Water Pressure Regulator

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
J

jlazar

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 27, 2010
Posts
235
Location
San Antonio, Tx
In searching the forum I have found a lot of threads on different water pressure regulators, where/how to hook them up, the dangers of high campground pressure, etc.  But I don't find a lot of discussion on what pressure everyone is actually setting theirs to.  I bought an adjustable Watts regulator from the RV Water Filter Store.  I have a 2005 Allegro Bay.  I am wondering how high I can safely set the water pressure and how high you folks have yours set.  Thanks.
 
Anything up to about 60psi should be safe.  We have our city water regulated to 60psi and haven't had any problems with the RV plumbing.  When at a campground, I don't worry about using the regulator until the pressure exceeds about 70psi maximum.
 
I set mine to 50 PSI, down from 110 PSI supplied by the city.  I determined the pressure by being able to turn the shower's hot water full on, moderate the temperature with the cold and wind up with a satisfying flow rate out of the shower head.  No use going any higher than necessary.
 
I have had mine set to 65 psi for ten full timing years with no plumbing issues. Of course park pressures over 45 or so seem to be not seen real often. I usually see 35 to about 40 psi - maybe 65 to 70 percent of the time.
We have spent an entire system in a state park with 130 psi so had a fair amount of time with our coach seeing 65 psi.
Winnebago says they test the system at 80 psi.
 
Gee. some folks flame me when I mention parks with pressures in the triple digits.  But the park I'm in says they have seen 112, I've seen 120 with my own eyes, and what you guys said about 100+ ..  Oh well,  Thanks guys.
 
Ultra high water pressures are common out west.  Even in the flats of West Los Angeles, CA, the water pressure at my stick house is 85 psi.  The campgrounds in and around Salt Lake City are notorious for very high water pressure -- 100 psi and up with surges even higher.  While we were at SL we spied a unit with water running out of its undercarriage and from a door -- plumbing evidently burst.  No one was at home.  We turned off their water at the hydrant.  Never did see what happened when they returned.  :( 

A few precautions are needful out here in the west:

1.  Always use a pressure regulator mounted at the campground hydrant

2.  Monitor the pressure by attached an in-line pressure gauge at  the outlet side of that regulator;

3.  When you leave the RV for any appreciable amount of time, turn off your water at the hydrant, lest you get an unwelcome upon returning. 
 
This pressure problem is actually a real gamble. I will vote for a law/regulation that demands to have a real pressure regulator be present in every new RV as standard equipment. Surely the expense for the manufacturer would be minimal compared to the production cost of a major machine like an RV.
  Perhaps smaller trailers could be exempted. To make it an option would not work well as there will be tons of RV's without a regulator still being sold. Let's go on a crusade... 
 
I always use a regulator regardless of the pressure and if we leave the 5er for more than a hour or 2 I turn off the water, I too have seen water pouring out of a trailer and no one home.
 
I was told by a manufacturer's tech rep that 60# is the design pressure for our motorhome. I set our regulator at 50 and that seems to provide all the pressure we need. We have seen a few places with extraordinarily high water pressure (over 100) - even a couple with big warning signs at check in and loaner regulators provided for guests without them. We also have seen water running from unattended rvs and try to remember to turn the water off when we are going to be away from our unit.
 
Carl L said:
Ultra high water pressures are common out west.  Even in the flats of West Los Angeles, CA, the water pressure at my stick house is 85 psi.  The campgrounds in and around Salt Lake City are notorious for very high water pressure -- 100 psi and up with surges even higher.  While we were at SL we spied a unit with water running out of its undercarriage and from a door -- plumbing evidently burst.  No one was at home.  We turned off their water at the hydrant.  Never did see what happened when they returned.  :(

Two precautions are needful out here in the west:

1.  Always use a pressure regulator mounted at the campground hydrant

2.  Monitor the pressure by attached an in-line pressure gauge at  the outlet side of that regulator;

3.  When you leave the RV for any appreciable amount of time, turn off your water at the hydrant, lest you get an unwelcome upon returning.
Click to expand...

We stayed at a KOA in Salt Lake City.  Nicest one we've stayed in so far and very nice folks.  They told us when we were checking in that the pressure was pretty high and ask if we had a regulator.  If I remember correctly they had a few loaners.  That's caring for your customers.
 
This is how I always set up and at 60 PSI, our county water here in some places is 200+ PSI

 

Attachments

  • 1689 (Copy).jpg
    1689 (Copy).jpg
    171.1 KB · Views: 66
Wow 200psi will blow up home plumbing.

  There are probably many, many RV's on the road without a proper regulator.
The little brass unit are not real pressure regulators rather just flow restricters.  The high pressure will appear in your plumbing with all inside taps turned off.

  The least thing every RV should carry is a pressure meter (see below) for at least checking the park pressure before connecting the hose. If it is too high, what are you gonna do without a real regulator.
 

Attachments

  • Water pressure gauge.jpg
    Water pressure gauge.jpg
    70.3 KB · Views: 39
You can't just check water pressure once and say you don't need a regulator.  I remember once I checked the pressure when we were setting up and it was abt.65 psi but I put my regulator on as always and that night I looked at the gauge I had ahead of the regulator and it was abt. 115 psi.  I kept checking every time I went outside that trip and the pressure was all over the place as low as 55 psi to 115 psi, guess it depended on how much water was being used at the time.  Lesson learned "always use a regulator. :)
 
Thanks for all the feedback.  I have been running mine at 55 PSI.  Based on all your feedback, I will probably just leave it there and make sure I never exceed 60.
 
Your water pump is factory pre-set to run at about 45-48 psi.

I've never found even a quasi-official source for what the RVIA's official standard test pressure is (and a copy of their standards handbook is $249), but the consensus among rv techs seems to be 100 psi.

I have my regulator set at 60 psi but seldom use it in the astern USA.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 813 (members: 36, guests: 777)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,913
Posts
1,387,286
Members
137,666
Latest member
nativoacai
Back
Top Bottom