Water pressure regulator
 

We are proud new owners of a 2014.5 AI. I am wondering if the AI has a built in water pressure regulator? I recall the sales guy mentioning it but I want to be sure I understood correctly.

It is built into the external city water receptacle where you hook up. I think the receptacle says it is a pressure regulator there on the outside.

Thank you for the rapid reply. We are heading out tomorrow and feel better knowing that.

I started to use one now in addition to the one in the AS as I believe (although not totally sure) that high water pressure damaged one of my water hoses



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Pharm, your water hoses are outside the trailer and not protected by the built-in unit. There is a good chance your hose damage occurred from expansion within the hose from heating of the sun, so a pressure regulator at the campground spigot would not have protected that either. There is really no reason to use an additional pressure regulator.

Ohhhh - I failed to consider that - I guess in hot weather if off and about can turn off and unscrew ?

I don't see why high pressure from the spigot could not damage the water hose (probably a dense moment)


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Physics: Water only expands by 1.25% when heated by 100 degrees, as long as you don't heat it enough to boil it. That's not enough to rupture a hose, not even a hose that has been softened by direct exposure to the sun.

It has to be the pressure in the hose, especially when you're not using any water so all of the faucets inside are closed and the pressure has nowhere to go. It's force of habit to open the spigot at the service pedestal all the way every time you hook up, but if municipal water pressure is unusually high, you can just open the spigot partway and thereby reduce the pressure in the hose.

Water pressure regulator
 

You'll only reduce the amount of flow by not opening the spigot all the way. With everything in your camper turned off, the pressure will build to whatever the supply pressure is, even if you barely crack open the spigot. In electrical terms, it's like voltage and current. You still have the same amount of force pushing it (voltage) just not as much flowing through it (current). To reduce the pressure on the hose, you have to put the regulator on the output of the spigot...

-Red

You're right. Just goes to show that it's a good thing I'm retiring at the end of the year if I keep having senior moments like that.:lol:

Lucky dog! I'll take those senior moments if it means I get to retire... Just under four years now.

-Red, getting short-timers a little early...

I've had a hose expand a permanent balloon at home lying in the hot sun when the supply spigot on the house was off and the spray nozzle was also off trapping whatever city pressure was there, then softening and adding the thermal expansion of the sun.

It was a cheap hose, like the ones rv's use. I don't know what else could have caused it.

Protagonist. By the way, congratulations on your upcoming and soon-to-be retirement! Senior moments only mean life is less stressful, it's wonderful.

Even though the Airstream has an internal water pressure regulator, I still use an external one attached to the water supply spigot at the campground. I am probably being overcautious but it just makes me feel better.

Brian

Brian, I used a second one for awhile too, then asked myself why. With no good answer I got rid of it.

Are we sure that the Interstates have the built-in regulator?

The 2014 Interstate Parts PDF, which I downloaded from the Airstream website, does mention a "City water fill w/regulator, chrome".


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My first time on my Alfa, I ran an external pressure reducer into external water filter into the built in PR, and lived with weak flow from the shower.
Once I realized there were two inline PR's, I pulled one and got more than the dribble. The water pump had better shower flow.
My new EB the water inlet/PR started leaking back in Jan. I pulled it from the skin, tightened it (4 screws on two piece plastic construction) and then left it loose to dry out for a couple of weeks. It started leaking again this month, so I replaced it on my dime, cheaper than a trip to Tucson for warranty.
I'm keeping the old one to seal up with silicone as backup.

My 2013 came with an external pressure regulator in a plastic bag along with some other small items such as the hose and nozzle for the external shower. I use it and have no low water pressure problems.

I use external as well and water pressure is un affected as far as I could tell

Never bad a problem with water pressure yet

I still am not clear why high pressure at spigot could not damage a water hose


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This is from your (2014) Interstate Owners Manual:

"Your plumbing system has a built in pressure regulator to protect your lines and faucets from extremely high pressures on some city water systems. An after-market external regulator is not recommended, as it could lower the water pressure at the inlet and thus to your faucets and shower."

A post-script with a note on older Interstates...

Initially, I didn't think much about this issue other than I grabbed a regulator in a camping store just in case there was a question about it ever being needed for some reason. The 2007 owner's manual has the same advisory verbatim as what was quoted above for the 2014 manual. The parts manual doesn't supply any technical details other than to suggest that said regulator is integral to the fill apparatus installed in the side of the Interstate.

This week I saw this type of sign for the first time in a campground, so I inserted the external regulator ahead of the shore line. Even if it will not reduce static pressure for the Physics 101 reason given in the comments above, it's still nice to have some information regarding the stated pressure - it is really high such that I maybe ought to keep an eye on it, or is there just the potential for it being high?

In this case it proved to be a non-issue, but I think I'll leave the regulator attached to the line so that I can compare to future pressures.

Actually, there is.

I posted this some time ago. My 2011 leaked under high pressure at the plastic intake regulator. After removing the refrigerator, I found this:

https://gmillerpc.com/misc/2.jpg

All that is standing between you and a flood is a cheap, plastic regulator held together with four screws. That's it. In my case, the device leaked because the screws, over time, either loosened, or never had been, fully tightened. Didn't matter as the damage was done. But even without that issue, the regulator itself is simply not very robust. I wouldn't trust it.

Regardless of what Airstream suggests in the manual, using a quality (i.e., brass) regulator at the tap won't cause a problem under normal pressure. And, you won't have to rely on a very cheap and flimsy plastic regulator to keep from flooding your van. If it does cause pressue issues, you can simply remove it from the line. I'd rather be over-cautious than risk a major flood if the plastic regulator fails.

But if you come to a park that has extremely high pressure, you are rolling the dice that what happened to me will happen to you. If you want to stack the deck in your favor, use a separate regulator at the tap.

I remember that photo - part of this discussion is in another thread. The next time I bring our Interstate out of storage, I'm going to look at exactly what apparatus is associated with our city water port. When we did our black/grey water vent line repair almost a year ago, I noticed the incoming water line; in fact I took a Sharpie and marked something like "City Water In" on the inside of the bulkhead under the cabinetry, so I would not forget. But I didn't note whether it actually had any regulator-like device associated with it, or whether there was plastic vs. brass or some other material.