Loud bang from toilet

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mcginnin

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Ok so I will need a gauge that will connect to my hose faucet? One that will fluctuate at different pressures. I assume I will put the gauge on turn the faucet on as if I were washing my car but leave the water on for a day? Is this safe?
 

Caduceus

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Ok so I will need a gauge that will connect to my hose faucet? One that will fluctuate at different pressures. I assume I will put the gauge on turn the faucet on as if I were washing my car but leave the water on for a day? Is this safe?
No need for that long. As soon as you open the hose faucet yo will get an immediate reading. Just be sure no water is being used at the time so that it is accurate.
Write down the reading and hold onto it for reference. It may come in handy later.
 
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mcginnin

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Help hurry....

So i just pressed the valve on the expansion tank I got water and lots of it. It wont stop leaking. I shut the yellow pro flow valve off and the water from the hotwater heater.

I have the hot water heater draining from the hot water heater. the water is no longer running from the expansion tank just air is hissing I assume at this point just let the air out of the tank?

Should i keep the water draining out of the hot water heater?Will i have water now?
 

Caduceus

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First, be sure that the hot water tank is off and not trying to heat water. I hope this post isn't too late. Screw the cap back on to the expansion tank tightly. Close off the drain to the water heater and open up a faucet nearby that has two handles, one for hot and one for cold, like a laundry sink. Open both. Close the blue handled supply valve next to the expansion tank.Slowly open the yellow pro flow valve since it's next to the expansion tank. You should hear the water filling the piping.
Watch the expansion tank to see if it is still squirting water out of the capped valve.
If that doesn't stop the water from squirting out, shut the yellow pro flow handle again.
Close only the cold side of the two handled faucet that you have opened. Leave the hot side open to see if you still have pressure coming out. You need to isolate the hot water tank and expansion tank from the rest of the system.
If you had water coming out of the expansion tank then there was no air in it. The sucking sound was from the water being drained from the water heater.
If the faucet with the hot side open has no more pressure in it, leave it open and take the cap back off of the expansion tank to see if the schrader valve is broken. It may have just had some debris in it and the sucking from the tank could have cleared it away from the opening.
This is also an opportunity to replace the thermal expansion tank. The size can be matched up at most home improvement stores and they usually stock them.
I'll check in on the thread every few minutes to see where you are with this.
 
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mcginnin

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Caduceus, thanks for the detailed reply. Well, I got the tank replaced. A old friend that I fell out of contact with who is now a journeyman contacted after a plea for help on good ol Facebook. It was perfect timing. He rushed over and had a tank with him.

We looked near the meter I dont have a pressure regulator, he said if we installed one the county may give me crap? But my pressure was between 65-70 at the hose.

He took the tank off and nothing but black flakes were in it when he tipped it in a bucket. I assume this was what was left of the bladder?

I told him that about a month ago we had a water main break in the neighborhood and shut all the water off. He said that may have had something to do with this.

We looked at all the toilets and especially the one that blew. He looked at the fill valve and said it may have been installed incorrectly?

He charged me a total of $130 I gave him $150. Said the tanked was $55

I have hot water and all the toilets flush everything seems ok. I will monitor the tank and everything. Thank all of you so very much!!!
 

Caduceus

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Good to hear you got this resolved. Pressure at 65-70 is good without a regulator, but with a check valve on the service and an already bad expansion tank the pressure from thermal expansion (depending on the water heater) would be through the roof. That is where I would typically hear of fill valves popping off as well as destroying the solenoid valves in dishwashers, ice makers, washing machines and just about anything else attached to the plumbing system.
The black flakes are from the deterioration of the bladder.
Sorry I couldn't be here at 4pm when it happened, but you had a great resource in your friend.
We are all just volunteers on these forums...pros and DIYers, so we can't man the stations 24-7, but we try to help when we can.
 

mcginnin

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I feel so relieved now. So now the question is they typical life span? My plumber said 5-7 years. Mine was estimated at 5 years based off my hot water heater. He said he recommend every time you replace the hot water heater to replace the tank as well.

Wat do you feel about the horizontal vs vertical mount. Does this make a difference?
 

Jadnashua

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Horizontal verses vertical doesn't make a difference, but either way, the tank should be supported and it should be on the cold water side with no valve between it and the water heater. Normally, it doesn't contain much water, but when they fail, they usually end up full, and that can be a fair amount of weight. FWIW, I doubt there's much reason to go further on any testing if you get water out of the air valve...it's leaking, it may be a question of how much, but it really doesn't matter...one that leaks needs to be replaced.

I can see no reason why the country would object to you installing a PRV, should you decide you want one. Because the pressure can vary a lot between normal daytime when people are up, and the pressure late at night or early morning before most people are up, the pressure can be significantly higher which is the reason to install the gauge with a tattle tale (second, peak reading) hand. If your pressure ever gets above 80psi, code requires it to be controlled. You do want to know your 'normal' pressure, and set the precharge on the expansion tank to that value, though.
 
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