Had a tenant call me once about weird pressure drops—said showers were fine one minute, then barely trickling the next. Thought it was just sediment or debris, but nope, regulator was shot. Funny thing: after replacing it, I noticed the expansion tank was dripping slightly too. Ended up replacing both at once. Lesson learned: when regulators start acting funny, expansion tanks often aren't far behind...
Just went through something similar myself—pressure was all over the place, and I figured it was just air in the lines or something simple. Nope, turned out my regulator was toast too. Replaced it, but now you've got me wondering about the expansion tank... How can you tell if it's starting to go bad? Mine looks fine, but now I'm paranoid it's secretly plotting against me, lol.
A quick way to check your expansion tank is to do a simple tap test and pressure check. First, tap lightly on the tank—the top half should feel hollow (that's the air side), and the bottom half should feel solid from water. If it's all solid or full of water, that's a red flag.
Next, grab a tire pressure gauge and check the little Schrader valve on top (just like checking a car tire). Shut off your water and relieve the system pressure first by opening a faucet before you test. The reading should match your home's incoming water pressure setting. If it's significantly low, you can try pumping it back up with a bike pump or compressor. But if water squirts out instead of air, yeah... bad news—it's toast and secretly plotting against you for real, lol.
Had one fail on me last year. Pressure was bouncing around like crazy, and that sneaky little tank looked perfectly fine from outside. Turned out it was completely waterlogged inside. Replaced it, and things calmed right down.
Had a similar issue a few months back. Pressure gauge was bouncing all over the place, and sure enough, the tank was full of water. Quick swap-out fixed it—lesson learned, always check the tank first before messing with anything else.
"Pressure gauge was bouncing all over the place, and sure enough, the tank was full of water."
Yep, been there recently myself. First time homeowner here—thought I had a major plumbing disaster brewing. Turned out to be the tank bladder. Easy fix, thankfully... Glad yours was straightforward too.
