Appropriate Regulated Water Pressure

[zippinbye]

I did a thread search, and surprisingly could not find a thread on pressure from city water. Apologies, but I guess my profile/sig info is not displaying as it should. Topic is a 2005 Dutch Star M4023.

PO had a nice adjustable regulator set to 50 psi. Is this good?

I notice the shower and kitchen sink are a bit less "peppy" than desired and compared to our 5th wheel, which had a non-gauged Walmart-style on-hose regulator (maybe 40 psi?).

Obviously, I don't want to damage any of my plumbing, but a bit more at-tap power would be nice. More or less is just an adjustment away.

[Ljwt330]

Originally Posted by zippinbye

I did a thread search, and surprisingly could not find a thread on pressure from city water. Apologies, but I guess my profile/sig info is not displaying as it should. Topic is a 2005 Dutch Star M4023.

PO had a nice adjustable regulator set to 50 psi. Is this good?

I notice the shower and kitchen sink are a bit less "peppy" than desired and compared to our 5th wheel, which had a non-gauged Walmart-style on-hose regulator (maybe 40 psi?).

Obviously, I don't want to damage any of my plumbing, but a bit more at-tap power would be nice. More or less is just an adjustment away.

If you have an adjustable regulator set to 50 psi, that would be about the average setting for most RVs. You can easily set it higher, say to 60 psi., without concern, but before you do, keep a few things in mind.

First, are all your faucet screens clear of debris or mineral build up?

Second, the regulator setting is the maximum pressure allowed into the rv, the actual pressure from the city connection may be less and that may be what you are sensing.

Third, try turning on the water pump as you use city water. If the pressure/flow increase, then either the city water pressure is low or your regulator is set lower that the pump. Don’t forget to have water in your fresh tank to try this!

Finally, every campsite has a different pressure. What you remember from your last RV means little unless it was from the same campground.

[Old-Biscuit]

50 psi is very common setting for regulators

Flow is more important......do you know what reg you have/what is gpm rating is?

Kitchen sink.......when was last time you cleaned the aerator?
Shower....virtually all RV showers have flow restrictors either in the hose connection or in the hand held shower handle
Some are removable ....some you just drill out with 1/4" bit
Some folks swap out shower head to Oxygenic etc

PEX piping is good to 100psi....fittings/clamps are the weak link
you can use 55psi w/o issues (many RV pumps have 55psi discharge)

[zippinbye]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

50 psi is very common setting for regulators

Flow is more important......do you know what reg you have/what is gpm rating is?

Kitchen sink.......when was last time you cleaned the aerator?
Shower....virtually all RV showers have flow restrictors either in the hose connection or in the hand held shower handle
Some are removable ....some you just drill out with 1/4" bit
Some folks swap out shower head to Oxygenic etc

PEX piping is good to 100psi....fittings/clamps are the weak link
you can use 55psi w/o issues (many RV pumps have 55psi discharge)

I do need to remove the regulator to identify model and specs. What would be a desirable flow rate at this point in the system? I think outside of silly states like California, 2.5 gpm is the modern standard at a shower head. I probably like more unless boondocking. Not sure how that would correlate to flow at the outside connection.

I should have qualified my original description to clarify that my impressions are all based on a city water connection on the RV pad at my home. It's been a while since I've measured it, but pressure has historically been in the high 60's with no flow constraints aside from the hose bib and hose itself.

I'll look at flow restrictors and the aerator. I see pretty much the same flow/pressure from potable water on the pump, which I have not inspected to see if it's original (16 years old) or a replacement that might be more robust.

Thanks so much for all the information.

[rondi]

Most hardware stores sell a water pressure gauge. You can get hose thread adapters to 1/2" pipe thread and put the gauge on your galley faucet and where your shower head and measure the pressure--but you need to have water flowing to be meaningful. Measuring static pressure is a good start tho. According to my gauge--I have connected to 60psi RV hookups with no problems and the pressure is great. If the static is over 60psi I use a high flow fixed regulator: https://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/fixed-regulators

[TJ]

If your “nice adjustable regulator” is a genuine Watts 263A, it has a rated flow of 4-4.5 GPM; more than adequate. However, it is is one of the knock-offs, the flow is probably not even rated but will likely be half (or less) of the Watts.

Inexpensive (and, sometimes reasonably expensive) RV water pressure regulators are one of the biggest issues with “low water pressure.” They are frequently not accurate, providing less pressure than indicated, and many severely restrict flow.

Two regulators that I have personal experience with as being accurate and having good flow ratings are the Watts 263A...

https://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/2...ator-stainless

... and the non-adjustable (55 psi) Fairview 55...

https://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/h...ater-regulator

Neither is particularly cheap and both are solid performers in my experience.

TJ

[Trapper2022]

Been using a watts set at 45 psi for at least 15 years. They work great. You get what you pay for. Safe travels

Enjoy the journey