cwilli40
New Member
Hello, I have joined this forum to ask this question as all of my research has come up short.
To preface, back in March 2023 my pressure reducing valve (PRV) failed in my home. I found the failure due to one of my various water leak detectors around the home notifying me that a leak was detected at one of my sinks. When I went to my Manabloc to turn off the valve to that sink, I found the entire Manabloc was leaking. I turned on my kitchen sink and the pressure was enormous, so that lead to my determination that the PRV had failed. A week later, I had my PRV and Manabloc replaced and all was well. While doing this, the plumber said my water heater expansion tank had failed and replaced it with a new one.
Fast forward two months to the first week of May, and suddenly I had an increase in water pressure one morning when I ran my sink. It was not a burst of water, but rather a stronger stream for 5-10 seconds that then trickled down to the normal rate of flow. I was at a loss, so I called in multiple plumbers from 3 different companies to take a look and none could find a problem. One plumber felt that the new PRV was not adjusted right, so he brought the pressure up but this made no difference. A second plumber looked and said that nothing could be done and this was "normal", so he touched nothing.
After this second plumber, I decided to do some more testing. I bought a pressure gauge and placed it on my outside hose bib downstream from the PRV. I found over the course of a few days that the pressure would rise within my system from 60 PSI (immediately after running water) to 80 PSI. I had a third plumber come out from a very reputable company and he could also not find a cause, but said it was not normal behavior. After looking over my plumbing, we decided to replace my water heater, add a new, larger expansion tank, and put in a new PRV just for good measure. At this point, my entire plumbing system (other than the lines themselves) is new. Once this was done, the water pressure would still rise after a time, but it seemed to be linked to the extended use of hot water. This made us think of thermal expansion, but the rise was in an acceptable range that he said was expected of closed systems, even with expansion tanks installed..
However, this week my system has started to go ballistic. The pressure is building constantly now and it running back up to 80 PSI+, even after no hot water has been run. I am at a total loss and I am miserable over this. How does a plumbing system simply change its behavior on a whim? Does ANYONE have any ideas as to what could be going on?
Just to reiterate, note the following:
- New PRV (twice)
- New water heater
- New Manabloc
- New expansion tank
- Water pressure rising in a static state of 20+ PSI
To preface, back in March 2023 my pressure reducing valve (PRV) failed in my home. I found the failure due to one of my various water leak detectors around the home notifying me that a leak was detected at one of my sinks. When I went to my Manabloc to turn off the valve to that sink, I found the entire Manabloc was leaking. I turned on my kitchen sink and the pressure was enormous, so that lead to my determination that the PRV had failed. A week later, I had my PRV and Manabloc replaced and all was well. While doing this, the plumber said my water heater expansion tank had failed and replaced it with a new one.
Fast forward two months to the first week of May, and suddenly I had an increase in water pressure one morning when I ran my sink. It was not a burst of water, but rather a stronger stream for 5-10 seconds that then trickled down to the normal rate of flow. I was at a loss, so I called in multiple plumbers from 3 different companies to take a look and none could find a problem. One plumber felt that the new PRV was not adjusted right, so he brought the pressure up but this made no difference. A second plumber looked and said that nothing could be done and this was "normal", so he touched nothing.
After this second plumber, I decided to do some more testing. I bought a pressure gauge and placed it on my outside hose bib downstream from the PRV. I found over the course of a few days that the pressure would rise within my system from 60 PSI (immediately after running water) to 80 PSI. I had a third plumber come out from a very reputable company and he could also not find a cause, but said it was not normal behavior. After looking over my plumbing, we decided to replace my water heater, add a new, larger expansion tank, and put in a new PRV just for good measure. At this point, my entire plumbing system (other than the lines themselves) is new. Once this was done, the water pressure would still rise after a time, but it seemed to be linked to the extended use of hot water. This made us think of thermal expansion, but the rise was in an acceptable range that he said was expected of closed systems, even with expansion tanks installed..
However, this week my system has started to go ballistic. The pressure is building constantly now and it running back up to 80 PSI+, even after no hot water has been run. I am at a total loss and I am miserable over this. How does a plumbing system simply change its behavior on a whim? Does ANYONE have any ideas as to what could be going on?
Just to reiterate, note the following:
- New PRV (twice)
- New water heater
- New Manabloc
- New expansion tank
- Water pressure rising in a static state of 20+ PSI
