Do water pressure regulators go bad?

[MPdesign]

I looked at a facility that has 140 psi water pressure but it has at least 2 pressure regulators and the water pressure is still 140 psi.

any ideas?

[AHI in AR]

The regulators may be mis-adjusted. It's been my experience (although limited) that when they go bad they reduce pressure too much, not the opposite.

[Brandon Whitmore]

If you run the water, does pressure lower and then slowly go back up?

[Jim Katen]

I looked at a facility that has 140 psi water pressure but it has at least 2 pressure regulators and the water pressure is still 140 psi.

any ideas?

They fail all the time when grit gets lodged in the seat. To diagnose it, place a pressure gauge on an outlet and let a large volume of water run for a few seconds, then turn off the water suddenly. If the seat on the regulator is damaged, the gauge will read the low pressure at first, but the pressure will slowly climb up to the 140 psi mark as it squeaks by the non-sealed seat.

[Steven Hockstein]

I have had two fail in my own home. Both times the water just stopped flowing and I thought that my main water line had broken. The cost of replacement was a couple of hundred dollars. No big deal.

After the first one failed I added ball valves on both sides of the meter and pressure reducing valve. The second time I I did not have to drain any pipes or shut off the water at the street.