Ok, can someone tell me how much is too much water-pressure to go into a travel trailer? Some times I go to a campground and the pressure is low and then another one may have a strong water-pressure. Is there any rule to go by concerning this matter? I do have a water-pressure gage. Thanks
You can buy a water pressure regulator at Camping World and leave it attached to your coach. It will regulate down to 40 PSI. They are under $15 I believe. If the pressure is to low for your liking, you can just use your tank and pump.
We have used pressure regulators to keep the pressure down to 50 PSI in three RVs in the eight years we have been fulltiming. We haven't had a leak yet. You can buy a $10 pressure regulator that is preset at 40-45 PSI. The disadvantage (aside from the low pressure) is that those restrict water flow to less than two gallons/minute. I use a Watts 263A regulator. It is adjustable, has a pressure gauge, and puts out 4.0-4.5 gallons/minute. The down side: it cost me around $65. Here's great vendor who sells the full range of these things: Walter Filter Store At the bottom of that page you will find the results of their tests on a variety of regulators.
Like Denali, we have a more expenisive water pressure regulator. But it is still runnning strong since the summer of 2006, where the cheap ones set at 45 psi only lasted 4 to 6 months. However we have run into a few campgrounds where their water pressure was very low and there is nothing our water pressure regulator can do about it. Just have to use the water pump.
To drift a bit from the topic, the best improvement we made to our rig was to replace the original water pump with a variable speed unit. It cost close to $200, but it delivers over four gallons/minute and is virtually silent. It can be heard only from outside and then only when the door is open for the basement compartment where it is installed. There are a number of these on the market. We have the SHURflo Extreme™ Smart Sensor™ 5.7 My wife no longer thinks that we are waking up the entire campground when we flush the toilet.
We also use the same water pump and it works great. Low noise and good water flow. Had the same water pressure regulator for 12 year now, set at 40 lbs. Pays to buy the good stuff in life.
QUOTE You can buy a water pressure regulator at Camping World and leave it attached to your coach. It will regulate down to 40 PSI. They are under $15 I believe. If the pressure is to low for your liking, you can just use your tank and pump. I spent enough on cheap regulators in 5 years to pay for 2 good Watts regulators. My experience with the "cheap" ones was that they restricted flow as well as pressure to the point where it was aggravating. So much so that we found ourselves disconnecting them. After purchasing the Watts regulator the pressure is right and flow is not reduced. We set ours at 50 (the manufacturer said 60 should be ok). We have found a few cgs with extremely high pressure - one over 100#! More often we find low pressure - as others have said nothing you can do about that except use the water pump. Whatever you decide to do, do something. Busted water pipes/fittings are no fun.
Local water pressures are generally government regulated. 55-60 psi is common. Since the lines in an RV are flex tubing that may not withstand higher pressures, it might be wise to use 55 as a starting point.
I thought most of the fairly new trailers and MH had a regulator built into them. I had a regulator on mine for awhile, but the pressure was to low so I took it off. My on board filter might cut down the pressure also.
I stayed at a park in Las Cruces, NM where they warned you about water pressure when you signed in. I'm not sure how high it was but it was high enough, and they must have had enough problems, to issue a warning. I just hooked up my regulator and everything was fine. My water pressure at my house in Florida, connected to municipal water is at 80 psi, which I have measured.
QUOTE(dog bone @ Sep 15 2010, 06:55 AM) [snapback]24106[/snapback] I thought most of the fairly new trailers and MH had a regulator built into them. I had a regulator on mine for awhile, but the pressure was to low so I took it off. My on board filter might cut down the pressure also. As soon as our coach was out of warranty I removed the pressure regulator that was part of the city water connection for the same reason. We always, always use an external regulator, so all the internal one did was restrict flow.
Just last weekend the older couple next to us exploded their hose to their motor home because the camp pressure was 75 and their hose could not take it. We have a solid brass 40lbs regulator that we did not pay a lot of money for. It works fine. When I get around to it I suppose I will get a better adjustable one. The one I bought for ten bucks is so well made and works so well I am not in a hurry. But by all means get something. The folks next to us checked in after dark and the last thing this couple needed was water everywhere at 9pm.
QUOTE(dog bone @ Sep 15 2010, 08:55 AM) [snapback]24106[/snapback] I thought most of the fairly new trailers and MH had a regulator built into them. I had a regulator on mine for awhile, but the pressure was to low so I took it off. My on board filter might cut down the pressure also. Is there a way I can check my and see if I have a regulator built into my trailer? I do have a water-pressure regulator on my outside that I bought. When we take a shower our pressure is low. I got a new shower-head to see if that would better. Any suggestions is appreciated. Thanks
QUOTE(Skymessenger @ Sep 16 2010, 11:36 AM) [snapback]24130[/snapback] Is there a way I can check my and see if I have a regulator built into my trailer? I do have a water-pressure regulator on my outside that I bought. When we take a shower our pressure is low. I got a new shower-head to see if that would better. Any suggestions is appreciated. Thanks Ours was built in to the city water fill. By removing three or four screws I could pull it out from the wall and see the regulator. I replaced it with one that doesn't have a regulator built in to it for less than $10 from a local RV supply store.
