Water Pressure Low

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  • BigguyZ
    Veteran Member
    • Jul 2006
    • 1818
    • Minneapolis, MN
    • Craftsman, older type w/ cast iron top

    Water Pressure Low

    So my brother and I do a lot of work on houses, and there are two that I've re-plumbed just recently.

    Both were run with PEX lines as a home run system (each fixture has their own line, going into a manifold). The curious thing is that the system should have oodles of pressure. The heating system, which is part of an open system with the potable plumbing, shows the presure at 65PSI.

    However, it seems once I install the faucet the pressure drops significantly. Is that a function of how the internal mixing valves work these days? Is there any brand/ type that's better than the others? It seems to be an issue with the sink faucets too, so I'm not sure what's going on here.

    Thanks,
    Travis
  • DannyT
    Forum Newbie
    • Sep 2012
    • 28
    • Groveport, OH

    #2
    is the pressure low in all of the faucets? when you open a faucet what does the gauge on the heating system read? all faucets do reduce the pressure somewhat. do you have better pressure with the aerator removed?

    Comment

    • eccentrictinkerer
      Senior Member
      • Aug 2007
      • 669
      • Minneapolis, MN
      • BT-3000, 21829

      #3
      Are you judging flow by volume, gallons per minute, or pressure?

      I used 1/2" PEX in home run circuit and found the volume was reduced a lot. Look at the inside diameter of the Pex tubing versus copper. It's significantly smaller than copper.

      I now use 3/4" for all circuits now. Costs a tiny bit more but it's worth it.

      BTW, all faucets except tub faucets are required to have flow restrictors now.

      Many of my customers ask me to modify them.
      Last edited by eccentrictinkerer; 10-16-2012, 12:40 PM.
      You might think I haven't contributed much to the world, but a large number
      of the warning labels on tools can be traced back to things I've done...

      Comment

      • BigguyZ
        Veteran Member
        • Jul 2006
        • 1818
        • Minneapolis, MN
        • Craftsman, older type w/ cast iron top

        #4
        I'm judging by pressure. The pressure at the stop seems to be pretty darn good, it's the pressure with the faucet in that seems to drop off dramatically.

        So I'm sure it's the faucet more than the piping- a lot of PEX manuals actually reccomend 3/8" for home run systems. If you had a multi-head shower, I could understand using 3/4" for that one item in a home run system. Otherwise, I really wouldn't see 3/4" being necessary at all for a home run system overall. Cost aside, it'd also be extremely difficult to run all of that in wall/ between joists.

        Comment

        • Daryl
          Senior Member
          • May 2004
          • 831
          • .

          #5
          Try taking the aereators off the faucet and clean the screens. New plumbing often has a lot of fine debris that will collect and plug the screens, doesn't take much to cut the flow back a lot.
          Sometimes the old man passed out and left the am radio on so I got to hear the oldie songs and current event kind of things

          Comment

          • LCHIEN
            Internet Fact Checker
            • Dec 2002
            • 20914
            • Katy, TX, USA.
            • BT3000 vintage 1999

            #6
            Originally posted by Daryl
            Try taking the aereators off the faucet and clean the screens. New plumbing often has a lot of fine debris that will collect and plug the screens, doesn't take much to cut the flow back a lot.
            good thought!

            when you say the pressure is low is that the static pressure or the running pressure?
            Loring in Katy, TX USA
            If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
            BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

            Comment

            • cabinetman
              Gone but not Forgotten RIP
              • Jun 2006
              • 15218
              • So. Florida
              • Delta

              #7
              Could be just a defective faucet.

              .

              Comment

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