I am installing a GE heat pump water heater that came with what appear to be heat trap nipples. I was told I couldn't connect directly with PEX lines so to get 18" I bought two copper supply lines (I know they do not make for a professional looking install)
Since the supply lines seal against an o ring it didnt seam like they would seal against the plastic sticking up on the heat trap
so I popped out the plastic at the end to discover they didn't have the black flap anyway.

I plan on doing a heat trap "loop" with the pex. So my question is can I just take out the blue piece at the end of the nipple? The down side I see is the white plastic lining of the nipple does not come all the way to the end of the nipple. Do I have to worry about the end of the nipple rusting out?



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congrats. You just voided your warranty. Why not just get female water heater hookups.

It MIGHT "void the warranty" if ANYONE ever looked at the heater when it went bad. They do NOT. The information tag is removed, the heater is exchanged for a new one, then the old goes into the trash bin. Period. No one checks to see WHY it went bad, or even it has actually failed.

But why would you even remove them in the first place. There is a reason they are there.

Don't some of the heat trap nipples that water heater mfr's install cause noise? The mfr's only put them on because of a government energy-saving requirement, there are other ways to make a heat trap that the installer can do.

If I use female water heater hookups the Oring in the hookup would just be pressing against the plastic insert at the top of the nipple so it wouldn't seal right. I can just stick them back in but the rubber flap that is supposed to do the heat trapping was not even there so not sure if it is worth leaving in. I have read post here of people saying take them out they cause problems. Anyway just curious if dielectric nipple have a tendency to rust out.

The little black rubber flappers in the heat traps are an improvement over previous heat trap nipple designs, they are what they started using after all the problems with earlier designs that used a ball to trap the hot water. The ball type would sometimes make objectionable noise when water was flowing and also the ball could stick into position and restrict the water flow. I haven't heard how well the rubber flapper ones are doing. Many installers just make an inverted "U" in the connecting flex lines to create a heat trap and don't bother with heat trap nipples.

If the nipples are galvanized (probably they are not) you can eventually have problems. The brass nipples are not costly and eliminate the problem that galvanized fittings give. The plastic lining in the nipple is to keep water from touching the metal portion of the nipple, without water the galvanic action does not occur (or at least it is greatly reduced).



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