Had a similar experience myself—spent days troubleshooting everything from showerheads to garden hoses, convinced it was something complicated. Turned out my regulator was shot after just three years. Makes me think water hardness or sediment buildup might shorten their lifespan... Glad yours is sorted now!
Had a regulator fail on me too, but mine lasted nearly 8 years. I installed a sediment filter upstream afterward—seems to help. Did you notice any sediment buildup when you swapped yours out? Curious if that's a common factor...
Mine lasted about 6 years before it gave up on me, and when I pulled it out, there was definitely some sediment buildup in there. Not a crazy amount, but enough to make me wonder if that was part of the issue. I remember thinking at the time, "Hmm, probably should've put a filter in earlier," but you know how hindsight goes...
Anyway, after replacing the regulator, I did exactly what you did—installed a sediment filter upstream. It's been about 3 years now, and fingers crossed, things seem smoother. Pressure's steady, and I haven't noticed any weird fluctuations like before. Can't say for sure the filter's the magic bullet, but it certainly hasn't hurt.
Funny thing is, when I mentioned this to my neighbor, he told me he's never had sediment issues at all, even though we're on the same city water line. Makes me wonder if it's partly related to older pipes or maybe how close you are to the main line? Who knows. Either way, seems like sediment buildup isn't uncommon based on what I've read around here and elsewhere.
You're definitely not alone dealing with this hassle. Regulators just seem to have their own timeline, and sediment probably speeds things along. Good call putting in that filter—hopefully it buys you another 8 years or more.
- Had similar issues here, regulator went out after about 5 yrs.
- Installed a sediment filter too, but honestly didn't see much difference in pressure stability.
- Wondering if pipe material plays a bigger role than we think...my house has older galvanized pipes, neighbor has copper—he's never had issues.
- Curious if anyone noticed improvements after switching pipe types?
"Wondering if pipe material plays a bigger role than we think...my house has older galvanized pipes, neighbor has copper—he's never had issues."
Yeah, galvanized pipes can definitely cause headaches over time. Switched mine out for PEX recently and noticed a pretty decent improvement. Hang in there, homeownership's full of surprises...
