Over 698,000 strictly plumbing related posts
Plumbing education, information, advice, help and suggestions are provided by some of the most experienced plumbers who wish to "give back" to society. Since 1996 we have been the best online (strictly) PLUMBING advice site. If you have questions about plumbing, toilets, sinks, faucets, drains, sewers, water filters, venting, water heating, showers, pumps, and other strictly PLUMBING related issues then you've come to the right place. Please refrain from asking or discussing legal questions, or pricing, or where to purchase products, or any business issues, or for contractor referrals, or any other questions or issues not specifically related to plumbing. Keep all posts positive and absolutely no advertising. Our site is completely free, without ads or pop-ups and we don't tract you. We absolutely do not sell your personal information. We are made possible by:
Author:
Chuckt (FL)
Hot water heater had a constant slow drip from the discharge pipe which was connected to the t&p valve AND the thermal expansion relief valve/shutoff valve. No expansion tank in the system. I removed the t&p valve and it was covered in corrosion/rust. ‘Plumber Friend’ told me to replace the water heater if that much corrosion was present. So I did Thinking the t&p was the cause of the drip. New water heater installed (By me) and still have a drip. So I replaced the old Apollo thermal expansion relief valve and it still drips constantly...and it now whines constantly! Both Old and new thermal expansion relief valves are 80 psi. House water pressure is 70psi. What am I doing wrong? I understand thermal expansion and that the relief valve will drip when water is being heated but should it drip constantly? The most common thermal expansion relief valves are set at 125psi. The guy I ordered the new one from said “are you sure you want the 80 psi? I’ve never sold one of those. We mostly sell 125 psi.” But since the original was 80 psi I stuck with it. Can I upgrade to the the higher psi? Would it damage my pipes?
|
Post Reply
|
Author:
bernabeu (SC)
not the pipe, but, your FIXTURES will experience SEVERE 'wear and tear'
sounds like the relief is actually working properly and doing the job
you actually need a compression, commonly miscalled an expansion, tank to 'absorb' the expansion created by the water heater
70 psi is borderline high, but, if supplied by the main in the street, is A-OK
if you have a PRV on the incoming main set it DOWN to 50 psi
expansion tanks are actually open to atmosphere and used in gravity flow heating systems
compression tanks are used in closed pressurized systems
a nit well picked by an 'old school' pipefitter
==============================================
"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638
Edited 1 times.
|
Post Reply
|
Author:
bruceb3 (MI)
Put an expansion in! You probably have a closed system and every time the heater kicks on, you will get drips if there is no where for the expanded water to go.
|
Post Reply
|
Please note:
- Inappropriate messages or blatant advertising will be deleted. We cannot be held responsible for bad or inadequate advice.
- Plbg.com has no control over external content that may be linked to from messages posted here. Please follow external links with caution.
- Plbg.com is strictly for the exchange of plumbing related advice and NOT to ask about pricing/costs, nor where to find a product (try Google), nor how to operate or promote a business, nor for ethics (law) and the like questions.
- Plbg.com is also not a place to ask radiant heating (try HeatingHelp.com), electrical or even general construction type questions. We are exclusively for plumbing questions.
Search for plumbing parts on our sponsor's site:
Special thanks to our sponsor:
|