slant eyes

i have a plumbing question. one day a plumber came by from the insurance company to test for leakage. he told me the pressure is unusually high (110) and i told him i get bad pressure drops at the faucets and shower heads when something else is turned on.

we have copper pipes and he told me that those don't build up calcium. but that some 'regulator' (or something of that effect) was busted and all i had to do was replace it or the water saving device.

so what do i replace? i'm not even sure it's called a regulator as it was what i remember only.

thanks

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j8ear

It's called a pressure balanced regulator. It is the valve inside the wall that mixes the hot and cold water. It has a manually set stop to essentially prevent someone from being scalded if a toilet is flushed. At least that is the idea. It also works in general to resolve pressure issues.

I just replaced one on a shower in my basement. Your contractor buddy should be able to get one for about 40 bucks, but I bought before I asked mine and it cost me 80 bucks at the plumbing supply house. Home Depot or Lowes would also be able to point you in the right direction.

Open up the wall first to make sure you get all the copper you need. 45 and 90 Elbows, unions, and likely no more then 5ft of copper in the size you need.

And then go and get your sweat on. Do you know how to sweat solder? You might be able to get away with compression joints but they are less then ideal.

Good Luck,

-bear

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fresnelly

I have a plumbing question. I need to replace the draincup on our stainless steel kitchen sink. They guy at the hardware store told us that we don't need plumber's putty to help seal it to the basin, but the box instructions do.

Do we need putty or some kind of adhesive/sealant? How do I remove the old one?

Thanks for taking the time to answer this thread j8bear!

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slant eyes

thank you. i will give this a shot and hope it works, too bad it's in the wall though. so is it in the wall at the water tank? or at every shower head?

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j8ear

First of all, I am not a plumber but a home owner, so take what I offer with that in mind. I am happy to report on what has worked for me, and will advise you similarly if a job has gotten beyond my reach. I am a former journeyman for a General Contractor, who is now one of my closest friends and have his advice to fall back on should the need arise...and to be honest it almost always has

That said....

With regards to the pressure balanced regulator. In my house this valve is inside the wall at every shower, and afaik, is only applicable to showers...since this is the scalding danger. I've never heard of a whole house regulator, but again I'm not a plumber just a home owner, with an old house and lots of home improvement projects under way? I suspect these are only needed on showers though, as this is the only place where pressure drops on one of the supplies could be dangerous.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "water tank." Are you on a well, and have a pressurized storage tank? Are you on a municipal water supply? What do you mean by water tank?

To the question about plumbers putty and a new drain cup. Your new drain cup will come with sufficient rubber gasketing, and if you clean the sink of debris and follow the install directions, which undoubtedly will call for a bead of silicone* I suspect the provided seals will be fine. I think, and several plumbers have agreed with me that plumbers putty is an antiquated product and I prefer to use a product which cures and adheres like silicone. If I were you I'd forget about the putty and apply a small bead of silicone to the topside of the sink where the basket flange will mate to it.

Good luck home owners, shade tree mechanics, and handyfolk of all stripes. I have been or will be there with you all in spirit. The most important lesson I have learned is that there is always a tool for the job, and the right tools makes things easiest.

And remember the two rules all plumbers live by: Shit flows down hill and DON'T BITE your fingernails

Best,

-bear

* I just reread the posting asking about plumbers putty and apparently your instructions call for this stuff. ~My~ advice, taken with what ever grain of salt you want is to use silicone in place of putty. As far as taking the old one off, there will be a large nut thread up the bottom of the basket, lefty-loosy this one off, and you'll soon realize how it is being held together. Look at your new one for clues about how the old one comes off.

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j8ear

BTW, it wouldn't be at the shower head but behind the knobs or contraption that controls the water flow and temperature of the shower. You know like the hot and cold knobs, or even hot, cold, mix knobs and sometimes...even just one knob that controls it all.

Am I making sense?

-bear

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Mantus

The main regulator is usually down stream from the main water shutoff valve. All the ones I've seen look like valves but with a bolt intead of a valve handle.

slant eyes

thanks bear.

and to mantus: so the one that sits outside the house where the main on/off is?

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Lebell

What?? Plumbers putty antiquated???

I just used some to seat my new disposal!

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Mantus

You should have a main vavle inside the house too. In any case start looking allong the pipe for something that looks like a valve without a handle.

Tirian

I know this message is a bit old, but here's my $.02 anyways...

When I built my last house, it was on the municipal water supply, and the town required me to install a device to lower the water pressure since my house was near the system supply, and apperently since I was near the pumps I would have had high water pressure in my house, too high for residential plumbing fixtures to handle.

What I installed between the city supply and anything in my house was called a pressure reducing valve. (PRV). Perhaps this is what your inspector was talking about?

It limits the city water pressure to a standard household pressure.

kazoo

My take on the OP is that the PRV is faulty. 110 psi is rather high-something on the order of 50-60 is the norm. If you're experiencing pressure drop when an additional appliance is flowing, there's another problem, as in crud inside the pipes causing restriction in gallonage delivered. Don't know why anyone would consider plumber's putty to be an outdated product. Every faucet, drain, and sink basket that I've installed calls for it. Loosening the retaining nut of a kitchen sink basket may be a stinker if you don't have the correct wrench. I've used a large Channellock pliers (jaw opening 6"), but that isn't in every homeowner's toolbox. If the nut is cast metal and is frozen to the basket, it may prove easier to use a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel and slice through the nut, (don't bitch up the sink!) and then split the nut off the basket with a screwdriver.

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