Water pressure regulator -- Fail?

is that gauge reading incoming or outgoing water pressure?
bumpy

The cheapie inline exterior regulators simply have a small fixed orifice (hole) in them of around 1/16" or so. Look inside it and you will see the hole. They are not true regulators and the pressure will equalize on both sides after it sits there with no flow. At zero flow, there is zero differential pressure across it. There is simply no way a fixed diameter hole can control and maintain pressure. Also, the flow rate on these is low at around 1 gpm due to the small orifice size. I put these things in the category of snake oil.

A proper regulator has a diaphragm and spring in it. As the incoming pressure varies, the diaphragm acts against the spring pressure which controls the output pressure. With any diaphragm regulator, you can find a flow/pressure chart from the manufacturer.

With the inline "regulators", they do not publish a flow/pressure chart. If they did, you would find that they do a poor job of regulating. They get away with it because there are no regulations they have to comply with. The average consumer does not understand how regulators work or perhaps even care and they buy it because of what it says on the package and because of the low price. If you use one of these regulators, you are at risk of damage to your water system from excessive pressure.

If you want a REAL regulator, get a Watts 560 or 263A, or equivalent. As good a price here as anywhere else on the internet: RVwaterfilterstore.com

A similar thing happens with water filters. There are no industry regulations. Manufacturers can though, voluntarily certify their filters to NSF standards. I've seen some pretty outlandish claims on filter performance that are not NSF certified. They get away with it on filters too because of no mandatory regulations.

I sprung for one of these...excellent. Adjustable, 4.5 gal per minute flow, Stainless Steel parts.

LINK

The "cheap" regulators are not just flow restrictors. I've been using them for 25 years with a gauge and they all restricted pressure to around 45 psi - regardless of flow rate.
It sounds like yours has failed. Replace it with a Valtera "High flow" regulator and you'll have ample volume regulated to a safe level. Expect to pay around $12.

I can't really in this era of litigious consumers that any company would label and sell a flow restrictor as a pressure regulator. I think that if that were true, we would be reading case after case of water line failures in these forums. Marshall Brass makes a variety of regulators that are well under the $70 price, are all of these just flow reducers?

I would guess that Valterra's regulators are made by Marshal or some other reputable company and Valterra is a really big RV accessories supplier, can't believe they are going to falsely label a product.

Bruce, Thanks, this is what I thought but wanted it to come from others with experience. I looked at the true regulators just last night after getting home. I wondered if the cheap ones were just flow restrictors vs. true regulator.

The cheap "regulators" are really nothing more than flow restrictors. They will reduce the flow pressure, but most of them will not reduce the static pressure -- the pressure will eventually build up on the low pressure side. You need to pay about $70.00 if you want to get a real pressure regulator.

Bruce

Failed gauge but functioning regulator?