As a culture, people generally want more; they want more savings, more for their money, more toppings on their pizza, or even more free time.  Surely that same principle would apply to pressure.  After all, if having medium pressure in that air hose is good, surely more pressure will fill my tires up faster and more efficiently.  I can fill up my pool twice as fast if I crank up the water pressure.  It’s this kind of thinking that can lead to dangerous outcomes and a very good reason for maintaining consistent and safe pressure through a variety of different mediums.

Can You Handle the Pressure?

There are two major causes of unusually high pressure: human error and product malfunction.  The first cause, human error, really comes down to education.  People need to understand that more is not always better.  The second cause, product malfunction, can be prevented with good instrumentation and by properly calibrating it regularly.  Most machinery is designed to operate at pressures that are safe.  Take a look at any pressure gauge in your home or garage.  If the equipment is functioning normally, it’s likely somewhere in the low to middle range of the gauge.  There’s always a red area to indicate when the pressure is unsafe.

What’s the Cause?

High pressure in a system can come from a variety of causes, but the most common reason is that the lines are being constricted or blocked in some way.  Pressure is a measurement of force in a given space.  If the space is suddenly decreased, then the pressure will increase.  This is certainly not the only potential problem, and it’s important to contact the proper service personnel to the fix the problem correctly and safely.  Properly checking and calibrating your pressure gauges can ensure that these problems won’t happen in the first place.