Community Forums

denk · 10-20-2016, 03:01 PM

I have 45 psi at my water hook-up but get a low flow at the inside shower hose. I removed the hose to check if there were any 'restrictors' in place but none are there.

I did notice that the hole on the wall mounted faucet at the hose connection has a small orifice that is much smaller than the actual hose inner diameter.

Is this normal?

CJBROWN · 10-20-2016, 03:13 PM

Yes. They are water conserving.
Do you not have sufficient flow?
Has it changed recently?
It's not going to be like home, right?

Sometimes if city water connection is really low pressure you can flip on your 12v waterpump as well. 45psi is pretty low - I have 120 at home, most places are 60-80. The home one is really too high, but it's been like that for 25 years and I'm too cheap to invest in a whole-house pressure restrictor.

Pigman1 · 10-20-2016, 04:56 PM

Your system no doubt has a restrictor somewhere. The piece you found may be it, but there may be others too. Welcome to BIG BROTHER. The Federal government knows how you need to shower. If it were mine, I'd start drilling and keep at it until I found the right spot. Good Luck!

sdennislee · 10-20-2016, 07:28 PM

I drilled mine out, just be careful not to bust through the side wall of the mixing valve/faucet. Big improve the in pressure.

awol50 · 10-21-2016, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pigman1

Your system no doubt has a restrictor somewhere. The piece you found may be it, but there may be others too. Welcome to BIG BROTHER. The Federal government knows how you need to shower. If it were mine, I'd start drilling and keep at it until I found the right spot. Good Luck!

Not sure it has a lot to do with big brother. My kitchen sink had very low pressure on normal flow. If the rinse/spray button were pushed that worked fine. The rv dealer swore that is how it was supposed to work. Bunch of bs. Rather than try to drill or fix, I replaced the faucet aereator where it screws on to the end of the faucet with an extra one I got (one of my clients is a plumbing contractor). Now works fine to use in rinse/spray and normal aereator flow.

Pigman1 · 10-21-2016, 04:26 PM

low flow faucets, toilets that still don't flush well and loss of incandescent lightbulbs in the market place are the result of government edicts. Also, have you seen what you need to get if you want a hot water heater of above 55 gal capacity? Do a Google search but be prepared for a bit of sticker shock. Hint---$1000 up for a water heater.

denk · 10-21-2016, 05:32 PM

Some one must be using the script of George Orwell's 1984 classic in our lives.

Starsekr · 10-22-2016, 07:17 PM

Come off it, government has nothing to do with your hose size (take that as you will.) RV manuf. want to get two showers out of a tank of hot water. Restrict flow is the only way to do it given hot water tank size, tubing size in the RV, waste pressure at 30 to 50 psi in parks, etc.

CJBROWN · 10-22-2016, 09:34 PM

Ya, church state and money is way off topic.

JFXG · 10-22-2016, 10:40 PM

Gary RVRoamer · 10-23-2016, 08:32 AM

Well, it is a fact that federal regs set max flow limits on new shower heads (2.5 gpm) and toilets (1.6 gpf), all in the name of water conservation. A majority of our elected representatives agreed to and voted for these constraints, so we got what we got.

45 psi is neither low or uncommon, whether residential or RV. Plenty of areas have 40-50 psi water systems and that is adequate pressure and not the cause of low flow. My guess is that your low volume problem is either inherent in the RV system (a constriction somewhere) or in the faucets. If you have 1/2" water lines (most RVs do these days) and 45 psi at the pump or inlet, you should have no problem getting 2.5 gpm at the shower. Try measuring the flow rate with the shower head removed, to verify whether the flow is getting through the faucet valve or not.

Faucets, especially the hot/cold mixing types, typically have much lower flow rates than a 1/2" water line can deliver. Even at low pressures (say 20 psi), a 1/2 pipe can deliver around 7 gpm. But many RV city inlets cannot deliver anywhere near that much, maybe only 2-4 gpm. Especially if you use an inexpensive regulator on your hose.

Whether the RV is lower flow than your home water system probably depends on when the home was built or the plumbing was installed. The 2.5 gpm shower head limit has been around for quite awhile now, but many people have bypassed it.

Tha_Rooster · 10-23-2016, 08:37 AM

If you are using a hose end pressure reducer could be a problem, I use a watts residential pressure reducer which lets a lot of volume go through.

SuperGewl · 10-24-2016, 02:21 AM

Back to the topic at hand(pun intended). Does your shower have a single control valve? If so take it apart and see if it is clogged with dirt or filth. The innards may need replacing. If you have had good pressure before and now it is not then this is most likely the case.
Another question, how about the rest of the MH, how's the pressure there? If it is also low then you may have a clogged strainer on the pump or if yo have a whole house water filter it needs changing.
Hope this helps.