"The top of my water heater is bulging."

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

Grab the dog and run like hell!

Bob

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.

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

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?

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

ChrisJ said:

Gordy said:

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

That's what evolution is for

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!

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.

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.

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".

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 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".

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.

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!