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Author:
blue111 (Non-US)
hello i was wondering if anybody could help me with a plumbing predicament that is currently plaguing me. (i don't want to call in a plumber just yet, as it might be something small that i can fix myself or delegate to a friend or family member!).
here is a brief recent history of plumbing work done in the house and other water-related incidents, in chronological order. i'm not sure if they are of any relevance, but here they are anyway
1. around a year and a half ago - repairs were carried out on the water heater (the element was replaced)
2. around 6 months ago - repairs were done to a kitchen mixer faucet (the valve/cartridge and washer of the cold water side were replaced - it is a compression type faucet)
3. around 4 months ago - there were several interruptions to the water supply in my district (which resulted in brown water coming out of the faucets for a few days)
4. around 3 months ago - further repairs were carried out on the water heater (the flange gasket was replaced)
the current problem is that hot water has started coming out of the cold water faucets whenever the cold water mains is turned off (when the cold water mains is "open", cold water flows through normally). when both the cold and hot water mains are turned off, the hot water faucets run dry but hot water continues to run out of the cold water faucets until the water heater is empty. this is not a catastrophic problem, but it is a bit annoying, as it means that the water heater has to be drained whenever a washer needs to be changed on a cold water faucet (as i discovered, to my horror, a few days ago when i attempted to repair a leaky bathtub faucet). when the kitchen faucet was repaired 6 months ago, there was no such problem; the cold water mains simply had to be shut off, so the problem has manifested itself fairly recently.
the water heater is up in the ceiling and is only accessible by a very long ladder (which i do not have); the only mixer faucets in the house are in the kitchen (recently repaired) and the shower (no trouble with that … yet). the bathtub and all basins have separate hot and cold water taps.
so … what could be causing hot water to flow out of the cold water faucets and what can i do to repair it? any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!
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Author:
North Carolina Plumber (NC)
There should be a check valve on the inlet of the water heater to keep the hot water from back flowing thru the cold water pipes. It may be hung in an open position, either due to a broken spring or debris in the check valve itself.
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Author:
Wheelchair (IL)
Purge the hot and cold so that hot is hot and cold is cold. Then start feeling the cold pipes every 10 minutes to determine if the fault is the heater or the repaired faucet (that mixes).
Best Wishes
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