My brother-in-law bought an old house several months ago. I went over to help replace the water heater. He asked me to post this question, he does the plumbing I do the computer. He cut the cold water feed and hot water pipes, disconnected the gas and vent and we pulled it out. He then realized he didn’t have all the parts to connect the new one. The store is a bit of a hike so not wanting to leave his family without water he soldered on a new shutoff valve for the cold water and turned the water back on. About 10 seconds later water started coming out of the cut/uncapped hot water pipe that fed the house. Slow at first then pretty quick. He turned the house water off and capped the hot water pipe, turned the water back on. We checked the 2 bathrooms sink/shower and the kitchen. Water comes out when only the hot water faucet is used, way way less pressure than the cold water faucet, if I was to guess about 10 to 20% of the cold water pressure. The “hot†water from the first floor bathroom sink came out rusty for the first 20-30 seconds. He does not have any tempering valve, at least not one that is visible. How could this be? Is there any other explanation other than somewhere the pipes are crossed?
This does not seem normal
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Please do not take this the wrong way but both your and your brother in law's lack of understanding make changing out a gas water heater something that is way over your heads. There are a lot of things that can go very wrong here espceially where the heater is gas fired. You can't just disconnect the old gas line and re-pipe the new heter without the proper permit and inspection for one thing.
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hj
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You have a defective single handle faucet, probably a Moen, somewhere that is bypassing cold water into the hot water piping.
You have a defective single handle faucet, probably a Moen, somewhere that is bypassing cold water into the hot water piping.
Redwood
Master Plumber
Or both hot and cold was turned on at a fixture and it is back feeding towards the water heater...
Krow
Plumber
Why not?
The permit issues are all relative. It depends on where you live and under what conditions you are doing this work. If its an emergency repair or install, it doesn't make sense to go through 2 days running around to do 1 hour worth of work.
Where I live, you need the permits , but they don't push the issue under emergency cases as long as the installer has the proper licences. Inspections can and will be done any time with out notice.
The only thing to suggest to the DIY'er,
DO NOT CUT ANY CORNERS just to save $10.
You pay now or you pay later
MaintenanceGuy
In the Trades
The line: "Water comes out when only the hot water faucet is used," has me confused.
If you have both hot and cold water but low flow on the hot, I'd say everyone has been right so far, there's a cross connectioni somewhere. Maybe a laundry room sink with both hot and cold valves open and a hose atached to the faucet that is shut off. Or a shower valve left open with the shower head turned off. Maybe even a tempering valve (like a mixing valve) for a toilet.
If you have both hot and cold water but low flow on the hot, I'd say everyone has been right so far, there's a cross connectioni somewhere. Maybe a laundry room sink with both hot and cold valves open and a hose atached to the faucet that is shut off. Or a shower valve left open with the shower head turned off. Maybe even a tempering valve (like a mixing valve) for a toilet.
hj
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The reason for a permit and inspection is to ensure that the new heater conforms to any code issues which have changed since the old heater was installed. For example, we had a discussion a short time ago about relief valve discharges. At one time, in this area, a 3/8" o.d. going up onto the roof was allowed as a relief valve discharge. Replacing one of those heaters means it CANNOT just be done the way the old one was. There has to be a properly sized line which does flows continually downward, and if the only way to meet that requirement is to move the water heater outdoors, then that is what has to be done.
The reason for a permit and inspection is to ensure that the new heater conforms to any code issues which have changed since the old heater was installed. For example, we had a discussion a short time ago about relief valve discharges. At one time, in this area, a 3/8" o.d. going up onto the roof was allowed as a relief valve discharge. Replacing one of those heaters means it CANNOT just be done the way the old one was. There has to be a properly sized line which does flows continually downward, and if the only way to meet that requirement is to move the water heater outdoors, then that is what has to be done.
Redwood
Master Plumber
With the water turned back on and both hot & cold turned on at a lav faucet you would get a cross over when the water is turned back on with cold water coming out of the open hot pipe. This is due to a restrictor in the aerator of the lav... You may not even realize that you left it open to break the vacuum when you were draining the tank, and you shut the water back off before realizing its still open... oops!
It may also be a cross connection but I have seen this once or twice when some dumb plumber like me tried to restore water in the middle of a water heater replacement job... Been there done that!
