Here's the situation:
A few days ago, I was alone at my daughter's apartment, dropping off some things for her. Then all of a sudden I hear water pissing in the hall closet where the water heater sits on a shelf. Thank God the shut off valve was right there, then I flicked the heater breakers off and called the landlord. He sent his maintenance guy over to check it out. We had to leave it as is 'till he came back the next morning with the replacement part. The pressure release valve had failed.
Now here's my concern...
The month prior, we only flicked on the breakers to the water heater for a few hours at a time when we came to clean and prep the apartment as no one was living there yet. I never thought to shut off the water line too, as I've never really dealt with this particular situation. Now I want to prevent another "accident" as my daughter and her roommate will be leaving the apartment 'til next Tuesday...
Is it better to leave everything on? The girls are concerned that it might decide to leak again and damage their stuff and the apartment with no one there to keep an eye on it. I am concerned about that too. Or should they shut off the breaker and the water line, and if they do.... is there a risk this might happen again when it's turned on.... or was it most likely because the water line was left open??
Common sense tells me turn both off.... Anyone out there with some valid experience on this matter?
17 comments:
Best thing is to shut off power, run the faucet until the water gets cold, then shut off the water. The T and P valve gets shocked from the temperature swings, plus minerals. When turning everthing back on, there is a small lever on the valve. Open that after turning the water on, and some air will hiss out, and establish an air gap for the heated water to expand.
Not totally simple, but that is what it is like living in a travel trailer. And yes, I was a plumber.
Totally seperate deal it don't matter
If the only leak is in the escape valve, (1) turn off the breaker. (2) turn off the inflow and outflow valve(s) (3) if you think that the unit is still leaking ask the landlord if he wants you to drain the tank, an act that will give 100% assurance of "no more leaking" as long as the power is OFF this is a safe thing to do. DO NOT drain the tank if there is any chance that ANYONE-- MIGHT come by and turn the unit back on "dry" as that will cause the unit to eat itself (and it'll be "your fault") When hot water units get to the stage where parts start to corrode the best thing to do is just "drain & replace" Too bad it's a rental and they probably wont do that till the danm thing eats itself.(and everything near it)---Ray
Sometimes shutting the water off can cause the tape used to fill in the fittings and threads to dry out and in turn cause a leak. With the circuit turned off and the water valve turned off though you know there is no chance of a leak. In fact after shutting both off I would run the hot water a bit to take some of it out of the tank too. If it leaks when they turn it back on at least they are there to stop it.
Having remodeled two houses, including plumbing and electrical, my take on this is that the valve failed just because it was time to fail. The water valve being left open wouldn't have any effect on the relief valve-until it decided to fail. ;)
If the girls turn off the breaker and close the water heater valves, that will obviously prevent any leaks, and will remove the risk of the water heater burning up from lack of water.
Until the valve is replaced, there will always be a chance that it will leak.
Thanks guys, but I'm still not clear what I should tell them.
Let's add this, the leak is fixed. Everything is fine and working properly since the pressure valve was replaced. The top of the tank is inches from the ceiling, so accessing it is a real pain in the rear.
It's like on one hand I have: Leave it as is, and hope everything is still dry, as it should be in normal everyday situations.
And on the other hand I have: Just in case, let's turn if off (properly) but only if I don't have annoying plumber things to do when I turn it back on... as I'm sure these 2 college girls are thinking.
So now I'm thinking... Leave it on, because the damn thing shouldn't leak if nobody fucks with it :/
Most condo buildings and apartments require you to turn off water heater power, close main water inlet valve if you will be gone 2 days or more.
Best to shut off water heater power, take shower, do dishes as normal, plenty of hot water in the tank. When about to leave, shut inlet valve, open one faucet to ease pressure, and to ascertain inlet valve holds. This ameliorates the 'dry tape' issue mentioned above. Leave the pressure relief valve alone.
That makes sense to me for keeping things safe and dry when the apartment is empty. It's when they turn things back on that concerns me in this scenario. In what order should they turn things back on? Or does it even matter?
JEEBUS! Please understand........normally a household opens faucets during normal activity in an occupied house.....Sometime the "hot" ones too.......When you're heating up a PRESSURE VESSEL from 56 deg. to 120 deg. there is a certain amount of EXPANSION that occurs. Did you go to elementary school before the mid/late 70's? Yhe pressure rises consequently.
When you decide to cook the water heater, ( after the T&P is replaced.) pleases stay around approx. 45 min., open a HW faucet every 15 mins. until the tank is up to temp. Common problem I made mega dollars serving on Cape Cod summer "cottages" over 35 years. ( I never cleaned up the dumb-shits mess.)
I'm with what neal said.Turn off the power to the water heater,then turn off the water pressure.
You really don't want a water leak.
I'm not a plumber,or even a contractor,but I have maintained every place I have ever lived.Generally speaking,when a water heater starts having problems you need a new one.You can keep patching it up,but you'll keep having problems.
I'm on the preventative maintenance side of things.
Another thing: your sit shows me 47 trackers. I thought you are more "defensive" than that. Silly?
Power off, Inlet valve off, open a faucet for 30 seconds.
Yer good.
And the teflon tape won't "dry out". Myth.
Well Jeebus Glen, a little snarky there. Pardon my poor choice of words, of course the pressure rises as it gets hot, that "IS" the reason I was asking about it. I needed practical info to give the girls... you just gave me that.... thanks.
It's actually new Billf, new shit fails too :/
47 eh, wow that's impressive!! I did sign up for 4. Guess I still have the blinders on, or maybe I'm just a fucking idiot.... whatever floats your boat ;-) :P
The thing is, anyone who is online is guaranteed to be tracked in some way. If I missed your point and I really am in immediate danger, and I don't see it, by all means, email me... My bad for drawing attention to "Nosy little fuckers" ;-)
Thanks B, I do like nice people ;-)
To turn back on, open water inlet valve first. Go to a faucet, turn on the hot water tap until you have a full flow of water with no air. This assures that the hot water heater is full. Then turn power on to the hot water heater.
Thank you :-)
If you FILL the water heater with cold water, it isn't a bad idea to leave a trickle from a faucet until the water runs hot Just a little bot so that the system can have room for expansion. In a 30 gallon tank, the water expansion due to temp makes that 30 gallons become 31.6 if you go from 50 to 120. While there MAY be an expansion tank (and there is some room in the hammer arresters in the walls), it never hurts to let that pressure go somewhere. I have seen it get high enough to open the T and P valve in larger systems with no expansion tank....
The pressure relief valve on a hot water tank should be plumbed to the sewer line, if it is up to codes it should be (But alot of places aren't up to codes )
Should.t have to shut off water , turn off breakers to be safe, unless going to be gone for a extended period of time, especially in winter.
If they say its fixed, you just need to trust them that it is .
:-)
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