i haven’t thoroughly investigated the problem. but here’s facts as i know them. water heater is 2 years old (gas- 40 gal). just installed water softner ( city water 15-25 grain/gal) the anode does show some erosion. i can replace that. no problem.
now the water on the cold side (any faucet is 80 psi). the water on the hot side is maybe 60 (haven’t put gauge on it yet). anyway it is noticably slower. the house was built in 1975 and i can easily get to all plumbing.
does anyone suspect i’ve got CaCO in my Cu pipes or maybe buildup in the fixture valves. i have checked the pressure in the tank itself, so it is not the cold water inlet valve.
and yes i have seen times when careless wrapping of teflon tape chokes the flow.
buy the way is there a book on plumbers invective (curses)
jeff stafford
indianapolis,IN
Replies
sorry, forgot to add that its not clogged aerators, folks
checked that already, and it wouldnt fit the description of hot and cold pressure difference, anyway.
appreciate help when its given
jeff stafford
indianapolis
I go with the valve not all the way open..
or the net ID size of one is different from the cold side...
smaller pipes on the hot than the cold...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
look for different types of valves..
Gate, globe, stem or ball....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
My first guess would be that there's a valve on the hot water line that isn't all the way open.
Had a client in a two story barely able to take a shower. I was remodeling basement. Due to the remodel I was going to replace original shutoff valve with a ball valve (had lever and straight through flow). Found the original valve not open all the way. Big change in the shower when I turned it on. Check the valve at the water meter (assuming there is one). Also remember there is a difference between pressure and volume. You can have plenty of pressure in a 1/2" copper pipe but limited volume. I believe any three fixtures (shower, toilet, sink) must have at least a 3/4" supply. Many homes have a 3/4" supply. Newer houses have 1-1/4" coming from street. Check the valve as mentioned but you can improve the volume with a ball valve too. How many 90's ? How old is the house? With that softener on line can you bypass it for a test? Not a plumber. Thor
yes, the valve to the water heater is open ( 3/4" throttle type)
i do understand the differences in line size (volume) vs pressure
both the hot and cold have 1/2 supply lines to fixtures. about the same length, so i dont think its distance or # of el's related.
though the change caused by to many turns is interesting. hadnt immediately thought of that.
i am getting great flow out of the water heater drain, and not really any sediment (flushed tank last month)
again thoughts are appreciated
jeff stafford
indianapolis
I suspect you're overlooking something somewhere. Eg, maybe there's a tempering valve somewhere, or maybe there's simply something bogus about the fixture valves.
Also, make sure all the shutoff valves under the fixtures are open fully (and then closed half a turn).
Dan,
Why close half a turn ?
Mike
It's O.k. to think out of the box, Just don't walk off of the plank!
So the next time you go to close it, if it doesn't want to budge, you can open it a bit to break it loose. Also, less likely to seize if not quite fully open. (Note, this is for globe-style valves only.)
More often than not I have to backseat them puppies to prevent weeping from the stem. That's why I replace them wholesale on all BR jobs, cause they will eventually leak.
I never met a tool I didn't like!
done the deed and looked inside. also replace the throttle valve will one of those wonderful ball valves.
turns out that either the guys who put the unit in 2 years ago didnt replace the couplers, or theres been a lot of corrosion since then.
my "dead"electric coupler on the hot side was plugged solid (rust not lime) about 1/2" thick and necked down to 1/4" on the cold side.
knock out the rust with a cold chisel (didn't drop the chisel into the tank- knew a guy who billed customers for such "installation" pieces when he lost a tool).
blew lines out and am darn happy now.
thanks and best of luck to all
jeff stafford
indianapolis
And about opening a valve fully and shutting it a half turn or so, that's to prevent the valve from sticking open due to thermal expansion, or even if it doesn't stick some expansion can jam parts together causing peening or other distortion. It's quite important to do on steam valves, but few people do it on water valves and most everyone gets away with it. I always do it out of an old Navy habit.
Jeff,
Maybe the problem is in the water heater's thermal siphoning check valve, if it has one
Most of the newer water heaters I've seen have a one way check valve for energy conservation purposes. Some check valves have a plastic ball that seats on a orifice and another is just a little rubber like flap that will stop some of the thermal siphoning, both have small passages compared to the pipe they are in.
Maybe the ball is stuck in a closed position or perhaps the small orifice is clogged.
I used the check ball type because I had minor concern that the flap may eventually tear from the check valve, eventually clogging a down stream valve.
Mike
It's O.k. to think out of the box, Just don't walk off of the plank!
Edited 1/11/2005 11:16 am ET by Mike S
Yeah, the thermal siphon valves would be good to check.
some times the nippels on the hot /cold side of the tank have little balls inside . you can look through nip. and see them if so replace with diealectric nip.
seen this many times...The brass outlet nipple is plugged on the tank.. Remove the outlet on the tank and check to see if notplugged.
thanks guys, will check on the dielectric couplers. guys who install water heater didnt use flex connections or soft copper.
maybe i can disconnect couplers, drain tank; then spin tank inplace so i can look down inside.
gas is flex fortunately, but will disconnect anyway to prevent kinks or cracks
will let you all know what disection reveals
jeff stafford
indianapolis
Cut the copper a few inches above the heater and sweat on unions on each side.
swapped a rental unit tank and found outlet hole only about 1/4" dia, someone had installed a restrictor in outlet fitting giving low flow .
Did it ever flow well? Sloppy soldering can leave solder glob inside joint, restricting flow.