure gauge with a red witness pointer will confirm this. 4. I resorted to installing an electric pressure switch which operates a cheap sprinkler valve to release excess pressure through a 1mm hole. (After a shower, about half a pint.) Keeps my water heater from bursting.
Agree. I'd also like to add that the potable water distribution piping in the video appears to be copper going to polybutylene. Polybutylene (PB) piping has a history of weakness/decay/ruptures over time. So much so, that some insurers won't cover a home that has it. My point: Adam - Careful. I'd error on the side of keeping the water pressure low in PB and avoid regular manual adjustments/fluctuations in PSI. Excellent video you made.
You should be getting the same water pressure in your hot water tank as your hose bib. That drain valve probably is caked full of calcium restricting the flow. Put the gauge on your washing machine outlet. 👍
I cannot find this bolt anywhere. I see the pressure gauge, a green valve, and a small box with about 4 wires next to it. It doesn’t look like this. Any ideas?
I'm having trouble locating this pressure valve. My single story house is 5 years old and no basement. I've located the meter outside and its not there, nor is it in the water heater closet or laundry room. Is it up in the attic possibly?
bigbomber5 I really doubt it is in the attic. In many warm climates it's located outside before the pipe enters the house. Look where the meter is and it is likely in a straight line at the foundation of the house. What state are you in?
AdamDIY I live in Oklahoma where it can get in the single digits in winter time. My meter is out by the curb and there is nothing in there but the meter. There are no outside water pipes besides the irrigation system and two faucets. In my water heater closet there is an access panel at the same height as the base of the water heater. Behind the panel is a water line with a basic lever, I'm guessing the main shut off lever. The water heater itself is on a pedastal but there is nothing below it but water lines and a drain pipe going into the foundation. I'm guessing the regulator valve is buried and the plumber who installed it would be the only one who knows where its at.
What if you want to increase pressure in a closed system with an expansion tank? Is it the same, just turning the screw on prv? Or does the expansion tank need adjusted too?
I have a problem with hot water, the faucet and shower valve on second floor are very low pressure, with the kitchen faucet on first floor higher pressure, and the bathroom in the basement where the water heater is located appears to be fine. I replaced the faucet upstairs and pressure got better but not perfectly high. I can't get the shower valve upstairs work, it has very low pressure. Can you help?
I probably shouldn't add this comment to what is just a basic information video on water pressure and how it may be checked with a pressure gauge. However, since there was a brief mention to how the pressure may be greater when closer to the water supply coming into the house or why it was different at the water heater in the house, I felt this basic piece of information should be added. Particularly since many times people will use this method to trouble shoot a low water pressure when USING water in the house. The pressure reading that this video demonstrates is what is referred to as STATIC pressure. Or in other words when there is NO FLOW. When this is the case, the only thing that would cause the pressure to be higher or lower between different locations is a difference in elevation. For example, for the pressure to be lower at the water heater tank, it would have to be at a slightly different elevation. One foot change in elevation represents +/-2.31 psi pressure. When one is concerned with the lack of pressure when using the water, trouble shooting for the pressure loss must take into consideration the rate of FLOW. Because flow is what creates pressure fluctuations. Well that enough of that.
In my home, when we use the washer have zero pressure in our kitchen sink or any other parts of the house. the house is an old home built in 1936-39. So do I need to have a pressure connect installed to my in-coming line?
If you don't already then you can't increase the pressure. The PRV reduces pressure, it will not increase it higher than what is incoming already. Hope that helps.
I’m also in a new house(year old) when my sprinklers comes on in the middle of the night my pipes rattles for about two secs until the it is pressurized, but when I turn on a faucet then turn on the sprinklers it won’t do it. What gives? Thanks and great video.
It doesnt really look like that here in Europe at least. There is a key for each bathroom etc, I was wondering if the key only closes or opens the water or if a gradual close will adjust water pressure or not?
You say in your video at the beginning when testing the hose spicket's pressure that you want it at about 80-85. But the regulator says it should be at 55. Are these different water pressures or are the same one and you just don't follow the manufacturer's instructions? It is really annoying that the regulator doesn't have the water pressure gauge built in so it tells you what the pressure is. I am afraid I have put mine up too high even though the water still comes out of the shower somewhat slowly. Thoughts?
I hope it's not ghosts. Lol. But ghosts are actually real. If it's a plumbing problem you can fix it or get a plumber. If it's a ghost problem get your house smudged. You may Google what ghost smudging is all about.
You really need a gauge with two needles one tells you what the pressure surges to at night. That is the most important thing, If you have a regulator it creates a closed system. so you need to relieve the pressure with an expansion tank above your hot water tank. This comes from more experiance than this guy is old. I used to be a A plumber that solved problems. This is one of the most common ones.
My home has a regulator ... I do not have an expansion tank .. water frequently leaks from the hot water heaters pressure relief value. My water pressure is 62 ... would lowering the pressure help stop the leaking or should I get the expansion tank?
Jill Bierenbaum I bet you know more than anyone in your neighborhood! It's not info that plumbers like to share because it's possible that someone can mess things up if they don't know what they are doing and have too much pressure in their lines. That's why it should be done with a gauge.
water hammer only in the kitchen sink. kinda goes up and down in washer? I also have an issue with my water heater the vapor sensor keeps kicking and I have to reset it.
Hi .. About a month ago, my water pressure was significantly reduced when I turned on more than one fixture at a time. It is fine as long as only one fixture is being used but as soon as you try to use another (e.g. flush toilet, run washer) there is just a trickle. This problem seemed to develop over the course of a couple days and has not got any better. We are on our own well (no city hookup). Any ideas on where our problem may be caused? Thanks for the great videos
I have no experience with plumbing or wells, but could the problem be with your pump? Or a blockage that is limiting the pump from getting the full flow from the well? A lime deposit may have broken loose and could be occluding the pumps inlet.
Thanks for the video. I had a plumber come to check my water heater. He actually turned up the water pressure to 95PSI and then told me I need to spend $1000 to replace the pressure regulator, in addition to $5000 to replace the water heater. He said he tried but was not able to adjust the pressure lower. After he left, I noticed the shower pressure was extremely high. I figured out how to adjust it and it's fine now. Gotta be careful with these Plumber scams!
$5,000 to replace a water heater? Report that scumbag to your local city hall immediately and get his contractors license revoked.
Yeah 5000$ for a water heater was your 1st sign
That shouldn't be much over 1000$. I had mine changed for 1000$ total.
@@Rangyroth4089 Depending on the water heater, but average $1500 to replace water heater.
That plumber was trying his best to “rip you off”. Those regulators should never be set at 95 psi. That’s just asking for trouble.
Thanks SO MUCH! After I bought my home I was determined to have my dream refrigerator...REAL stainless steel Frigidaire Gallery Professional Series BIG side by side. Abt a year or so later my ice maker quit working. It was still under warranty from Sears. I was a under 30, a single homeowner & I'm female. I'm also the daughter of a former steamfitter who taught me how to do everything he taught my brothers. I did everything I was supposed to do. It was just a bad unit & needed to be replaced. The guy came from Sears & 1st tried to tell me I broke it & it wouldn't be covered. I KNEW I DIDN'T & it SHOULD & WOULD be covered. After he knew I wasn't budging he then went down to my basement & after several mins came back up & turned on my kitchen faucet. He rudely shouted @ me said "SEE?! :LOW WATER PRESSURE! YOUR PRESSURE VALVE IS BROKEN, WARRANTY IS VOIDED & YOU'RE PAYING FOR THIS!" He demanded over $500 for my new ice maker & the service call b4 he'd even order the replacement. I was so perplexed, ticked & a little scared but tried to keep my cool. Standing in my suit & heels I blurted out "Hey buddy, don't let the blonde hair fool you." That caught his attention. I had amazing water pressure before he went downstairs & told him so. Also told him my father, IQ of 165, former youngest foreman steamfitter, now President of a nationally successful automation company he started himself not only put in my hot water heater but my faucet & sprayer too & it was powerful before he came to look @ my ice maker...bcz it was...my dad would always joke how much stronger it was than his own. I asked him if he'd like me to call my father so he could tell my dad what he told me. He declined & the warranty covered it. I was so rattled & didn't know what the Sears guy did but knew he did something & also bcz I thought Sears would never be ok w/their employee doing that. I was young & naive but I know now THAT was part of his job. He JUST adjusted/lowered my pressure. I bought a new PRV & was going to learn to fix it but life happened & then my dad was in a fatal accident & water pressure was but wasn't high on my priority list. I still have the awful pressure & it's messing w/my Whirlpool fridge's ice maker & it brought it all back along w/the sadness of missing my dad...but YOU just taught me how to fix it. I'm sorry I am being so longwinded but I needed you to know YOU made a huge positive impact on my life w/your video today. You are AWESOME! I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart! I know my dad does too!🙏😇
Thank you Adam. I bought the part from Amazon and hooked up to outside hose. Psi was 42....Went under house and increased it to 60 as the valve could handle up to 75. This was my first successful project after watching it on youtube first!
Paul DeMore was your under the house cause I can’t seem locate mine
Angel F do you have a well house?
I can't find my valve
I always install a 3 valve bypass,and pressure gauge before reduction valve and after,you can see the results.
Just wanted make sure I dropped a comment here to let you and any of your viewers know that this is a very good, spot on , no bs, easy to understand and follow video that I've actually had different homeowning friends and customers look up and watch to help them with there water pressure issues. All have had good results afterwards. Thank you for your time and sharing your knowledge.
I'm not one to comment on many videos, but I have to say that this was nearly a perfect tutorial vid. Limited b.s., good demonstration, and nice explanation. Two virtual thumbs up.
Agreed!
I came to say exactly this. Thank you Adam
Agreed!! Thank you so much. All of it is great. After my guy replaced my water heater he said he turned down our pressure. My sprinklers won’t Eve pop up now!!! I need to turn it back up and I think I can with this video!!!! Thank you!!! ( and I never comment either!!)
Adam, you may want to mention to the people that Have a Thermal Expansion Tank on their system that when you adjust the water pressure in your water system that you also have to adjust the air pressure in the expansion tank. The two pressures must match for the expansion tank to work properly. This is a good informative video. Thank you for posting.
Great point Roger. Thanks for the comment!
What happens if you adjust the prv but not the expansion tank? My prv was an issue (psi went up to 100) and it was just replaced under warranty, but ive noticed the psi increases throughout the day or early morning hours. At one point, it got back up to the max prv level of 75, but it was set to about 65...so its fluctuating anywhere from 5-10 psi
When plumbers came to troubleshoot the psi and when they replaced the prv (and adjusting the psi after the prv replacement), they never adjusted the expansion tank
the air in the expansion tank is extremely easy to adjust yourself with a simple bicycle pump that has an air gauge attached to it. But be careful. Because I do not know the max air pressure of the expansion tank. You will have to do your homework on that part. My water pressure and expansion tank are both set at 45psi.
Just a footnote. If you try to attach the bicycle pump to the expansion tank and water comes out, that means the air bladder inside the expansion tank has gone bad and you will have to replace the expansion tank.
Thanks Adam. 7 years later this video is still helping people!
I'm going to try this! My old house has water pressure like a firehose; blows the plastic plumbing fittings to smithereens. Very informative, thanks.
Easy to follow. Your video helped clarify exactly where I could test the water pressure and where and how to regulate it. Exactly what I was looking to learn. Thank you for taking the time to make it. Much appreciated.
9 minute video and a 5 dollar gauge vs a minimum $100 + visit from the plummer. Thanks!
please contact me. I am a local here at West Valley City and my first spring I already encountered the problem of having leaking sprinklers. I hope that is not the case.
Where did you find it for 5 bucks?
Oscar Ortega p .
It’s spelled plumber. Damn son where did you to school at 😂👋
Where did you get for $5?
thanks, I managed to increase my 35psi to now 50 psi which is great! was scared to do this but after watching your video, helped alot.
thanks!
This was incredibly helpful. Our water pressure has been very low and this has helped me increase it. Thanks!
Adam thank you very much for sharing this procedure. Besides fixing or regulating the water pressure; you seem to have very soothing voice, and photogenic face. You should be a Hollywood movie star.........really!!!!!!! Thank you.
This was easy to do and seems to have help out with the water pressure. I was thinking about going 1 or 2 more turns but I thought I would give it a couple of days and look for water leeks. Thank You.
Thanks so much , I was able to do this while my husband slept 😍 great video.
Can you tell what causes this value to make s whistle noise
More pressure = use more water, spend more of husbands money when y’all could invest it
I would love to wake up and find out that my wife took care of some problem around the house. God bless you :)
Did you tell him or wait for him to notice? If you waited.. did he notice?
Great tutorial.
Simple and to the point.
My water constantly makes a running/hissing sound inside my garage. Hopefully this gauge and adjusting the pressure helps. Thx again
thank you sooo much for this!! the water pressure in my place was terrible and i was thinking it was the fault of the regulator that my landlord installed recently. Then I did some research, found this video, and just had my boyfriend fix it!! I can't wait to wash my hair tonight.
Thanks God I found this video! There are too many tutorials out there but this is the right model and very accurate tutorial I've seen so far.
I've been having issues with busted lines , today I checked my water pressure and it's 125 psi , going to get it fixed !
Damn. You must be clean as hell after your showers 😂😂
I'm a Kiwi living of the grid.
My water comes from a storage tank that is feed via the roof from rainwater.
I don't have anything like yours, but that valve thing you turn is that what is called the A-Jax valve here in NZ, ours being entirely different in shape and size.
My hot water cylinder has a tap but it does not have an out let like yours.
God knows where the hose joining the tap goes to perhaps outside, that being the case then ya it would be like your used to drain sh?? from the cylinder, but then to confirm this would be a test in its self when I know there is no way one could crawl under the house to check.
I like your video and will test things my way as ya my hot water is almost none existent when it comes to showers.
Takes much time just to wet the body let alone to wash :).
You just saved me major money man, thank you. I could not figure out why my sprinklers were not working properly, this immediately fixed the problem
Adam you are from heaven sir. We've been dealing with low whole house pressure since we moved into our home. It took longer to watch your video than it did to fix this problem. We went from a sub 50 to nearly 80 and the difference is amazingly wonderful. Just took a shower that felt like I was in a spa. Thank you sir. I actually am looking forward to washing dishes now.
Did this fix your problem long term. Also where was your valve located
Thank you soooo much for your Video . It took me 10 minutes to fix the problem.. I am sure there are many of us would greatly appreciated like I do. Stay safe, be safe. Happy New Year to all of yous!!!
Have not tried it yet, but I thought it was a good detailed video. I will try it this weekend and let you know how it goes.
This was perfect man. I know nothing about this stuff and 2 years ago in my condo I did the exact opposite thing and broke my PRV and $600 later the plumber fixed everything. I used your video tonight and adjusted it in my new house and it worked perfectly. Thanks so much for doing this.
This is the only video that showed me exactly what i needed to know. Thank you for uploading youve earned a sub
Thanks Adam, I suggest that you mention the physics of liquid pressure in a closed system (no escape), is distributed equally through the system to the farthest point and in all directions. When a faucet is opened, the system is no longer closed, and the pressure will drop and I would expect the regulator to compensate to keep the pressure close to the adjusted setting. Mine drops from 60 psi closed, to 40 with a faucet open. I was hoping to find a hint as to how much of a drop can be expected. I would guesstimate that nearly a 50% drop indicates a malfunction of the product. Think I may have to call Watt Customer Service for the info; not having much luck on the web. My source psi from the county is 150psi which kicks of the relief valve on most water heaters, interesting.
Thanks so much AdamDIY...I found the exact same PRV in my basement and now the pressure is much better. Just think. I bought the house a month ago and have been taking trickle type showers, now I'm back in waterpik massage HEAVEN. Bless u. LOL
Im gonna try it myself. Trickle showers are the worst. How can you even wash your nuts properly with that type of pressure? 😵
George Robinson m
@@AntonioCalderon1974 😅🚿
THNX-- for the info I am a senior on SS and having help like this is a big savings.. I will now see if I can find -- and do as you showed... I will try and remember to post later what I did..
You never posted what you did! Could you fic your problem
Thank you so much!! Had a pipe burst and the regulator was turned way up when they were trying to shut the water off which resulted in the water pressure in the house being way too high. The adjustment at the pressure regulator is counterintuitive, you would think turning it clockwise would decrease the pressure. I found one of the gauges at Home Depot and I used it to adjust the pressure down to 50 PSI.
Thank you for information, took 10 minutes to adjust the psi of my house accordingly.
You sir, are a damn genius! This solved my water pressure problem instantly! Thank you!!
You are my hero, you did a wonderful job showing and explaining. I now have Great water pressure
This cleared up a lot for me! Thank you for sharing this and for taking the time to film and produce this video.
would one shut off the water from the main line when adjusting the water preasure on the reducer valve
I live in a residential place with a second floor. The water supply does not come from a well. When I moved in I noticed our whole house had low water pressure. We changed out all of the out-dated pipes and had the same result. I had my plumber install a Grundfos Scala 2 booster pump that conveniently began to leak after the warranty. Before trying to repair this device, is there another water pressure booster device that the plumbing community can recommend that has a history of reliability? TYIA
How do you find your pressure reducing valve… we have a concrete slab foundation?
thanks ! Would that be in a attic or a crawlspace ? bc It is not out where the meter is in the ground .... not that I can see .
Excellent! I'm going to pick up a water pressure gauge and do this tomorrow. I am so sick to death of my terrible water pressure! Someone flushes a toilet in my house and every faucet in the house is reduced to a trickle.
Great Video! Now I know how to check and adjust the water pressure myself.
Hi, I have a pressure reducing valve as part of a Navien combi tankless water heater. There is also a pressure relief valve. The tankless needs to be less than 30 psi, otherwise the pressure sensor is constantly leasing pressure. I want to know if I can reduce the pressure to stop the constant release.
excellent. I have one question how do we define one turn i saw it looks two turns each time. i have recently changed the regulator the pressure was almost 90. the plumber who changed set the new one at 65 psi but pressure is very low in the second floor shower head
My regulator appears to be in a water meter box in the carport. When I opened to check, it was covered in dirt all the way to the top of the meter box space. I've dug to find it under the dirt. Someone in my condo (50yrs old) had a flood inside because the regulator was "corroded" and it blew out the water heater inside. Now everyone including me is wondering if we should all replace our valves. What do you think? Thx.
my pressure relief valve is made by Watts and looks to be really old. the tag says 50-75 psi. i just had a new water heater installed and the pressure gauge i had installed with the expansion tank ready 90 psi when i came home from work (no one was home all day and the water wasn't used from 8:30am - 6:30pm).
does this mean my pressure relief valve has failed and needs to be replaced?
Zainab Muzzafar If it is only your shower that is low pressure and no other tap in the house is low pressure then you have a problem with a clog in the shower head or the shower valves. The head is easy to unscrew. Take it off and look inside the shower head inlet. You may see a filter or some debris blocking the flow. If you are sure it's not your shower head then you will want to look at the valves.
Yes, the low pressure is only with the shower. Water is flowing quite fast from the spout. The sink faucets in the washroom and kitchen are also fine. Many thanks for the advise, Adam. Will try to work on it according to the guidelines you gave.
If you take off the shower head and turn on the water you will see if the water flow is still bad. Then you will know for sure if the problem is the head or further back.
In case the problem is further back, I'll then have to call a plumber. Will that be a complicated issue?
Zainab Muzzafar Not too bad. Depending on the brand of your shower faucet you may be able to get the replacement part for free. You may just need to replace the cartridge.
Okay, thanks again so much for helping, Adam.
Thank you! My pipes stopped vibrating with just one counter clockwise turn. I will have to get a gauge to confirm the pressure.
I have a Watt pressure regulator (LF25AUB-Z3) and there is no screw but a second nut on top of the brass nut When I try to loosen the brass nut the second (outer) steel nut moves as well How do I tighten this nut, which I think represents the screw in your video, ?
Awesome video Adam. Thank you, I will try to adjust mine before I actually replace it and hopefuly it works.
Thanks for posting, a life saver. I was about to call a plumber because I was trying to increase water pressure but turning counterclockwise instead of clockwise
😂😂
This is what I needed to know. Very good video on house water pressure. Thanks
Thank You! I learnt more then I knew.
My plumbing looks almost identical to your video except I have a double check valve leading to the house fire sprinkler system. Also, I have a permanent pressure gauge near where the sprinkler drain line is located. This gauge reads 150 psi (not controllable by PRV since it's not in that part of the line) . I bought a gauge like yours and checked pressure at a hose connection and at water heater drain connection - both read about 105 psi. I did all this because we had a recent violent pipe rattling when both washing machine and shower were in use. I discovered that the water heater expansion tank diaphragm has broken. (A pressure check at bottom of tank emitted water instead of air.) Our water pressure does not seem extreme, but it sounds like we need to get it down to a maximum of 85 psi.
Do you shut the water off at the value before you began to adjust the screw or is it ok to leave it on.
very good video thanks. I have low pressure recently and the water company measure the outside hose is 100 psi so they told me that my PVR is bad
Adam you do a great job of explaining your subject!we live in a second and thirdfloor apartment and the water pressure sucks since they put the valve in plus they r replacing the very old water lines in the street and now its worse.i use a nice shower as therepy for my heath issies and I will give it a try.thanks
Glad to help!
Excellent tutorial.! My pressure regulator is a Zurn Wilkins and it has no screw driver type slot to adjust the water pressure.Only a xex bolt on the end. I guess i just hold the inner bolt nearest the valve with a wrench and just use another wrench to turn the bolt clockwise to increase the water pressure?
our water pipes in the house always explode because the pressure is too high when all faucets are closed. what do we need to avoid this? Pressure Regulator or Pressure Relief Valve?
Sooo i don't think I have this valve thing in my house,never seen it.. is it possible to install one of those so that all the bathrooms have the same amount of hot/cold water.. im tired of one thing getting turned on and then I am either burnt or frozen🥶🥵
Question, one of our sink all of sudden dropped in water pressure both hot and cold about 5 month ago but we thought nothing of it and kept using it. But then today in our bath tube the hot water water pressure was very very low. I have no idea what’s going on. Everywhere else it good.
Hope you can help. Thanks.
Good video just one thing I noticed is the comment about water psi and water bill. One thing to note is adding pressure does not necessarily mean adding water volume. Meaning if you increase psi and leave hose on extended period of time your water bill could be more. I don’t think that will change just by adding psi. Because the water bill is determined based on volume. Again more psi does not equate more volume. If anything more psi would be less volume
I been getting a hissing or whistling noise everytime I turn on any water. 2 story home . You can only hear it on the bathroom downstairs . If I turn on the faucet on top u can hear it downstairs . The whistling . If I turn on the kitchen sink , it whistles in the bathroom as well. No matter where in the house you turn on the water , it makes a whistling when u turn on . And it stops once you turn off the water. Is this high pressure ? Bout to go buy a water pressure gauge
If you have a thermal expansion tank on the water heater be careful with bumping up your water pressure as you might cause the pressure relief valve on water heater to leak. My expansion tank was installed horizontally and there is no room to allow me to add air to expansion tank due to a wall in the way.
How do you know if you have a secondary water system?
- high water pressure is quite High. Could I turn down the Main faucet that lets water into the house to decrease my water pressure?
Question, do I turn off the water before I turn it up, or can I turn it up without turning off the main water line
My home inspector tell me my psi is at 90 and is high and suggest setting it lower. Brought a rain gauge , installed it outside reading show 60 psi. Got a defect reader out of the package? I keep hearing loud BOOM nose everyday down in the basement . I haven't adjust it yet but I think my inspector reading is more accurate vs my cheap rain gauage. I hear most are defect straight out of the package.
You earned a subscribe. Great video that saved me a lot of low water pressure grief!
after getting 60 psi outside did you check the water heater pressure? did it also increase from 45 psi ( initial reading)?
if the city send water at 60psi would that valve give your home 75psi?
Good video. However, any idea where I might find this pressure reducing valve? I'm in a stand-alone house using the city water supply. Looked around, but saw nothing other than the pressure valve on the pipe feeding the hot water heater. Is it possible the reducing valve is located inside the small manhole-like container in the front yard containing the shutoff valve for the city’s water supply?
Hmmm.... I must say I don't know. Anything is possible. I have a hard time believing that you don't have one installed. How old is your house and what state/city are you in?
AdamDIY I found it. It’s in the crawlspace under the house, behind some HAC ducts where I couldn’t see it without crawling around those ducts.
My overhead shower hardly has any pressure and water does not gush out. It is more like an inconsistent sprinkler jus flowing down with no volume. Is it the lower faucet valve that may be at issue here?
arindam chanda The first thing to check is the shower head. It is either clogged with mineral deposits or it has a clogged filter screen. If its not that then your shower valve could be an issue. You would need to take that apart and see if something is clogging the flow. This is all assuming that you have great flow in other parts of your house.
This is a good video.
I would like to add some comments.
1. The water heater is connected to the cold water at all times so the pressure is the same with no flow condition.
2. The pressure reducing valve also acts as a check valve *). The PRV shuts off when set pressure is reached and it does that with a rubber washer just like a faucet. Faucets will leak eventually and so will PRV's, causing the house pressure to creep up slowly. I have fixed them frequently but it's a pain. A new one at HD is about $100.- . From. China. for about $15.- , better build and easier to fix. (And it includes a gauge!)
3. After using hot water, cold water will fill the water heater up and the colder water heats up causing it to expand. This will increase the pressure in the pipes. *) In my case ~150PSI. (The pressure release valve on the water heater is usually not working.) (same brand at HD !). A pressure gauge with a red witness pointer will confirm this.
4. I resorted to installing an electric pressure switch which operates a cheap sprinkler valve to release excess pressure through a 1mm hole. (After a shower, about half a pint.)
Keeps my water heater from bursting.
Agree. I'd also like to add that the potable water distribution piping in the video appears to be copper going to polybutylene. Polybutylene (PB) piping has a history of weakness/decay/ruptures over time. So much so, that some insurers won't cover a home that has it. My point: Adam - Careful. I'd error on the side of keeping the water pressure low in PB and avoid regular manual adjustments/fluctuations in PSI. Excellent video you made.
utoopuser
You should be getting the same water pressure in your hot water tank as your hose bib. That drain valve probably is caked full of calcium restricting the flow.
Put the gauge on your washing machine outlet.
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Thanks so much. We would get a drop in pressure if the dish washer was running. Did 1 full turn and we have perfect pressure regardless now
Thanks. Anxious to put it to work in my daughters new home.
I cannot find this bolt anywhere. I see the pressure gauge, a green valve, and a small box with about 4 wires next to it. It doesn’t look like this. Any ideas?
I'm having trouble locating this pressure valve. My single story house is 5 years old and no basement. I've located the meter outside and its not there, nor is it in the water heater closet or laundry room. Is it up in the attic possibly?
bigbomber5 I really doubt it is in the attic. In many warm climates it's located outside before the pipe enters the house. Look where the meter is and it is likely in a straight line at the foundation of the house. What state are you in?
AdamDIY I live in Oklahoma where it can get in the single digits in winter time. My meter is out by the curb and there is nothing in there but the meter. There are no outside water pipes besides the irrigation system and two faucets. In my water heater closet there is an access panel at the same height as the base of the water heater. Behind the panel is a water line with a basic lever, I'm guessing the main shut off lever. The water heater itself is on a pedastal but there is nothing below it but water lines and a drain pipe going into the foundation. I'm guessing the regulator valve is buried and the plumber who installed it would be the only one who knows where its at.
Where should I look for our pressure valve? Would it be at the meter on the street? Or someone closure to our house?
This helped me to know what I needed before I went under the house. Thanks
Great video Adam. My water pressure is low, now I know how to do it. Thanks to you
Great low key extremely easy to follow instructions .. keep it up!!
What if you want to increase pressure in a closed system with an expansion tank? Is it the same, just turning the screw on prv? Or does the expansion tank need adjusted too?
I have a problem with hot water, the faucet and shower valve on second floor are very low pressure, with the kitchen faucet on first floor higher pressure, and the bathroom in the basement where the water heater is located appears to be fine. I replaced the faucet upstairs and pressure got better but not perfectly high. I can't get the shower valve upstairs work, it has very low pressure. Can you help?
I probably shouldn't add this comment to what is just a basic information video on water pressure and how it may be checked with a pressure gauge. However, since there was a brief mention to how the pressure may be greater when closer to the water supply coming into the house or why it was different at the water heater in the house, I felt this basic piece of information should be added. Particularly since many times people will use this method to trouble shoot a low water pressure when USING water in the house.
The pressure reading that this video demonstrates is what is referred to as STATIC pressure. Or in other words when there is NO FLOW. When this is the case, the only thing that would cause the pressure to be higher or lower between different locations is a difference in elevation. For example, for the pressure to be lower at the water heater tank, it would have to be at a slightly different elevation. One foot change in elevation represents +/-2.31 psi pressure.
When one is concerned with the lack of pressure when using the water, trouble shooting for the pressure loss must take into consideration the rate of FLOW. Because flow is what creates pressure fluctuations. Well that enough of that.
In my home, when we use the washer have zero pressure in our kitchen sink or any other parts of the house. the house is an old home built in 1936-39. So do I need to have a pressure connect installed to my in-coming line?
If you don't already then you can't increase the pressure. The PRV reduces pressure, it will not increase it higher than what is incoming already. Hope that helps.
I’m also in a new house(year old) when my sprinklers comes on in the middle of the night my pipes rattles for about two secs until the it is pressurized, but when I turn on a faucet then turn on the sprinklers it won’t do it. What gives? Thanks and great video.
It doesnt really look like that here in Europe at least. There is a key for each bathroom etc, I was wondering if the key only closes or opens the water or if a gradual close will adjust water pressure or not?
You say in your video at the beginning when testing the hose spicket's pressure that you want it at about 80-85. But the regulator says it should be at 55.
Are these different water pressures or are the same one and you just don't follow the manufacturer's instructions? It is really annoying that the regulator doesn't have the water pressure gauge built in so it tells you what the pressure is. I am afraid I have put mine up too high even though the water still comes out of the shower somewhat slowly.
Thoughts?
50 to 65 is probably the average for many areas. 80-85 is probably the high range as stated in the video, for my area I would not want to go above 65.
Kylee you should check your shower head and see if it is clogged up
Will Reducing water pressure helps me get rid of my pipe noise inside the wall? sound like a banging on the wall.
I hope it's not ghosts. Lol. But ghosts are actually real. If it's a plumbing problem you can fix it or get a plumber. If it's a ghost problem get your house smudged. You may Google what ghost smudging is all about.
I'm either getting too much pressure or not enough. I have water on my drip tube around water heater
why hot water line in kitchen faucet make knocking noise when turn it on?
👍🏼very simple. Thanks a bunch
Adam, thank you so much for this video! We'll surely put it to use!
You really need a gauge with two needles one tells you what the pressure surges to at night. That is the most important thing, If you have a regulator it creates a closed system. so you need to relieve the pressure with an expansion tank above your hot water tank. This comes from more experiance than this guy is old. I used to be a A plumber that solved problems. This is one of the most common ones.
My home has a regulator ... I do not have an expansion tank .. water frequently leaks from the hot water heaters pressure relief value. My water pressure is 62 ... would lowering the pressure help stop the leaking or should I get the expansion tank?
great I learned alot. I bet I know more than my husband now about adjusting the water pressure
Jill Bierenbaum I bet you know more than anyone in your neighborhood! It's not info that plumbers like to share because it's possible that someone can mess things up if they don't know what they are doing and have too much pressure in their lines. That's why it should be done with a gauge.
Couldn’t find rain bird water gauge on Amazon! Where can I find one of those?
water hammer only in the kitchen sink. kinda goes up and down in washer? I also have an issue with my water heater the vapor sensor keeps kicking and I have to reset it.
Great video! I was able to adjust my house water pressure after watching it.
thanks for help. I installed a pressure reg. I now get a horn like noise while water is running. Can you advise me ? thanks
It may be too restrictive. You may need to adjust the flow slightly or move the regulator.
Hi .. About a month ago, my water pressure was significantly reduced when I turned on more than one fixture at a time. It is fine as long as only one fixture is being used but as soon as you try to use another (e.g. flush toilet, run washer) there is just a trickle. This problem seemed to develop over the course of a couple days and has not got any better. We are on our own well (no city hookup). Any ideas on where our problem may be caused? Thanks for the great videos
I have no experience with plumbing or wells, but could the problem be with your pump? Or a blockage that is limiting the pump from getting the full flow from the well? A lime deposit may have broken loose and could be occluding the pumps inlet.