Strange water behavior...

[Jim]

'02 Winnebago Journey 36'

Water and plumbing tends to be a mystery to me and my RV has developed this water problem that leaves me scratching my head:

Turn the kitchen faucet on 'full' and the water starts out with a slightly lower then normal flow. After a few seconds, it's slowed to a trickle. Go back to the bathroom sink, turn it on full, and it's nearly full volume. And then the kitchen flow jumps up to nearly normal.

This only happens on shore water (and I have a 45 PSI pressure reducer at the shore water faucet). This park and all the others I've visited since this started happening a few weeks ago have had greater than 45 PSI.

I have one of those under sink filters in the kitchen but the bathroom faucet does something similar...when I turn it on full, is starts out full flow, but slowly reduces, so I don't think it's the filter.

No sputtering at all. Does the same thing with the single handled faucets set for full cold or hot, but seems more pronounced with the hot side.

Any ideas?

[Jim]

dougrainer wrote:
Remove the Water Regulator from the system. Then see if the problem returns. Doug

Doug was correct (along with anyone else who mentioned the pressure regulator). The one I was using is brass, looks fine, but seems to be the cause of the weirdness with water pressure. Found an older one in my plumbing junk box and installed it. Problem went away.

Problem Solved!

Thanks for the input everyone.

(PS Went ahead and ordered the adjustable regulator anyway.)

[Jim]

Black Bart's in Flagstaff is one of those parks that has over 100 PSI all the time and announce it several places so RV'ers won't miss it. I was there a week ago and tested my pressure gauge. Worked great, right at the 110 the told me they were running. So I'm pretty confident that the pressure here at this park is the 104 PSI that I'm measuring (Sioux Falls).

I plan on running the test proposed earlier by replacing my brass pressure regulator with an adjustable one from Amazon. Should have it by Tuesday and I'll report back.

I can't run the test here at 104 PSI because the bathroom sink valve drips when the pressure is over 70 PSI and I don't want to temp fate and have something blow out. The new pressure regulator (always wanted an adjustable regulator - this is a good excuse as any to get one) should show me if it's just a bad reducer or if I need to dig deeper into the plumbing.

[Executive45]

Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada routinely has pressures above 100PSI. They have warning signs on all their spigots. That said, quality equipment is paramount to diagnosing many of our problems. Harbor Freight items are great for one off use but things we use all the time should be of high quality. Just my 2 cents. I believe we've given the OP several things to check out. Hopefully he'll come back with some answers and maybe even a fix....Dennis

[rgatijnet1]

Apparently some people that travel a lot have found RV parks with very high water pressure. At my house, 80-90 psi is the norm.
In any case, here are some of our fellow travelers that mention water pressures at 140 and 160 psi. I remember an RV park in Las Cruces, NM that had warning signs requiring a pressure regulator because of their high water pressure. 104 psi might indeed be possible. High water pressure

[sammytoo]

dougrainer wrote:

Jim@HiTek wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
Remove the Water Regulator from the system. Then see if the problem returns. Doug

Just got all set up to do this and checked the water pressure. 104 PSI. So I guess it'll have to wait for when I'm at a park with a bit lower pressure.

104 PSI?????? I would suspect your gauge and regulator is indeed malfunctioning. Doug

X2

[Bill_Satellite]

I suspect that what's happening is that when you open the 2nd faucet there is enough demand for the water pumps to kick and you are getting full flow. The regulators are actually terrible at getting much of a flow rate and highly restrict your water flow. I keep my tanks full and use the pumps only as they provide the best water pressure. You can also get a better water pressure regulator that has better water pass through. There are several but they are a bit more expensive. These will have a dial where you can select the pressure output you prefer (and it does not have to be 45#) and get the flow you like.

[dougrainer]

Jim@HiTek wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
Remove the Water Regulator from the system. Then see if the problem returns. Doug

Just got all set up to do this and checked the water pressure. 104 PSI. So I guess it'll have to wait for when I'm at a park with a bit lower pressure.

104 PSI?????? I would suspect your gauge and regulator is indeed malfunctioning. Doug

[Executive45]

Sounds like it's the check valve where the water hose connects to the RV. This is a backflow valve. Remove the water hose and screen and see if the plunger works. I'm guessing when you open the second faucet, you release the pressure on the checkvalve....Dennis

[Jim]

dougrainer wrote:
Remove the Water Regulator from the system. Then see if the problem returns. Doug

Just got all set up to do this and checked the water pressure. 104 PSI. So I guess it'll have to wait for when I'm at a park with a bit lower pressure.

[sammytoo]

Any of the above or all of the above.

[dougrainer]

Remove the Water Regulator from the system. Then see if the problem returns. Doug

[Old-Biscuit]

Happens JUST at 'sink' faucets....aerators

Happens at sink faucets/shower and toilet
City water inlet screened washer clogged or city water inlet check valve malfunctioning

[rgatijnet1]

Unscrew the filters from the ends of each faucet and you may find they are full of debris. The debris is not necessarily from particles in the water but can be from dried mineral deposits from the water through the years.