Water pressure issues

[klstraka]

Our dealer installed a 40 psi water restrictor in our 2018 Classic 30’ to stop the Alde from spewing out water from it’s overflow hose. This leaves scant water pressure for showering and flushing the toilet. Has anyone else had a similar issue?

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

Originally Posted by klstraka

Our dealer installed a 40 psi water restrictor in our 2018 Classic 30’ to stop the Alde from spewing out water from it’s overflow hose. This leaves scant water pressure for showering and flushing the toilet. Has anyone else had a similar issue?

Haven’t had this issue with the alde. Have you tried posting in the alde thread about this?

Haven’t had the opportunity yet to shower in airstream so not even sure what the pressure is like there but haven’t had any concerns with faucets or toilets. Dumb question, but do you have the water pump on when there is demand on the system?

[paiceman]

We run an external pressure regulator at 45#. No water pressure issues or Alde issues. However, I do dump the water from the Alde HW boiler to keep the necessary air pocket. I do this once a week when we ate stationary, which now is most of the time

[Rjpuckett]

Running your water pump will bump the pressure to 45 #’s.

[rmkrum]

Only if you have water in your fresh water tank. Pump will do nothing at all If tank is empty...

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

Only if you have water in your fresh water tank. Pump will do nothing at all If tank is empty...

You’ll also have zero water pressure and as a result no water coming out if the tanks are empty.... thought I would add that in since we are pointing out the obvious. Lol

[kendrick.l.j]

“....to stop the Alde from spewing out water from it’s overflow hose.” ??? I thought I was pretty well versed in the Alde system by now but this is new to me. What Alde OverFlow hose? The Alde system is a closed system and doesn’t have anything to do with water pressure. There is an internal pressure regulator in the Classic that comes standard. As a precaution I use an external pressure regulator when hooked up to city water but still have fairly good pressure for showers. The boiler does need to have an air pocket maintained for optimal temps and needs to be replenished regularly but that still doesn’t have anything to do with water pressure.
Please don’t get me wrong. I am not criticizing. I am trying to figure out why your dealer would do what he did. I am also concerned that you are getting all the benefits of the Alde system. You may want to go over to the Much Ado Alde thread to learn more if you aren’t happy with heat or hot water.

[james.mileur]

http://www.airforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162931

Here is some interesting reading on pressure issues.

[kendrick.l.j]

James, Thanks for posting the refresher course. I had completely forgotten about that. I always use an added external regulator but the OP said they were having noticeable decrease in water pressure with the new regulator which I could see would be a problem while using the shower. I don’t recall loosing that much pressure when I went to the external regulator. Did you?

[wulfraat]

Alde is a closed system and has nothing to do with the fresh water system for drinking, showering, etc..

Remove the device installed by your unhelpful dealer. The city water inlet installed by the factory automatically reduces to 60psi which is what your trailer was designed to work at.

40psi is way to low.

[klstraka]

Originally Posted by wulfraat

Alde is a closed system and has nothing to do with the fresh water system for drinking, showering, etc..

Remove the device installed by your unhelpful dealer. The city water inlet installed by the factory automatically reduces to 60psi which is what your trailer was designed to work at.

40psi is way to low.

I know the Alde is a closed system. I’m talking about the boiler (water heater) which has its own pressure relief valve and drain hose. Which cannot handle 60 psi in our trailer without spewing water out of the drain hose. And yes we occasionally run the pump while showering (with water in the holding tank) but the point is we shouldn’t have to.

[james.mileur]

http://www.airforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162931

This resolution was a new pressure relief from AS, to replace the faulty safety.

[klstraka]

That’s exactly what they did. Sorry I was unclear in my description.

[Gene]

Sometimes pressure at a campground is pretty low. The standard for city water is 60 psi, but campgrounds may have their own system or their system is taxed by many occupants running water at the same time, perhaps because of a system with small water pipes. The combination of low city water pressure and a pressure restrictor can mean pressure much too low to shower (a shower is the highest plumbing fixture and needs the most pressure) and even too low at other fixtures. A permanently installed pressure restricter makes it difficult to remove when the campground pressure is too low. I have not owned a trailer with a permanent pressure restrictor and if I had one, I would want to have one that restricted the flow to a set pressure (60 psi seems right), or was adjustable,

It is always good to start out with a flow restricter, but when campground pressure is low, it may be time to remove it. I am unsure whether the restrictors available at RV stores and campgrounds simply lower any pressure, or lower pressure to a set pressure (for. ex., 45 lbs.), but ours seems to be a simple unit that lowers any pressure whether it is 150 psi or 20 psi. I would think 45 psi is enough to take a shower, but there could also be a blockage in the pipes, especially in a new trailer. Many well systems have pressure valves restricted set at 50 psi and can be adjusted up or down, but some only go a little bit above 50 and some are set to 60—depends on what I have found in a hardware store when my old regular went bad. Poor workmanship by people who are not plumbers and are required to have multiple skills to build trailers could be the problem, or the dealer may have made thing worse (they don't have plumbers either). Or the pressure restrictor valve could be faulty.

Not sure if your problem was resolved. On one trailer (not an Airstream) the shower or the shower valve was bad—both were replaced on warranty and flow improved marginally, but campground pressure was also too low to use a flow restrictor. We were at the same campground before and after we took the trailer to the factory for a fix, so we knew the problem was both the plumbing and the campground pressure. My recollection was the campground pressure was the worse problem.

Gene

[mojoe7009]

We just completed 4 months in the trailer in multiple campgrounds all over the Southwest. The only pressure regulator we used was the standard one built-in one installed by AS on the trailer. Never an issue whatsoever and water pressure at the sinks and shower was great. Not to say it could never happen but it seems to me restricting a restrictor will significantly reduce your flow. Also, as paceman accurately explained, once a week I drained the hot water tank to allow the air cushion to be replenished. I forgot to do it over a two week period and we had a little “burp” of water from the Alde pressure relief valve. It was a good reminder to drain the tank once a week when we are in it for extended periods...like 4 months!