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GWBBQ posted:Two questions: You can replace that panel thing for dirt cheap and see if it helps. I got nearly a year or 2 more out of my ancient one before it started doing that again and I bit the billet and got a new one. If yours is easily accessible (mine wasn’t) just replace one yes at that old.
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Mar 18, 2023 05:29
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| # ? May 15, 2024 07:04 |
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If you aren't in a "must do cheapest thing possible now" budget, replace the water heater. You're well past "on borrowed time" with anything inside/directly connected to the tank. If the reason for the fault is, say, one of the heating elements - there's a next-to-zero percent chance you can get that removed and replaced without causing terminal damage.
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Mar 18, 2023 10:12
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I've got a situation bugging me because I don't know if it'll be a problem for not. Due to circumstances, some upstairs radiators need to go (this is a pity). But I'm wondering if the proposed method of removing them is going to cause issues later, because of the way the system appears to be connected.  The upstairs radiators appear to feed directly off the ones below them on the lower floor, so there are vertical pipes leading up to the upstairs rad. The proposal is to just cut and cap each line at the floor level, which is definitely the simplest way. (both hot and return pipes individually capped, not making them into a closed loop) My worry is, isn't that big vertical pipe going to trap a lot of gasses? Is it going to affect the pump pressure for the system? I'm used to regularly bleeding radiators out to remove any gasses and help the water circulate properly, but these big rear end chimneys aren't going to have that ability. But I'm not a hydraulics expert, so I have no idea if I'm worrying about nothing or not. Or am I setting up for a problem later down the line? Cutting at the bottom would obviously make me feel better, but would involve a lot of wall destruction trying to find the things. And I have no idea if that drama would be necessary.
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Mar 19, 2023 17:39
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Cap them at the tees, solve every problem at once.
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Mar 19, 2023 18:02
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Nitrox posted:Cap them at the tees, solve every problem at once. Yes, but finding those means tearing up the old hardwood floor. It's doable, but what I'm trying to understand is the consequences I'd be avoiding by going through all that.
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Mar 19, 2023 18:26
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NZAmoeba posted:Yes, but finding those means tearing up the old hardwood floor. An ir camera would help narrow things down considerably.
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Mar 19, 2023 18:45
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Yeah, you absolutely want to cap them at the tees. It sucks and means more work, but it'll mean things working better in the future which is generally how it works: More work now to avoid even more work later.
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Mar 19, 2023 21:03
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With the extremely big likelihood of having to pull up them sections of floor anyways.
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Mar 19, 2023 22:13
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Hey all! I am a person who makes cocktail bars work better and I'm often dismayed at the ways in which bar owners and designers have laid these facilities out. When I make suggestions about how things should be laid out I often get the push back that they don't want to pay a plumber to replumb which is often necessary for the fixes I recommend. I am on salary and our company often owns or partners with the bars we work on. So I think I could add substantial ergonomic benefits to the people working in these spaces as well as benefits to the business as a result of more functional spaces. What is the best resource for super basic plumbing info? I'm just dealing with relatively clean drains and faucets for the most part.
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Mar 20, 2023 05:54
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Justa Dandelion posted:What is the best resource for super basic plumbing info? I'm just dealing with relatively clean drains and faucets for the most part. I think I'd want an example of what you consider to be "super basic," because sometimes some things that should logically be "super basic" like "steel sink drains" are actually a subgenre filled with a ton of manufacturer-specific parts that aren't always intercompatible, because some manufacturers(like loving IKEA of all things) think they're smarter than the standards.
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Mar 20, 2023 10:24
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Is John Taffer a goon?!
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Mar 20, 2023 15:07
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Justa Dandelion posted:Hey all! I am a person who makes cocktail bars work better and I'm often dismayed at the ways in which bar owners and designers have laid these facilities out. When I make suggestions about how things should be laid out I often get the push back that they don't want to pay a plumber to replumb which is often necessary for the fixes I recommend. I am on salary and our company often owns or partners with the bars we work on. So I think I could add substantial ergonomic benefits to the people working in these spaces as well as benefits to the business as a result of more functional spaces. You probably cannot do plumbing work on commercial buildings without being a licensed plumber. Definitely check on that before you do any work. Also consider insurance... if you gently caress up and flood a building, they're coming after you for doing the work. I doubt you'll be able to get insurance if you're asking for "super basic plumbing info"
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Mar 21, 2023 00:00
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Depending on where you are, I know that in some areas the rule is that if you're working after a shutoff valve, and that valve isn't the one at the water meter, you can gently caress around without being a licensed plumber because if there's a problem you can just twist the valve and defuckle it until real tradesmen arrive, but if it's prior to a valve like that(or there is no valve), you're on the hook if you gently caress something up.
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Mar 21, 2023 00:23
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IOwnCalculus posted:If you aren't in a "must do cheapest thing possible now" budget, replace the water heater. You're well past "on borrowed time" with anything inside/directly connected to the tank. If the reason for the fault is, say, one of the heating elements - there's a next-to-zero percent chance you can get that removed and replaced without causing terminal damage. Alabama Power will replace a water heater and spread out the cost over power bills, but I'm going to look into exactly what the costs are.
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Mar 21, 2023 02:22
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How crazy is doing a DIY water heater installation? I'm thinking of replacing my old gas water heater with an electric heat pump unit (gotta put that panel and service upgrade to use!). I feel confident doing the necessary electrical work, I'd enlist my father in law to help with the plumbing, but connecting an inlet and an outlet for water doesn't sound that difficult. Is there any X factor I'd be missing?
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Mar 21, 2023 02:55
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FISHMANPET posted:How crazy is doing a DIY water heater installation? I'm thinking of replacing my old gas water heater with an electric heat pump unit (gotta put that panel and service upgrade to use!). I feel confident doing the necessary electrical work, I'd enlist my father in law to help with the plumbing, but connecting an inlet and an outlet for water doesn't sound that difficult. Is there any X factor I'd be missing? I would say that a heat pump thing is likely the sort of thing you might want a professional's help with, even if only to do the final pressure testing of the unit and etc. to make sure it isn't losing coolant or whatever. It's definitely not something I would expect the average person to be able to do. If it was just an ordinary electric water heater, sure, no problem, but heat pumps do require a bit more finesse. I say this because I know here in Denmark, hosed up DIY installations started becoming so much of a problem that they eventually had to legislate that you could only use a heat pump if it had been certified and pressure tested by a professional.
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Mar 21, 2023 03:04
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Not a heat pump for heating/cooling, but a heat pump water heater. My reading of the installation manuals is that there's no calibration involved, it's a completely self contained unit.
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Mar 21, 2023 03:13
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FISHMANPET posted:Not a heat pump for heating/cooling, but a heat pump water heater. My reading of the installation manuals is that there's no calibration involved, it's a completely self contained unit. Huh, I hadn't read about these before, so they're really just new tech for an electric water heater, not what I'd call an actual heat pump which tends to involve actually yanking its heat out of some thing else(ground or air, generally) to heat up the water heater's contents.
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Mar 21, 2023 11:55
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It yanks heat out of the air and puts it in the water. The air just happens to be immediately next to the water.
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Mar 21, 2023 13:06
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Guy Axlerod posted:It yanks heat out of the air and puts it in the water. The air just happens to be immediately next to the water. It's still without any of the complicated parts which would be connecting it to an exterior unit, is what I mean. Even if I have my doubts about the wisdom of essentially turning your utility space/basement into a reverse fridge.
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Mar 21, 2023 13:26
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FISHMANPET posted:How crazy is doing a DIY water heater installation? I'm thinking of replacing my old gas water heater with an electric heat pump unit (gotta put that panel and service upgrade to use!). I feel confident doing the necessary electrical work, I'd enlist my father in law to help with the plumbing, but connecting an inlet and an outlet for water doesn't sound that difficult. Is there any X factor I'd be missing? I did mine myself, I had more issues wrestling the old one out and the new one in than on the plumbing side. Though be aware the inlets and outlets are probably going to be in different positions than the previous tank so you'll need to adjust accordingly. I had the electrician come in and get me a pigtail drop that I hooked up when the plumbing was done. Beyond that keep some extra pipe on hand for the condensate drain. The app that comes with mine (Rheem) sucks and I disabled any wifi functionality to keep a firmware update from bricking my water heater. I can't believe I just typed that, what a stupid appliance world we live in.
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Mar 21, 2023 13:30
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Yooper posted:
NO, THESE ARE "SMART" APPLIANCES.
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Mar 21, 2023 13:55
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I have a whole home R/O unit in my basement, which is plumbed to various locations using plastic, 3/8" OD (I think) lines with push connect fittings. It currently goes to 3 locations and I need to add 2 more. It would be pretty simple to just get more T fittings and add yet another T onto this, but it currently has sort of a ghetto manifold system by having just a bunch of T fittings in a row creating an ugly mess. It would be great to get a real manifold system and clean this up, but as far as I can tell they don't really make them for this application. Am I missing something or is a bunch of T's really the best option here? I'm happy to do whatever makes sense, but the 3/8" OD (I think) leads off into a wall / ceiling to other parts of the house, so it's not worth replacing the line itself so whatever I do will need to support that. Any ideas? Or should I just add more Ts.
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Mar 21, 2023 23:14
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The main thing to know about heat pump water heaters is that it takes a LOT of energy to warm up water. Taking 50 gallons of water from 65°F to 120°F requires about 24MJ of energy, which even figuring in a 2.5-3.0 COP is enough to cool all of the air in a 2500sqft house by something like 50-60°F. So venting the room you have the water heater in is very important or you'll end up with an icebox.
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Mar 22, 2023 00:15
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What kind of cooling capacity do they have? The ones I saw were about half of a typical window air conditioner.
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Mar 22, 2023 01:50
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Shifty Pony posted:The main thing to know about heat pump water heaters is that it takes a LOT of energy to warm up water. Taking 50 gallons of water from 65°F to 120°F requires about 24MJ of energy, which even figuring in a 2.5-3.0 COP is enough to cool all of the air in a 2500sqft house by something like 50-60°F. Is 120F(~50C) the normal hot water temp in the US/UK? I know in Denmark it'd be more like 130F(~55C), which would probably make it even worse in terms of energy use.
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Mar 22, 2023 03:30
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Guy Axlerod posted:What kind of cooling capacity do they have? The ones I saw were about half of a typical window air conditioner. Yeah that's about right, most can pull 5kw or so but that's due to an additional electric resistive heating element. The point still stands that they will definitely cool down an enclosed area like a laundry/utility door same as running a window unit full blast. PurpleXVI posted:Is 120F(~50C) the normal hot water temp in the US/UK? I know in Denmark it'd be more like 130F(~55C), which would probably make it even worse in terms of energy use. Depends in the US. 120°F is the suggested setpoint to reduce scalding risk and energy use but that's still fairly close to the temperature that legionella can grow at.
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Mar 22, 2023 04:13
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Shifty Pony posted:Depends in the US. 120°F is the suggested setpoint to reduce scalding risk and energy use but that's still fairly close to the temperature that legionella can grow at. Most bacteria has a range of temps it can grow at, being off the optimal temperature just means slower growth. The way to avoid bacteria in your hot water is, really, to make sure you use all of it and not have an oversized water heater. If you regularly clear out the hot water and have fresh water coming in and heating up, the temperature change from tap water temps to hot-enough-to-bathe temps is what's liable to kill off bacterial growth or slow it down enough that it never becomes a problem. Also lmao, speaking of scalding risks. We have a solar water heater connected to our system, love that first day of the year where I open the tap expecting "warm" and instead get "literally steaming as it hits the sink."
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Mar 22, 2023 04:32
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Wiping your flux is for losers apparently    Ah poo poo the previous owner was a loving moron Bonus HVAC fuckery that you might have seen me post in other threads. I would say it is plumbing adjacent but "adjacent" would be an improvement. 
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Mar 24, 2023 00:46
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Shifty Pony posted:Wiping your flux is for losers apparently Stop taking pictures in my basement and posting them please.
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Mar 24, 2023 01:08
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Shifty Pony posted:Wiping your flux is for losers apparently I love the drill job on that joist.
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Mar 24, 2023 07:31
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Motronic posted:Stop taking pictures in my basement and posting them please. Oh I see you bought my last house.
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Mar 24, 2023 09:21
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kid sinister posted:I love the drill job on that joist. It's clearly easier to just plunge right through a joist than it is to move a pipe over two inches in a crawlspace. It's impossible to predict where pipes will end up until you start laying them.
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Mar 24, 2023 09:30
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Getting/renting a borescope to check on the work hiding in the wall of the recently renovated master bathroom shower definitely moved waaaaaay up the list of priorities. My emergency kit is starting to look like the back of a plumbing van with the crazy hodgepodge variety of PVC and copper in this house. To add to the fun the cutoff valve is in the corner of the crawlspace furthest from the entrance, but I feel like that's the free-space of plumbing bingo.
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Mar 24, 2023 13:24
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Shifty Pony posted:Getting/renting a borescope to check on the work hiding in the wall of the recently renovated master bathroom shower definitely moved waaaaaay up the list of priorities. Where is the meter located?
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Mar 24, 2023 18:52
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I think the installer CRANKED on this shower head when they installed it. I have a Kohler HydroRail-R (https://www.kohler.com/en/products/showers/shop-shower-fittings/hydrorail-r-arch-shower-column-45211?skuId=45211-CP) and I want to replace the showerhead and use it in another bathroom. While removing the old showerhead it brought the adapter with it and I can't figure out how to remove the adapter from the old shower head without resorting to violence. The part circled in red is in the showerhead. It should have stayed with the arm. Any ideas?
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Mar 27, 2023 18:26
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c355n4 posted:I think the installer CRANKED on this shower head when they installed it. I have a Kohler HydroRail-R (https://www.kohler.com/en/products/showers/shop-shower-fittings/hydrorail-r-arch-shower-column-45211?skuId=45211-CP) and I want to replace the showerhead and use it in another bathroom. While removing the old showerhead it brought the adapter with it and I can't figure out how to remove the adapter from the old shower head without resorting to violence. Usually those have a six-sided interior that you can get a hex key into, which should make it somewhat easier to liberate from the shower head. If not, what's sticking it together may not be the installer loving it up, just as likely its limescale gluing them together, so dunking them in a solution of citric acid might make them easier to get apart(citric because it'll dissovlve the limescale without also dissolving rubber gaskets and chromed surfaces).
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Mar 27, 2023 20:21
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PurpleXVI posted:Usually those have a six-sided interior that you can get a hex key into, which should make it somewhat easier to liberate from the shower head. Yea, nothing inside to use a hex key against. It could be limescale as you mentioned, the shower head has a bunch of it. Would vinegar work to let it soak in a bit?
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Mar 27, 2023 20:36
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c355n4 posted:Yea, nothing inside to use a hex key against. It could be limescale as you mentioned, the shower head has a bunch of it. Would vinegar work to let it soak in a bit? Vinegar works, but vinegar contains acetic acid(which is what dissolves the limescale) at low concentrations, and acetic acid with enough time or concentration WILL gently caress up chrome and rubber gaskets. At work we see a lot of chrome surfaces eventually give up the fight because vinegar is the classic folk solution for limescale. If you have anything that's intended for use in de-limescaling a coffee machine, that should also be a milder solution that won't do any damage. EDIT: Alternately, if it ends up being violence, if you don't care about preserving the showerhead and only about keeping the adapter, you might be able to use a small hacksaw or something to destroy the showerhead itself.
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Mar 27, 2023 20:45
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Heat might also work
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Mar 27, 2023 22:15
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