Never had this happen before

[MKirkland]

I got up around 6 AM and the water was working. I went back to bed and then got up around 8 AM, the water wasn't working. I was hooked up to city water. I looked out the window and the water was still turned on. I went outside and disconnected my hose and yes, the water was working. So I knew it was something in my equipment. The first thing I checked was the pressure reducer/regulator. I put on the backup one and guess what, it worked and I have water in the trailer again.

According to the RV resort maintenance man, when the pressure reducer fails, it locks up. He complimented me on just not running to the office and telling them the water wasn't working. He said that of the 1000's of campers he gets each year, this happens about 4 times.

[Campfire_Time]

Arcamper wrote:
That was enough for me to justify the cost. Mine is 10 years old and has never been rebuilt and works flawless.

I can certainly understand this on a trailer that size. Far more plumbing than mine has. I have no pressure drops like you are describing. But the water only has to travel a few feet in mine. We don't know what the OP has for a trailer.

[3oaks]

Lynnmor wrote:

DownTheAvenue wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Is this the type of regulator you are using?




They are actually just restrictors vs regulators.

Replace with an adjustable pressure regulator such as Watts
They are also re-buildable

Actually the item pictured is a pressure regulator- they are not a "restrictor." A restrictor reduces the volume of the water flow, but does nothing to the pressure. A water pressure regulator reduces the pressure and, in theory, does not restrict the flow, but some do only because of their construction.

That is correct, however they are troublesome and work poorly under some conditions.

True. At least now anyone following this thread know the facts....

And if a pressure reducer fails it is always better to fail shut rather than wide open.

[Lynnmor]

Arcamper wrote:
I ask that same question and then did a little testing of my own. I put a gauge on the camper side of the regulator shown. I had 70 psi going in and 38 psi coming out. Good, until I turned on the sink. It dropped to 28 coming out. Then turned on the bathroom sink and it dropped to 18. Turned on the shower and it dropped to maybe 5 and was not enough water to do anything with. This is probably why so many think it's just a restrictor. So I bought the Watts adjustable, set it to 40 and did the same test. With 70 on the faucet the camper pressure never dropped below 35 with 3 faucets on and all had useable flow. That was enough for me to justify the cost. Mine is 10 years old and has never been rebuilt and works flawless.

Good test, thanks.

I found that the output quantity varies greatly with the input pressure. Higher input doesn't always increase output quantity, under some conditions I wasn't able to get enough flow from my shower. Moved on to a real regulator.

[Arcamper]

I ask that same question and then did a little testing of my own. I put a gauge on the camper side of the regulator shown. I had 70 psi going in and 38 psi coming out. Good, until I turned on the sink. It dropped to 28 coming out. Then turned on the bathroom sink and it dropped to 18. Turned on the shower and it dropped to maybe 5 and was not enough water to do anything with. This is probably why so many think it's just a restrictor. So I bought the Watts adjustable, set it to 40 and did the same test. With 70 on the faucet the camper pressure never dropped below 35 with 3 faucets on and all had useable flow. That was enough for me to justify the cost. Mine is 10 years old and has never been rebuilt and works flawless.

[Campfire_Time]

Old-Biscuit wrote:


They are actually just restrictors vs regulators.

Replace with an adjustable pressure regulator such as Watts
They are also re-buildable

Mine is like this and it is a pressure regulator. It has the rating on the outside of it, max 40 psi.

But help me understand, why would I want to spend 3x as much on a Watts regulator that needs to be rebuilt at some point, when this does the job just fine for a fraction of the price? And the one I have right now is probably going on 20 years old. I bought it when I still had a pop-up camper.

[Lynnmor]

DownTheAvenue wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Is this the type of regulator you are using?




They are actually just restrictors vs regulators.

Replace with an adjustable pressure regulator such as Watts
They are also re-buildable

Actually the item pictured is a pressure regulator- they are not a "restrictor." A restrictor reduces the volume of the water flow, but does nothing to the pressure. A water pressure regulator reduces the pressure and, in theory, does not restrict the flow, but some do only because of their construction.

That is correct, however they are troublesome and work poorly under some conditions.

[mbopp]

Every now and then my Watts regulator won't let any water through, usually at the beginning of camping season. Disassembling and reassembling it has worked so far, but I should look into a rebuild kit.

[DownTheAvenue]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Is this the type of regulator you are using?




They are actually just restrictors vs regulators.

Replace with an adjustable pressure regulator such as Watts
They are also re-buildable

Actually the item pictured is a pressure regulator- they are not a "restrictor." A restrictor reduces the volume of the water flow, but does nothing to the pressure. A water pressure regulator reduces the pressure and, in theory, does not restrict the flow, but some do only because of their construction.

[fla-gypsy]

I have had to the cheap type fail and lock shut. Replace as needed

[Old-Biscuit]

Is this the type of regulator you are using?




They are actually just restrictors vs regulators.

Replace with an adjustable pressure regulator such as Watts
They are also re-buildable

[CavemanCharlie]

Good to know. Thanks