TPR Leaking

[Oyarsa]

My wife and I bought our first house in April. One of the items the inspector noticed was a leaking TPR valve. I replaced the valve with no trouble, but the new one leaked as well. Never a lot of water, but maybe a cup or so at seemingly random times.

Before having a chance for a plumber to look into further causes, I turned on the sprinkler system for the yard for the season. It utilizes house water, not irrigation water. After turning on the system, the leak disappeared.

Recently, we turned the system back off and the heads blown out. Shortly thereafter, the leak from the TPR valve came back.

Any thoughts? I apologize, but I know next to nothing about plumbing.

 

[havasu]

How much pressure do you have incoming? I'm guessing you need a pressure reducer on your main incoming line

 

[Oyarsa]

Good question. How would I find out? As I said, I know nothing about plumbing until I have reason to learn. I think you are probably right, though. The water pressure in the house as a whole seems a bit high.

 

[Oyarsa]

I just looked up how to test the pressure. I will get a gauge and check it today, hopefully.

 

[Oyarsa]

Looks like you might be right. Water pressure is 120. Now to find out if we already have a pressure reducer that might have gone bad.

 

[havasu]

Yes, way too high. Are you on a municipal water system? If so, you may be lucky. My city installs and replaces PRV's free of charge. This way, they can crank up the pressure to supply all of the new homes my city has added. Otherwise, you may be out ~$80, plus installation costs.

 

[Oyarsa]

Yes, from the county. I will have to ask about that. Might get lucky.

I tried to find where a PRV might be at my house, but I had no luck. I located the meter and the pipe leading to the house immediately continues underground. The pipe comes out of the wall and immediately into the hot water heater, so it's not there, either. I think it might be in the crawlspace, if I have a PRV, but it's a bit difficult to access, so that will have to wait for Thursday.

 

[Jeff Handy]

You also might need an expansion tank by the water heater.

 

[Oyarsa]

Sorry to abandon my post for a few days.

Jeff Handy, yes, I might need an expansion tank, as well. I was originally scheduled to possibly have one installed, but the leak had seemingly fixed itself in the meantime (possibly by turning on the sprinkler system for the season).

Havasu, I called my utilities division, but unfortunately, they do not have anything to do with plumbing beyond the water meter. The worker did confirm that pressure to the house runs around 100 psi, and the most recent backflow preventer leak test showed a pressure of 100 psi. That makes my wonder why my gauge read 120 psi, though. He also said that code requires there to be a PRV at that pressure, so I should have once somewhere.

Unfortunately, I cannot locate the PRV. I checked the crawlspace and did not see it there. I found where the water enters the house, but did not see anything that looked like a PRV. All of the tubing was wrapped with insulation, so it's possible I missed it. Any suggestions on how to locate it?

 

[Jeff Handy]

Yes, call a pro, time to get help.

 

[Oyarsa]

Was hoping to avoid that, but I'm sure you're right. Even if I find it, the odds of me replacing it myself are pretty slim, I suppose.

 

[havasu]

Something tells me you do not have a PRV installed. May be time to bite the bullet and get one installed asap before you blow a water line and flood your place.

 

[Oyarsa]

Thanks for the help and advice. Called a plumber and it sounds like several of the houses in our area do not have a PRV. He said it is necessary to install an expansion tank, as well. He sounded trustworthy, but I must admit that I do not understand why it would be necessary. In any case, we'll have it all taken care of soon!