Sudden loss of hot water pressure in entire house
Greetings,
I have a sudden loss of hot water pressure in entire house (all showers, washing machine, sinks, etc.) Nothing has been touched or replaced. We have a well and our 50 gallon hot water heater is new - installed Sept. 2003. I have been reading this could be 'air pressure' related but I'm not sure how to troubleshoot? Thanks!
Sudden loss of hot water pressure in entire house
Quote:
Originally Posted by morank
THANK YOU FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE and thorough response!
I will try that.
More info: When I first turn the hot water on (closest fixture from hot water heater is tub) I notice the hot water will run with good and consistent strength for about 90 seconds, and then a very sudden drop in pressure to almost a trickle. I was able to reproduce this 3 times in the last few hours. Does this give you any more ideas? If something was caught in pipe, I would never have a good flow right? Versus a flow that only flows strong for x time? Thanks!
Something has disturbed the mineral built up on your pipe walls or your pump is pumping sand or soil into your system. The reason you can get a good stream a that cuts off after a few seconds is that when the faucet's closed the clogs falls back down the supply. Then when you make a draw the water brings it right back up and clogs the faucet. You have to take apart the faucets and flush out the system from the mains through the branches and supplies. If the entire house is affected you may want to call in outside help. Good luck, Tom
Sudden loss of hot water pressure in entire house
Quote:
Originally Posted by morank
I called a plumber. Since pressure problem existed all over house at every fixture and washing machine/dish washer/etc., we tested pressure coming into house from well pump using gauge on water well tank inside house. Gauge showed only 32 lbs coming in from well on a 40-60 which explained our lack of pressure. Problem either crack in pipe from house to well, or well pump. Dug up the well head outside house. Using compressor filled pipe again and now gauge inside house shows a solid 50lbs sustained pressure without leaks on pipe leading from house to well. Only thing left suspect is the well pump. Plenty of water in well - 500 ft. filled with water on a 600 ft. well. Perhaps the staging is off on the pump or it is going bad in some other way. Thanks everybody for responding!
- kathy
Hi Kathy,
Why did they dig up anything and use compressed air to test the integrity of the lines when all they had to do is run the pump until it reached cut out pressure, shut the house shut off,turn off the pump at the breaker box and watch the pressure gage. A fast drop in pressure would indicate a leak in the service line. Has anybody thought to increase the pressure at the control box? Not that I think your plumber missed the boat but let me show you how to increase the pressure.
Your pump has a pressure control. As a rule this will be Square D. First turnoff the power at the breaker box, then pull the cover off the pressure switch and you will see two spring loaded bolts secured with nylon nuts. One tall, one short. To increase the cut in pressure, turn the nut on the tall bolt down. To increase the cut out pressure,(that's the one that will give you more pressure) turn the nut on the short bolt down. This should give you the additional preesure you desire. This might just save you the labor and expense of replacing the pump. Good luck, Tom
Low Pressure from Well - FIXED!
Thanks Tom and Labman for all your help! As I mentioned to Tom, my water pressure in entire house problem returned within 5 weeks. Today we pulled up the well pump (with an 'Upsy-Daisy'?) - pump was 300 feet down (pulled up fifteen 20ft sections of PVC) and when the pump surfaced - WHALLA we saw the problem. Where the last 20ft section of pipe screws into the pump it was completely cracked at the base of the pipe. Also there was no check valve attached. We replaced these faulty parts, put a check valve as well.
WATER PRESSURE BETTER THAN EVER!
I learned SO MUCH today. Thanks all for your help!
- kathy