copper fittings for use with a pressure gage

[allyour80211b]

Hello, I am looking for a fitting that will allow be to have a pressure gauge near the inlet of my city water so I can always see what my pressure is. I live on a hill near the water tank and our home pressure runs about 40 psi most times. I would need a tee fitting that I could cut into the 3/4" copper piping to allow the water through with a port for the pressure gauge I have [Merrill PG100 with a 1/4" male thread] Does such a beast exist or am I going to have to build something up with brass fittings?

| | |----gauge Merrill PG100 with a 1/4" male thread | | ^ | water direction

Thanks! ayb

[Greg O]

Hard to tell what is available in your area, but you should be able to find a 3/4" sweat tee, with a female thread that you can bush down to the gauge. If nothing else a 3/4" tee, with a female NPT adapter soldered to it. Greg

[gfretwell]

Home Depot has a guage that connects to a regular hose fitting. You could tee it off the washing machine using a hose splitter

[Toller]

I just stick mine on the drain of the water heater.

[Richard J Kinch]

A common gage will have 1/8 or 1/4 NPT male threads. You can step a 3/4 tee down to those.

Gages are pretty unreliable, especially when under pressure all the time.

[Duane Bozarth]

???? A device designed specifically for the purpose is unreliable??? I think the manufacturers would be somewhat surprised to hear that.

[Richard J Kinch]

Absolutely. This is the nature of the Bourdon tube mechanism.

[Duane Bozarth]

Many other ways of building them...

Ones one the system here last for several years at least and then it's rarely the gauge itself that fails, it's accumulated rust/sediment.

Units work in power plants for years as well...but, of course, they're industrial units.

[Richard J Kinch]

All of the above are typical except perhaps reading high.

The least bit of corrosion from a wet or condensing environment will spoil the little gears and bearings.

If you ever have a bad one to throw out, tear it apart and have a look. Looks like the proverbial ladies watch.

Here's a pretty good explanation and diagram:

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Can you quantify "unreliable'? Will they stick in one spot,? Not go up? Not come down? Read high? Read low? All of the above?