Okay plumbers.

Ron G · Jul 25, 2006

I have a rental that im working on the tenants just moved in.its around 50 years old and is on a slab.the hot water preassure was awful but the cold was good,so i took the shutoffs off and they were fine the nipples going into the wall had some build up but not to bad,they go into copper and it was clear there.so we installed a new water heater and bam no water at all,i pulled the nipples back out of the wall and still no water.there is water going threw the heater but no leaks in the slab..so any ideas of what to do now?im planning on hooking an airline at the back bathroom and blowing air back toward the heater what do ya'll think?I told my boss before all this sometimes its better to leave well enough alone.

Kevin70 · Jul 25, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

Was the water heater installed by a pro? Were any of the joints soldered. Sometimes untrained folks can clog a copper line using too much solder.

vipzach · Jul 25, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

Make sure you connected the supply and exit lines the right way!! I accidently did backwards last time I changed mine, I went to check the water at the faucet afterwards and NO water came out!! I switched the two and BAMM.....had hot water again!! Also make sure you took off the little plastic covers on the lines!

Xcusme · Jul 26, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

How do you know water is going through the heater?? Can you flip the over temp vent on the heater and get water out of the overflow? Homes with 50 year old copper in a slab , especially on the hot side, tend to spring leaks in the slab. If you have a water meter, watch for water flow at the meter when all faucets are closed. If the meter is moving , close off the hot water tank supply valve (you did install a shut off at the heater, didn't you).If the meter stops moving, you have a hot water line slab leak.

If you ask how I know about slab leaks on hot water lines,I'm planning a trip to Florida to replumb my sisters 36 year old house. She has a major slab leak, yup, hot water supply line.

SS MAYFLOAT · Jul 26, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

Even up here in the north, we get problems with the hot water lines that are under the slab also. Xcusme has the right idea about using the meter to determine if it is leaking or not.

Ron G · Jul 26, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

Thats what i did Xcuseme with the meter,i did install a shutoff.i did the installation myself as always and did do the soldering on the joints,everthing seemed normal when i did the soldering i can cut it out and see but i install roughly on average 25-30 water heaters a year and this would be a first for solder clogging up a line. alot of good advice we'll see here in a few hours.hope it is as easy as the solder joint.

SS MAYFLOAT · Jul 26, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

This may sound stupid,,,,,but are the areators/screens/watersavers in the faucets clogged? or the faucet stem faulty? Maybe try unhooking the water supply line under the sink and see if you have pressure.

Just trying to give some ideas that maybe looked over.

This past weekend, I installed a used water condenser for a refrigeration unit. It was working when I took it out. 6 months later, I install it and nothing would flow through it. After running a speedomemter cable through it, it finally broke loose some nasty black rusty crud.

BTW, years ago when I bought 1/2 inch copper from lowes, someone had jambed some duct tape into it and pushed it down to about the center of the pipe. From then on, I always look through it to make sure nothing is inside. The things people do to new stuff at the store is just amazing.

Ron G · Jul 26, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

Yea SS thats the first thing i did pulled the aretors off then took the faucet stems out and cleaned then the water shutoffs then the nipples still nothing.im thinking the washing machine may have been retro fitted with galv in the wall beside the heater we'll find out.

Xcusme · Jul 26, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

Ron, I've done a ton of copper and I doubt if you were even able to apply enough solder to completely block a fitting. You would have had to apply a ton of solder and heat. It's possible that you dislodged enough scale on the inside of the old steel pipes to block the flow. You didn't mention if the whole house was copper , probably not , being 50+ years old. It will be interesting to find the cause....be sure to post your findings....

Ron G · Jul 26, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

The house is all copper as i can tell,it is a slab the only thing that is not copper is the nipples and there fairly clean,but im going to replace with brass just as soon as i get some water. i cut the pipe from the heater 8"above the slab and cheacked out my joints all clean as usually,ran a peice of flexpipe down as far into the slab as i good and siponed out the water alot of rust particles,i've got a sneaking suspicion somebody put a galvinized tee in the slab:%but i hooked it all back togeather and bypassed the waterheater its a running now for somereason but poorly,so im on plan B which sounds crazy but im going to start flushing the line with CLR and see what happens if nothing im going to break out the air compreeor and start blowing.i'll let ya'll now what happens.

LadyFish · Jul 26, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

Good luck Ron!:%

Ron G · Jul 27, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

Flushed the lines with CLR and dog gone it it got better did it again and let it sit in the lines for an hr and flushed and it has better water preassure now than ever just as good as the coldd

d

but got me to wondering how long its going to last....still beats moving the tenants out and jackhammering floorsd

KRS · Jul 27, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

Why move them out to jackhammer??? 8)

I would use PEX to put in new lines.... and leave the floor alone.

Ron G · Jul 27, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

Sometimes its easier to just jack hammer the floors and replace the carpet than having to cut out walls and old tile bathrooms.alot of our house and apartments arnt your typical rentals they range from 1 bed rooms to 8 bedrooms mostley in the 3-4 bedroom and 2 and half bath.
adn what is plex is that flexable pipe with crimp fittings?i've seen it in the big citys but not around here.

lewkster · Jul 28, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

Is there a water softner in this unit, perhaps only hooked to hot water lines and the cold is hard water? If so hit the bypass on water softner, if water pressure then on hot lines your softner is plugged. It may be cheaper to abandon the hot lines if they leak below the floor and add new one along the cieling in a corner , then cover with a small sofit. Have done this when lines below the floor leak.

Ron G · Jul 28, 2006

Re: Okay plumbers.

The CLR worked good and i cheacked it again yesterday now signs of leaking in the slab,no water softners.will see how long this little experment holds up.

Okay plumbers.

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