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Bird in a Blender posted:I did that, hold the pilot button down, hit the lighter, I just never get any flame ever. I can smell a little bit of gas after I do it, so I'm pretty sure I'm getting gas into the water heater, I'm just not getting a spark to light it. Sounds like your ignition piezo has left the building. It’s a cheap repair - are you willing/able?
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Nov 15, 2019 16:25
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PainterofCrap posted:Sounds like your ignition piezo has left the building. It’s a cheap repair - are you willing/able? I probably could do it, it seems easy enough. At this point, I have a plumber coming out today to at least look at it, so I may just see what they say first. I could probably find a supply house in my area that has one in stock if the plumber doesn't work out.
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Nov 15, 2019 17:00
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I'm thinking about adding a reverse osmosis water filtration system to my home. People drink from various faucets so I figure a system that gets the water at/before the water heater makes sense? I also have little idea what I'm talking about or doing. Are there recommended brands to investigate? Are there pitfalls I should be aware of?
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Nov 15, 2019 18:59
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I just googled reverse osmosis water, because I honestly don't know much about the subject. Looks like it removes minerals from water, raises acidity, but also acts as a lovely and slow filtration mechanism? This was in regards to whole house system, when compared (unfavorably) to your average filtration Is there an overwhelming benefit than I'm not seeing?
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Nov 15, 2019 19:09
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HelloSailorSign posted:I'm thinking about adding a reverse osmosis water filtration system to my home. People drink from various faucets so I figure a system that gets the water at/before the water heater makes sense? Is there a problem you're trying to solve here?
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Nov 15, 2019 19:10
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HelloSailorSign posted:Are there recommended brands to investigate? Are there pitfalls I should be aware of? You probably don't want to do a RO system for your whole house. It would be extremely expensive and wasteful. Most of the time, people may do a simple whole-house filter and/or a RO system that serves a specific tap in the kitchen sink (only for drinking.) One thing to keep in mind is that RO wastes anywhere from 1x - 4x the amount of water you actually use. This could be an issue if you're on septic or have expensive water.
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Nov 15, 2019 19:22
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HelloSailorSign posted:I'm thinking about adding a reverse osmosis water filtration system to my home. People drink from various faucets so I figure a system that gets the water at/before the water heater makes sense? RO is not a good whole house filtration method. The only people I know of who have these things have them set up as point of use for things like topping up water in their aquariums. What problem are you trying to solve?
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Nov 15, 2019 19:52
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The local water supply is having issues with increased levels of heavy metals, high pH, and agricultural runoff (to name the major ones). The city has tried some mitigating things in the past few years but the issue persists. I was talking to someone local about water filtration stuff - I'm more familiar with carbon filters - and they brought up reverse osmosis. I mean, my knowledge of household carbon filtration is also fairly low.
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Nov 15, 2019 20:36
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You're going to need a water test - a very good one - to figure out exactly what you've got and what needs to be removed. Heavy metals can be filtered out with RO, but only at low levels or they will clog the membranes repeatedly. Your PH problem will be made WORSE by RO. And exactly what is in the ag runoff could me even more issues. This doesn't sound like a one device fix. You should probably be looking for a good local water treatment company that sells and services systems and see what they suggest.
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Nov 15, 2019 20:54
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Cool. Thanks for the information y'all - fighting through search engine BS and ads was difficult. 
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Nov 15, 2019 21:03
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After replacing both elements in my water heater last night, I noticed tonight they're is a little bit of water leaking from the pressure relief valve. Not a lot, maybe a half cup over the past day? Should I bother trying to fine tune the temp setting to stop that, or just replace it? Or would potentially a cold water expansion tank help? I currently have none, but also, as far as I can tell, don't have a check valve or pressure regulator that would stop expansion back into the city water supply, so I'm not sure it would help.
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Nov 16, 2019 01:29
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Drain it down a bit & replace it. Ain't worth the flood risk.
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Nov 16, 2019 02:22
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DrBouvenstein posted:After replacing both elements in my water heater last night, I noticed tonight they're is a little bit of water leaking from the pressure relief valve. Not a lot, maybe a half cup over the past day? What is your temperature set at?
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Nov 16, 2019 09:45
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BubbaGrace posted:What is your temperature set at? I tried to go for 120...the dial has 125 marked so slightly under that. And the max on the thermostat is 150 so it's not like I'm near the max or anything.
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Nov 16, 2019 14:59
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Do you notice that when you open a hot water tap it has a lot of pressure initially?
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Nov 16, 2019 17:04
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DrBouvenstein posted:After replacing both elements in my water heater last night, I noticed tonight they're is a little bit of water leaking from the pressure relief valve. Not a lot, maybe a half cup over the past day? You're the one who opened it to help drain it down, right? I cringed when I read that. Because this is what happens more often than not. Yes, just replace it.
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Nov 16, 2019 17:35
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Leaky drain front: when I was getting the boiler fixed, we noticed water dripping. It was coming from above in the bathroom. Drippy faucet (really quite slow) had saturated the towel and was now slowly making its way down. I managed to get the slip nut loose and it does have the washer pointed towards the threaded pipe. Cinching everything down resulted in no change. the washer is larger than the threaded pipe and snug on the drain pipe, so I'm not sure how the water is making its way out. I need to go out and get a set of toilet tank internals, so I'll see what I can get for this drain while I'm there.
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Nov 16, 2019 22:58
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Motronic posted:You're the one who opened it to help drain it down, right? I cringed when I read that. Cool, it has been replaced. Glad it was a top valve because man, does my tank drain slow for some reason, even with a sink and tub faucet all the way open to hot.
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Nov 16, 2019 23:52
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DrBouvenstein posted:Cool, it has been replaced. Glad it was a top valve because man, does my tank drain slow for some reason, even with a sink and tub faucet all the way open to hot. Yeah...I mean, sometimes that's a thing you need to do to get the job done, but if it hasn't been opened for a while (like most) the pretty much always leak so I make sure I have one on hand. Not saying you did it wrong, I was just cringing due to past experience since you didn't mention replacing it as part of that repair.
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Nov 17, 2019 00:00
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Replaced the whole drain assembly. Still don't see what was causing the leak, but did discover that the overflow for the sink was backed nicely with something containing glitter such that it wouldn't drain through it. It took some work including a hammer, but the new drain is in and not leaking that I can see. The trap under it is slightly misaligned, so it was leaking at the under sink washer. Used the hammer to tap it towards center and was able to get another quarter turn, and no leaks.
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Nov 17, 2019 02:46
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HelloSailorSign posted:The local water supply is having issues with increased levels of heavy metals, high pH, and agricultural runoff (to name the major ones). The city has tried some mitigating things in the past few years but the issue persists. With the potentially wrong assumption that you're in the US, are we talking about levels that are exceeding the MCLs or the secondary standards?
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Nov 23, 2019 06:46
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SourKraut posted:With the potentially wrong assumption that you're in the US, are we talking about levels that are exceeding the MCLs or the secondary standards? US is a correct assumption. Chromium is the important one over MCL, mildly and occasionally. Iron and manganese are also commonly mildly over. There was also an Environmental Working Group report that made things sound all so terrible.
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Nov 23, 2019 16:53
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HelloSailorSign posted:US is a correct assumption. The first is one of those things is not good in any amount.
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Nov 23, 2019 17:15
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H110Hawk posted:The first is one of those things is not good in any amount. Yeah, but if they’re continuing to exceed it, then they’re in violation of the SWDA. HelloSailorSign, has there been talk about the public utility implementing measures to bring the concentration below the MCL? Because chromium MCL violations are the type of violation that usually gets media called, lawmakers on the defensive, etc. Iron and manganese do not count as heavy metals, and so they’re SMCL levels can’t be enforced by law.
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Nov 24, 2019 23:46
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I’m trying to find more information.
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Nov 25, 2019 02:58
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Faucet came loose, but somehow I’m having a hard time finding this exact problem when I search for it. Does it have a name? I can’t really maneuver myself to see underneath, to see what exactly happened here. https://youtu.be/ZHabDPI-EZM
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Nov 26, 2019 12:52
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jackpot posted:Faucet came loose, but somehow I’m having a hard time finding this exact problem when I search for it. Does it have a name? I can’t really maneuver myself to see underneath, to see what exactly happened here. Tighten the nut/bolt/whatever was holding it down?
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Nov 26, 2019 15:22
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jackpot posted:Faucet came loose, but somehow I’m having a hard time finding this exact problem when I search for it. Does it have a name? I can’t really maneuver myself to see underneath, to see what exactly happened here. You're going to have to do just that. Usually, there's a big nut that threads on the main faucet pipe. This may or may not have bolts that help to get it tight. If it does, try to crank the nut as tight as you can by hand, then tighten the bolts evenly to snug it up (not too much). If it's just a basic nut, you'll have to use a tool like a basin wrench to snug it sufficiently.
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Nov 26, 2019 19:16
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jackpot posted:Faucet came loose, but somehow I’m having a hard time finding this exact problem when I search for it. Does it have a name? I can’t really maneuver myself to see underneath, to see what exactly happened here. Seconding use a basin wrench. The gap between the cabinet back and sink bowl is too tight for other tools. You may want to recruit a helper to hold the faucet centered in place while you tighten it down. Reach up there with your hand first to feel what that nut is made of. If it's plastic, don't hulk out when tightening it.
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Nov 26, 2019 20:51
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SourKraut posted:Yeah, but if they’re continuing to exceed it, then they’re in violation of the SWDA. Okay, so I've pulled a few years of Annual Water Quality reports. 2014, about half of our two dozen wells had elevated hexavalent chromium levels. City had a plan in place (use wells with elevated chromium less, start process for using more surface water). 2015, similarly high levels were identified, and wells where chromium was highest were only used as necessary (I don't know how often that was). 2016 was a similar story. 2017, only 7 wells out of ~24 had elevated hexavalent chromium levels. Apparently there's a lot more surface water used. I imagine that's what is referred to in the charts of "SS-#" is a surface water station? A few of those had elevated hexavalent chromium levels. 2018 then stopped having a hexavalent chromium level reported, just total chromium. With total chromium measurement, only 1 well is out of MCL. But... total chromium MCL is way higher than hexavalent (as I understand all types of chromium are not created equal in terms of danger) MCL and when I look at past water well measurements total chromium levels have been fairly close to the hexavalent levels... so it seems we don't have much other types of chromium?
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Nov 26, 2019 21:41
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HelloSailorSign posted:Okay, so I've pulled a few years of Annual Water Quality reports. Were the 2014-2016 results greater than 0.1 mg/L (0.1 ppm)? This is the current Federal MCL for Total Chromium, so whether -6, -3, etc., ultimately they'd need to be under it. The "SS-#" is most likely referring to "Sampling Station", as the EPA requires so many per given area of distribution zone/area for a public water system. They could have online analyzers measuring and reporting back and/or simply having staff do grab samples at those locations. They'd use their treated surface water to both reduce the dependency on the wells that are having issues, but also to blend at wells that are active but high in chromium. This is where it can be a little misleading, but publicly, they may have to indicate what a well "site" is producing water quality-wise, but it can be the blended rate leaving the site, and not what the actual well is doing. From a public health perspective it doesn't really matter, since what's leaving the site is what is going into distribution, but the well itself may still be high in chromium. It sounds like in 2018, someone wised up to the fact that they only needed to report Total Chromium, which isn't "as bad" as reporting it as Chromium 6, since Chromium 6 is pretty much mostly due to human causes, but other chromium ions can be naturally occurring. In all likelihood, as you already noticed/assumed, the numbers you're seeing in 2018 and going forward, are most likely Chromium 6 levels regardless of how they're defining it. Note that some states, like California, have set their own MCLs beyond what the EPA mandates, and California has both their own separate MCLs for Chromium 6 (at 1/10th the US EPA level), and Total Chromium (1/2 the US EPA), so that's what the water service has to meet regardless of the US EPA MCL. The frustrating thing is that if you're not in California, you're pretty much at the mercy of the 100 ppm MCL in most places, which in the case of Chromium 6, yeah, it's not good if it's anywhere near that.
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Nov 28, 2019 07:16
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SourKraut posted:Were the 2014-2016 results greater than 0.1 mg/L (0.1 ppm)? Luckily no, the highest one is at 0.04 ppm, the next two high wells are only near there half the year
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Nov 29, 2019 16:41
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I am planning to redo some of the plumbing in my house and, among other things, replace some copper lines in the basement that run below the ceiling and instead have new PEX running across and between ceiling joists. A few questions: 1) It seems like I have a 3/4" copper supply into the house, going into a (labeled) 5/8" meter, but shortly after the meter it turns into 1" copper and runs up the wall and halfway across the basement as 1" copper, before reducing/branching into 3/4" to a few areas of the house and the water heater. Is the 1" doing anything for me? Given I have 3/4" service is there any downside to me replacing all the 1" with 3/4"? Just by feel we have good water pressure and volume in the house now and I don't want to lose that. Another thing that occurred to me is that the 1" pipe may be offering some freeze protection...the main 1" supply after the meter runs up 8' of the inside of an uninsulated exterior brick wall in a partially conditioned space. 2) Part of the project is going to involve running PEX though the joists, ie. drilling holes in them. The joists are OG 2x8 true dimensional ~16"oc. I'm aware of the rules and limitations from the structural side, but is there any other good practice or things in the plumbing code to consider when routing water lines? And also how to best run them between joists? I am eventually going to finish the ceiling in this room.
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Nov 30, 2019 21:00
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Too bad they're not engineered joists, you could just cut the tops off and run all your pipes that way. IIRC the deal with joists is that you drill as close to the middle as possible so you lose as little tensile and compressive strength as you can. If possible, you should probably just run the pex through the same holes etc as the copper. E: gently caress you said it runs below the ceiling....
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Nov 30, 2019 21:57
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HelloSailorSign posted:Luckily no, the highest one is at 0.04 ppm, the next two high wells are only near there half the year That's still pretty high (by California standards), but it's not something most could probably do anything about at the moment, at least with regard to SWDA issues. The best approach is probably to publicly call it out and such, since someone/thing nearby is causing it, and no-one likes bad media attention. mcgreenvegtables posted:I am planning to redo some of the plumbing in my house and, among other things, replace some copper lines in the basement that run below the ceiling and instead have new PEX running across and between ceiling joists. A few questions: I'm not sure having a 1" exposed line is better than a 3/4" for freeze protection; if anything, you'd be looking at a trade-off between the greater surface area of the pipe allowing more exposed surface to freezing, against a larger SA of water to have to freeze. Regarding the pipe size, it's not uncommon to have a larger size between meter and entry to residence, especially when the meter size is less than the service branch size from the local main to the meter, since it's essentially used to help "recover" the loss in head due to the meter. A lot of times they'd run one size larger from meter to where the service line splits for the WH and continued cold water service, and after that split, downsize back down to the initial service branch size. Also, why do you need to go through any joists with PEX? It should be flexible enough to allow you to go under vs. through, and there are clamps you could use for this.
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Dec 1, 2019 22:24
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mcgreenvegtables posted:I am planning to redo some of the plumbing in my house and, among other things, replace some copper lines in the basement that run below the ceiling and instead have new PEX running across and between ceiling joists. A few questions: Temperature don’t care about pipe diameter. If it’s anywhere it can freeze, and it’s full of static water, it gonna burst.
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Dec 1, 2019 22:45
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SourKraut posted:That's still pretty high (by California standards), but it's not something most could probably do anything about at the moment, at least with regard to SWDA issues. That’s part of why I am thinking about house water purification, as I’m still not convinced the city will take appropriate action. Reverse osmosis was just something that popped up that I wanted more information on.
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Dec 2, 2019 04:40
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HelloSailorSign posted:That’s part of why I am thinking about house water purification, as I’m still not convinced the city will take appropriate action. Reverse osmosis was just something that popped up that I wanted more information on. I mean, depending on how much stress it's causing you, yeah, you could do a whole home filtration system with some type of NSF-53 activated carbon unit(s), and then do NSF-58 certified RO for say the kitchen sink (or a drinking water spigot next to the sink), and possibly a branch line off to another source such as a refrigerator ice maker/water dispenser.
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Dec 2, 2019 07:48
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SourKraut posted:Also, why do you need to go through any joists with PEX? It should be flexible enough to allow you to go under vs. through, and there are clamps you could use for this. Probably because: mcgreenvegtables posted:I am eventually going to finish the ceiling in this room.
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Dec 2, 2019 18:18
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DrBouvenstein posted:Probably because: Yeah, but I’d rather drop the ceiling 3” than go through joists.
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Dec 2, 2019 19:03
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