"The top of my water heater is bulging."

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

Can't imagine why.

1Matthias

Can't fix stupid...but you can put a hole in the roof of stupid's house.

Solid_Fuel_Man

That thing was dripping, so I went down the Home Depot and asked the guy there what I needed as I showed him a picture of that gold colored thingie. He gave me this nice silver pipe and this silver cap and some white tape stuff. He said it needed to be the silver pipe as it was for water.

So I watched a YouTube video and screwed it all up together! Now it's making weird noises, and the pipes look different.....

BobC

Grab the dog and run like hell!

Bob

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

I love the angle of the relief valve. It's like its leaning back, laughing its **** off. Either that or its reeling in pain.

Gordy

It’s surprising that relief valve manufacturers haven’t come up with a redundant relief path in the valve for the you can’t fix stupid population.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Another explosion waiting to happen. @Alan (California Radiant) Forbes " I love the angle of the relief valve. It's like its leaning back, laughing its **** off. Either that or its reeling in pain"

I vote for reeling in pain....love it

Larry Weingarten

Hello @Alan (California Radiant) Forbes , Looks a little like thermal expansion. But, what happened? Did the homeowner think fixing it was too expensive, or????

Yours, Larry

bboepple

Must have hired the same plumber; https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1527944#Comment_1527944

GBart

Mr. DIY strikes again

SlamDunk

having a t &p valve on top seems dangerous. If it wasnt plumbed to the floor, it would blast you in the face.

Jamie Hall

SlamDunk said:

having a t &p valve on top seems dangerous. If it wasnt plumbed to the floor, it would blast you in the face.

Maybe that's why they put the cap on it?

nibs

Funny, just got the parts to install the relief valve on my build, which of the pics would be best to copy?

Alan Welch

That's a 150 pound relief valve. Obviously it's wrong🤔

ChrisJ

Gordy said:

It’s surprising that relief valve manufacturers haven’t come up with a redundant relief path in the valve for the you can’t fix stupid population.

You want manufacturers, to come up with a way to make a device work, even if someone blocks said device?

The problem is, even something like a plug that will burst isn't activated by temperature. That, and it's likely to have failures.

I have to disagree on this one. It's not up to manufacturers to protect people from themselves in my opinion.

SlamDunk

ChrisJ said:

Gordy said:

IIt's not up to manufacturers to protect people from themselves in my opinion.

That's what evolution is for

Jackmartin

DIY stands for death invariably yours. I think if you want to take your life in your hands and only hurt yourself it is a personal choice. How about your family , nieghbors, who live with and around you? Do they have to be in the same funeral procession. All the best Jack

ChrisJ

> @Jackmartin said:
> DIY stands for death invariably yours. I think if you want to take your life in your hands and only hurt yourself it is a personal choice. How about your family , nieghbors, who live with and around you? Do they have to be in the same funeral procession. All the best Jack

I became a DIYer after a "pro" almost killed me and my family.

Theres nothing wrong when DIY as long as you know what you're doing.

HomerJSmith

Well, it cured the dripping water out of the brass thigamajig.

SlamDunk

I’m Master Do it yourselfer.

If you ever changed your car’s oil or brakes without asme certification, youre a DIYer too.

If you have ever built shelves and you’re not a carpenter, youre a DIYer.

If you have evere washed your car when could have taken it to a car wash, youre a DIYer

It would be wrong to say people who do things on their own for financial reasons or as a means of passing time, like a hobby, are all dangerous.

I’ll dare say that all certified pro’s had high technical aptitudes as youngsters before they went pro and were DIYers before they went pro.

Now, I’m going to say something the pro’s on this board will find offensive.....

when I go to home depot, i park in the “Pro” parking spaces!

HomerJSmith

I thought DIY was Dumb In Yonkers.

ratio

I'm afraid I have an amateur standing in a lot of what I do when I'm not at work, which is a whole lot of time. Fortunately, between a greater than average share of competence and a firm knowledge of my limits, my safe & successful rate is well above mean.

nibs

Amen for the dot it yourselfers, and thank you for all the folks on this board ready to help educate us.

HomerJSmith

SlamDunk, a "Master Do it yourselfer", you say! You're scaring me and it's not even Halloween.

My reputation is built on the mistakes I made. hmmm. That sounded better before I wrote it.

ratio

I think you something there, @HomerJSmith.

nibs

Homer, you should thank DIY'ers for giving you work to fix their misteaks, and for giving you the opportunity to shout "look at what that fool done done".

SlamDunk

nibs said:

Homer, you should thank DIY'ers for giving you work to fix their misteaks, and for giving you the opportunity to shout "look at what that fool done done".

It’s “done did”.

Sorry. I live in the south and

Leonard

Don't know what the fuss is , only makes a 2 ft hole in floor. Little plywood from a road sign , no problem.

Start at 13 seconds if your feeling lucky.
Good slow motion at 1:07

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=hot+water+heater+bloing+up&view=detail&mid=596D9F62E89D5723E24D596D9F62E89D5723E24D&FORM=VIRE

More powerful one
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Exploding+Hot+Water+Tank&&view=detail&mid=619C81C2DE9B38BDBC3B619C81C2DE9B38BDBC3B&&FORM=VRDGAR

JUGHNE

In the late 70's the Watts film was shown at a trade show, additional commentary included a quote from several plumbers that "water heaters seldom explode anymore, why do we still need to install those T&P valves?? Watts is just trying to sell their products"
At that time T&P's did not come with the water heater, you had to purchase them separately....unlike today....where they are preinstalled in the tank.

I have seen a lot of tanks from 50-60's with only adjustable pressure only valves installed. Why? maybe less money.

At the same trade show there was a plumber with his trademark/logo hat that included: "We can repair anything that your husband just "fixed"."

ChrisJ

JUGHNE said:

In the late 70's the Watts film was shown at a trade show, additional commentary included a quote from several plumbers that "water heaters seldom explode anymore, why do we still need to install those T&P valves?? Watts is just trying to sell their products"
At that time T&P's did not come with the water heater, you had to purchase them separately....unlike today....where they are preinstalled in the tank.

I have seen a lot of tanks from 50-60's with only adjustable pressure only valves installed. Why? maybe less money.

At the same trade show there was a plumber with his trademark/logo hat that included: "We can repair anything that your husband just "fixed"."

The house I grew up in the 80s had a water heater with a pressure only relief installed in a tee in the pipe. I think it was installed in the 1970s.

Later, when my father (who was a carpenter) replaced it. the new one of course came with a T&P installed in the tank. He, a DIYer, hard piped the entire heater with copper and nice sweated joints. The gas line was of course threaded black iron.

Funny enough I've seen plenty of licensed contractors use pex, pro press, shark bites, that horrible flexible copper garbage etc. This isn't to say that pex, or pro press is bad, but it's certainly easier than sweating joints.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of good professionals out there. But don't trash talk a DIYer just because "they're not a professional" Just because someone's a professional doesn't make them good and vice versa.

Let's keep in mind, 99% of the improperly piped boilers we see posted on here were done by licensed professionals. Improper steam piping, improper gas piping, horizontal pressure reliefs, it goes on and on.

Then, the poor homeowner comes on here asking for help because the pro said "It's normal for steam to bang" "it's normal for the LWCO to trip every time the boiler fires" "Steam is imbalanced, it's just the way it is".

bob eck

Tick tick tick!!!

Turn it off now and replace

Tick tick tick

bob eck

If professional contractors would show these videos to home owners When they are installing the new water heater I would think they could sell yearly maintenance contracts to come back and inspect the water heater they just installed.
For tank type water heaters Inspect for leaks, check relief valve, Check venting and every other year pull anode rod and inspect it. Replacing anode rod will extend life of tank type water heater.
If installing tankless gas water heaters inspect for leaks, Check relief valve, check venting and flush the heat exchanger.
Safety inspections are priceless!

If more home owners saw these videos. I would think they would not want to install their own water heaters.

Most people only think of their water heater is when they do not have hot water. The water heater sits in their basement for months and some times years before anyone looks at it.

SlamDunk

Everyone has a threshold they would not cross and will call a pro.
Smart people know where it is.
I wouldn't hesitate to install a hot water heater in my house-and I have.
But I wouldn't install one in my neighbor's house. It wouldn't matter if it was a perfect installation. If something failed, or there was a lack of attention for five years, I could be sucked in to an inquiry I would not want to deal with. At best, it would damage my reputation; At worse, I would be sued.

SlamDunk

This discussion reminds me of something I read in the Reader's Digest decades ago on how to define the fiscal class of a person.
It may also explain the existence of do it yourselfers'

Speaking fiscally:

A lower class person paints other peoples homes for a living, doesn't own a house and lives paycheck to pay check.

A middle class person paints his own house and tries to save a little money wherever possible.

An upper class person owns a house, pays other people to paint it because they can afford a painter.

This DIYer, is solid in the middle class!

DanHolohan

Explosion Danger Lurks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVK6bkj5Ug4