PRESSURE VALVE DONE BY JOE THE PLUMBER

[CHARLIE VAN FLEET]

HEY ALL
i did this 1999 house today. all was well untill i started testing the bathrooms. in the second floor bath, cold water pressure was satisfactory and i filled the sinks and tub to check drainage and all was well. then i turned on the hot water in both sinks and followed with the tub hot water. the water in the sinks literally became a drip. i'm guessing i can pee with more pressure. all other bathrooms the same-there were four. so curiosity got me .off i went to check if water heater was turned on and if it was,then i checked pressure at tank. pressurs at tank was a mind blasting 120 + psi.
next i went to main house water shut off valve and holy *&#$ this is what i found.---owner was a Ball Aerospace rocket scienctis--and original owner
do you think builder did this or joe the plumber sprinkler guy after building inspection

what do u think
charlie

[Rick Hurst]

Your a brave man opening up that drain valve on the water heater. Most will never shut back off and will continously drip.

rick

[Richard Pultar]

what did you find ?

[Gunnar Alquist]

Charlie,

The setup looks like a house with fire sprinklers to me. The valve at the lower/left looks like it shuts off everything, the valve in the center is the main shutoff for the domestic water supply, the valve at the lower/right might be a drain-down, but is more likely a fire sprinkler alarm test.

[Richard Pultar]

it looks like a water supply valve to a boiler to me .with a easy system drain down .for a winter close. where no heat is left on .
I don't get the bonding jumper, it's like a meter is missing... maybe a well ? I doubt this arrangement has anything to do with the flow restrictions.. my first guess is sediment on the airators or just half inch pipe trying to do too much

[CHARLIE VAN FLEET]

GUNNAR

that valve is for the sprinkler sysytem--there is not fire system in house

RICHARD

no boiler --theres a furnace

any other thoughts----120psi at water heater tells me i have no pressure relief valve from street on main side

thanks all
charlie

[Gunnar Alquist]

Charlie,

Yes, the high pressure is clearly a problem. When you have a pressure reducing valve, it is necessary to have an expansion tank on the water heater. The part that puzzles me is why the low flow with the really high pressure. That part is weird. Once again, use the home inspectors' mantra. Ommm... defer.

[Bob Harper]

Anything made by man can and eventually will fail.

That pressure reducing valve may not be cranked down or it could have failed. See the screw down stem? So can little kids. Also, they can clog. Happens to boiler feeds all the time, which is why many now have strainers and a bypass for when the strainer clogs.

As for the low/ no flow problem, there could be a hidden valve that is 90% closed.

Regardless, you did your part by identifying at least three problems with the plumbing: ultra-high pressure, flow restriction and an uncapped line off that ball valve just waiting to flood the basement.

Just understand you can have very high pressure with almost no flow. I had a similar problem with a gas fireplace. The pilot would light but when you fired the burner, it dropped out. I had 6.54 wci inlet pressure static but it dropped to less than 1 inch when firing. Disconnected flex connector and took readings right off shutoff. Same. Shut off meter. Removed gas cock and found the plastic protective plug still in there. The OJT rookie plumber doped the threads and screwed the gas cock on without removing the dust plug. The tiny hole torn in the plastic allowed it to function like a shower head flow restrictor> pressure with low flow.

Where is the backflow preventer?

[Jack Feldmann]

Not sure I would test pressure at a water heater drain. But to each his own.
Did you happen to take off any of the strainers?
Did you take a pressure reading at any other fixture?

1999, so it is not likely a bad dip tube clogging the faucet aerators.