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My approach would be to turn off the water heater and the cold supply.
Then open a hot tap below, or as close to the area of the leak, to drain the hot pipe.
Then be prepared to catch the remaining water when you cut the pipe around the leak.
Supplement:
One can get “ice clamps” that can be used to isolate either side of the leak but can be fun if the ...
27
Yes, that's a scary article but keep in mind that both safety devices have to fail to have the tank explode. The pressure release valve and the high limit on the thermostat both have to malfunction. Both of them to my knowledge operate at around 200 degrees F. The maximum you can set most water heaters is 150 degrees F but most recommendations are to set ...
24
Consider the sources; it is plumbers giving you a scare story to get you to hire them. See also "aluminum wiring".
It will take a chain of 3 events at once:
failure of the thermostat, causing the heater to overheat the water, boiling it.
the pressure relief valve fails to operate, preventing the pressure from simply blowing out the relief valve; that'...
answered Dec 4 '19 at 16:08
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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12
Thermostatic Mixing Valve
According to the installation instructions (PDF)
Let the water flow for at least two minutes to allow supply temperature to stabilize.
Calibrate the mixed water outlet temperature by placing a thermometer in the mixed water stream.
To adjust the setting of the valve, loosen locking cap screw with hex wrench, see Figure 4. Cap must ...
11
If you are on a public water supply, there may be water test results already published on a quarterly basis.
If you are doing your own testing, generally an environmental testing company or consultant (rather than a plumber) - in many cases you can save money if you can follow directions carefully and take the samples yourself, for testing at their ...
11
If you're going to flush the hot water heater you might as well turn it off and then take a shower or do a load of laundry. That way the water will only be lukewarm when you flush the tank and you won't throw away water you already paid to heat. Then you don't need to worry about the type of hose (or worry about spilling scalding water on yourself).
10
How often does your heating system spring a leak? It's not particularly often in my (long) experience with closed-crcuit hot water heating systems - less than once per 20 years, I'd say, and usually with some outside cause. In general, it is a waste of money to remove/replace a system that's working. To address one of your "benefits" - where do you suppose ...
10
There's no reason it would not be a locally standard size (given a British location based on the label, presumably metric or pre-metric British Standard threading) so some basic measurements (no calipers required, if you are willing to use a ruler carefully and buy 2 or 3 nuts, one of which will be the right one) and a trip to the hardware store should find ...
9
You don't. Let the dishwasher do it for you.
I have read in a maintenance manual that the ideal temperature for incoming water to a dishwasher is 150F.
Was it a maintenance manual for your actual dishwasher? If not, I would ignore random advice (no better than advice from some stranger on the internet...).
Most dishwashers now automatically heat water as ...
answered May 9 '19 at 16:15
manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
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8
What you describe sounds like a Gravity Fed Hot water re-circulation system.
It's designed to keep hot water available at the kitchen sink without having to flush cold water out of the pipe first. The trade off is waste heat because the line out to the kitchen sink in your case is always kept hot.
Sometimes these systems have a pump, but they don't need ...
8
An electric water heater explodes when the water in it starts boiling, producing pressurized steam that causes the heater to rupture. In order for this to happen, three things all need to fail; if any one of them works properly, no explosion will happen.
First, the thermostat needs to get stuck in the "on" position. If it's working normally, or if it ...
7
While there are "hot water hoses" and you'll pay a pretty penny for them if you want more than the standard 5 feet or so that washing machine hoses are, you can use an ordinary garden hose.
Why? No pressure. You don't (or shouldn't) have a nozzle on the hose, so it should not be subject to much pressure. Also, you are draining from the bottom of the tank, ...
7
No. As you seem to be aware, Roxul is a mineral wool product, and mineral wool is fireproof. You're right that it will "trap the heat" but this is exactly what you want and the result will be less heat transmitted to the surrounding wood, not more. Mineral wool is actually one of the few materials you can safely use for filling these kinds of spaces. Proceed ...
7
PEX pipe does not corrode or otherwise interact with copper or other materials the way dissimilar metals do. It's essentially an inert substance under normal circumstances.
The bulges and darkened areas, however, do appear to be signs of a problem and I agree with your assessment that these were caused by heat, probably from the torch used to sweat the ...
7
Do I need to set the water heater to pilot, in order to avoid the
dangerous scenario outlined above? Doing anything to our water heater
makes me a bit nervous.
NO, In the amount of time that it will take you change the valve there will be no issues with it set to the current temperature.
Once you turn the water off, even if someone opened a hot water faucet ...
6
As I suspected, the code you're referencing is from the National Fuel Gas Code. I was not able to find anything in National Electrical Code, or International Residential Code that mentions this in the context of electric appliances.
So this code only applies to gas water heaters, and only those that are not listed as flammable vapor ignition resistant (FVIR)....
6
As @tyler durden comments, this may be an issue with the drain, but it is very unlikely that there is no trap. A more likely scenario is that a partial blockage or obstruction of either the drain line or a vent line is causing a siphon action that is preventing the trap from maintaining a water seal. Another possibility is that one or more drains have been ...
6
Well, the answer is right there in the article you linked:
Always check your hot water heater’s pressure relief valve to ensure
it is in good working condition. If you have any concerns that your
water heater is not functioning accurately, have an inspector come
take a look at it.
The best precaution you can take to avoid having this happen to ...
6
I think it's fear of downgrading.
I think the pro plumbers are unwilling to downgrade them.
For instance, the latest Codes require water heaters to have better insulation than they did before. This means they are larger. This is a well-known problem: a new heater often won't fit in the same location. That means you must either downgrade a size, or go to a ...
answered Mar 8 at 22:11
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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6
Below is a picture of the lighting instructions for your water heater taken from Rheem's website. Make sure to follow the lighting instructions carefully and do not skip any steps. This same instruction set should be available as a sticker on your unit.
It looks like you do in fact have to depress the knob in order to turn it so avoid using force.
If you are ...
6
Your question boils down to "please validate my wonky idea" and I will absolutely NOT.
Yes, you can do it but you shouldn't. At best your proposal is something that would be done in a super emergency situation.
You can switch the hot and cold lines at the tank but that would really be quite an obtuse solution. So now your cold valve gives hot ...
5
It would be rare indeed, and obviously it would matter what your specific brand and model was.
In general, assume no. If you want a warm-water wash with a broken hot water heater, heat up some water on the stove and pour it in as the machine is filling.
On the other hand, you might find that you can get perfectly decent results with cold water.
5
Since you have a flue I assume it is either gas/propane or oil fired. Most water heaters have cover near the base to service the burner or the igniter. First shut off the fuel source. If you remove the cover you should be able to look inside with the aid of a flashlight. Most burners are round and you may find that the cap has fallen into the center and may ...
5
A - Expansion tank. This prevents the pressure increase due to heating water, from damaging the plumbing. The tank is filled with air, that is separated from the water by a bladder. When the water expands due to heating, water compresses the air absorbing the pressure.
B - Check valve (or back flow valve). This is designed to only allow water to flow in one ...
5
The symptoms you describe are consistent with a failed lower element.
An electric water heater typically has two elements (and two thermostats). Only one element operates at a time.
Under normal operating conditions, the lower element will turn on when water is drawn out of the top of the tank and cold water enters the bottom of the tank. When this water ...
5
No method is "instant" but there are long-used and accepted methods of recirculating your hot water piping system back to your water-heating appliance, which keeps the line at least warm (or hot) depending on the chosen method. Another alternative is "point of use" water heaters at each user location, this is common in some european ...
5
Absolutely. It will cost you more money to run the hot water heater, but you will have usable hot water for longer. You can calculate the additional time simply as well, it's an algebra mixture problem. I hated algebra, but let's walk through the math anyway:
Let's assume your cold water is at 10°C.
You want the output to be 43°C
Your tank holds 200L.
...
5
TLDR: there aren't that many things that handle electricity in a water heater - a couple of switches (unlikely to be them) and a big heating element. None of these parts are expensive. Why not just fix the heater? I don't know how to fix a heater but I know how to change a breaker - that's an effect my father referred to as "rearranging deck chairs on the ...
answered May 23 '19 at 15:24
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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5
It ends up it was not directly the hot water heater. We have a leak in a hot water line that goes down into the foundation of our basement which is even worse. I thought I'd come back and update in case someone sees this in the future. Thank you to all who answered.
5
I'm reading that I need to shut off the water, then drain the lines, before making the repair.
Yes and no to draining the lines. You really only need to drain the lines enough that you don't flood yourself when you take out the fitting or valve.
All this generally means is to shut off the water and then open a faucet at or below the level of the pipe you're ...
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