Pressure Relief Valves Won't Stop Leaking

[niteowler]

I connected a water pressure gauge inside the house and it read 107 psi. Whoa! Turned the water pressure down on the PRV to the point where the water barely ran. With the water running it read 10 psi and when i shut the water off it crept back up to at least 100 psi. Looks like the PRV is probably the culprit.

[Cass]

Not sure how you couls do that as most PRVs have a minimum setting of 25 or 35 PSI try replacing it...how did you turn it down...did you use a screw driver or a wrench or did it have a handle???

[niteowler]

Replaced the PRV and everything appears to be fine now. A friend of mine says he has lived in his house now for 20 years and he is on his third PRV. I didn't know they went bad very often.

[Gary Swart]

Any device manufactured by man will fail in time. This has nothing to do with country of origin, brand, cost, or anything else. The point you must understand is that when you have a PRV in a home, you must also have a Thermal expansion tank. To see for yourself what the problem is, adapt a pressure gauge to a faucet connect it to a hot water faucet in the home. Drain hot water until the heater begins to heat. Open the faucet with the gauge attached and watch the temperature rise. If that doesn't make the convince you of the need for a thermal expansion tank, nothing will.