Just got finished installing a outside tap freeze proof with a vacuum breaker.. I now have 1/2 the pressure i used to with the old tap and i even increased the supply up to 3/4 with no difference? From what i have read the vacuum breaker is a water restriction?
Outside tap
- Thread starter zrock
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vinny11950
Minister of Fire
sorta wondering about that. But neighbor has the same style with the vacuum breaker or what ever it is on top and they have the same issue. The rest of their house has the normal long stem taps and they work perfectly fine.. I may pull it apart this weekend and blow it out and see if their is crap in it
semipro
Minister of Fire
IIRC the vacuum breaker is just a one way valve that closes when you're using water that allows air to enter when the tap is closed and theirs a vacuum on the outlet. Normal water flow doesn't actually pass through it. The type I'm thinking of is shown below. I'm betting you got a bad one.
Ya thats the style i have. Ill pull it apart this weekend but really not expecting to see anything and will probably change it out and install a shutoff higher up the line and just drain it out for winter. But who knows i may get lucky
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Im getting a good turn or two on this one... Took the cap off yesterday for the air valve and found a live Beatle stuck in their.. Not sure how it managed to get in their.. Wondering if it was trying to get out and their may be a few of them in their... Gonna pull the guts today and hope for the best... Would like to figure this out as it takes 2x as long to water the grass now
Well i think i found the issue... Took it apart and the end of the stem has a spring loaded stopper that seems to be under more tension than i think it should be. Im thinking when the system is in use their is not enough pressure to push this spring open far enough for full flow.. Just going to replace the tap with a old school frost free and hopefully this cures the issue.
Well it turned out to be a 2 part problem... The mobile home park i live in and used to work at only has about 40psi water pressure. It has been recommended to him to turn it up to 60 but since it does not effect the owners place it has never been done. So the pressure relief in the tap could not fully open. Second part is the hose in the bottom of my hose real has about 20 permanent kinks and is actually starting to come apart at those areas.... So now im up to about 90% of what i had before.. I think the rest is my sprinkler has packed it in..
I may just have to do a midnight water pressure adjustment..LOL
I may just have to do a midnight water pressure adjustment..LOL
vinny11950
Minister of Fire
i've got a home cheapo unit and it fills the pool every year in hours 2/3 to fill and it's a 10,000 gallon. i am not sure of your soldering skills so i'll put my exp. in i sweated a washing machine valve in and used to much solder on the hot side so water is slow. so to match i have to turn the cold water down a bit. and that is feed from a 3/4 inch pipe
hmmm must have some serious water pressure used to take me around 5 hours with a 2 inch fire hose connected direct to a well pump, or 1/2 hour using a tanker from the fire dept. Copper and solder is old school..LOL.. i rip all that crap out and change it all to pex when i do upgrades...
I guess I just have developed good solder skills over the years. Probably from installing whole house baseboard hot water heating systems back east when I was young. I know at least some of them are still in good working order, so there must be something to its longevity and toughness. The oldest is about 45 yrs. now.
Oh trust me i have good solder skills... I learned the hard way when i was young mom wanted all new copper in her house so i replumbed the hole house. 50% of the joints leaked and i had to go and redo every single joint... After that i made sure every thing was done properly and clean..LOL
I'm glad to say that there was not a single leak in any of the few houses I plumbed for hw heat, but fortunately, I was taught well in advance by pros that I had apprenticed with earlier. Point being, copper stands up well over time if done properly.
I sure hope so for my whole house is copper including my kitchen sink--I love copper but not good for sinks because of the constant stains that I hate but it makes it easy for me because I do not know if it is the stain or the dirt so I scrub it all the time..,lol clancey
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