New GE 40 gallon. Low pressure over the entire house.

[Rickcusaf]

I've been reading through and I think the culprit may be my water inlet line. The copper flex tube is kinked in two places, but I wanted to ask if anyone else had some ideas. I'm enclosing some pictures to show how it's currently setup.

Also, is it safe to turn on the heating element? I've left it off until I get an answer from someone that knows more than I do

[johnjh2o1]

The kinked water line is the reason for the low water pressure. It also looks like the gas line is also kinked. Also the vent looks like you have used the wrong fittings on it. At this point I would advise you to call a qualified plumber. What you have done can be very dangerous.
John

[Rickcusaf]

Right now cost is an issue and the cheapest plumber around wants $220 an hour plus materials. I'll replace the gas line with a new one and the fittings used are the ones that were the ones I had from the previous w/h and mated up. What would you recommend I change with the vent? There is an ace hardware right next to my house.

There are no gas leaks however.

[Gary Swart]

Get rid of the galvanized fitting while you are at it. Sooner or later they will rust and you'll have brown hot water. Use brass fittings. New flex tubes should be used on every replacement. You can turn on the heat if the tank is completely full. To do this, open a hot water faucet and turn the water on to fill the tank. Once the air has been expelled by the incoming water, the tank is full.

[Rickcusaf]

I appreciated the help. I'm going to relocated my water valve off to the side so I have more room to work with since it's all kind of jammed in there and I'm going to run a flex line after that to the water heater itself. How does that sound?

[Rickcusaf]

I replaced the flex line and still have low water pressure. Any ideas?

[Redwood]

Please call a plumber!
What you have done is create a life threatening situation!
$220 an hour is cheap compared to what funeral homes charge!
Please shut off the water heater immediately and call a plumber!

I'm not willing to take the chance of making this installation right over the internet.
Based on how much I see wrong in the pictures you provided I can only imagine what I'm not seeing.

[Rickcusaf]

I've kept the water heater off the entire time. $220 an hour isn't cheap.

[nukeman]

Is the flow problem only with hot water or is it with hot and cold? Is this a new problem or has it been there? If it went from good flow to poor flow, did it happen all at once or was it over time? Did you change anything (like the WH) near the time the problem started occuring?

[Redwood]

I've kept the water heater off the entire time. $220 an hour isn't cheap.

I agree on that! But still better than the alternative...
Call around you may find a better price...
But don't start that mess up and endanger your family just to save some cash...

[Rickcusaf]

I went to my local ace hardware and luckily they have a plumber on staff. I used my camera to take pictures of everything before I went and showed him my setup. Everything is working now.

I cut off the copper pipe going from my pop off valve back into the top of my tank (per his advice)
I got rid of the long flex copper pipe and opted for a shorter one so the water wouldn't have to travel as far. I moved the water heater about an inch forward and was able to securely place my ventilation fitting under the metal pipe without having to use any crazy fittings. It just sits on top snugly. I also replaced the old gas line with a new one and the new one has a control valve allowing gas to only flow in one direction.

Pressure is back to normal, everything was leak tested, and no gas leaks either. Now I just have to wait for my water to heat up so I can finally enjoy a hot shower in my own home.

[jimbo]

I still have a few questions:

►What is the tee off the cold line?
►Can't tell in the pic...where does the drain off the TP go?
►The draft inducer funnel probably would have leaked. We can't overemphasize that, and you did mention that this is fixed now. With the burner on, a match held near the flue should noticeably have its smoke drawn up the flue.

The device you mention on your gas line is not a check valve, it is a fuse. If a major failure occurs in the line or the unit which would result in much more than normal flow of gas, the fuse stops the flow.

[Doherty Plumbing]

I've kept the water heater off the entire time. $220 an hour isn't cheap.

This may sound funny coming from a professional who does this for a living but I can't believe a PLUMBER charges $220 / hr. And that's the cheapest one. Wherever you live is where I'm moving too. I'd make more $ then my father who owns his own Chartered Accountant practice.... The senoir partners charge out at $215/hr I do believe. I know every area is different but wow what a big difference from my charge out rate of $80/hr. If I tried to charge out more I just simply wouldn't get any work because that's the going rate here.

Anyway back to be on topic...

1. Didn't see a main shut off for the gas located just as the black iron comes out of the wall. I'm assuming it's there but can't really see it.
2. You need a b-vent to c-vent adapter installed on the flue to mate the c-vent to the b-vent.

However the low water flow had nothing to do with the gas line and flue connection but it's a good thing you fixed them while you were at it.