Advice Needed on Dielectric Nipple Connection

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Iscrewedup

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I posted this on another forum, but then remembered Terry Love's is the place to seek help! I plan to replace the cold water supply dielectric nipple on my water heater. Can someone please confirm if the following connections will work...

1) I'll use this fitting to connect to the threaded dielectric nipple and then copper pipe into the other push fit side. Seems like this should work. If good, pipe dope, teflon tape, or both? The alternative is to get something like this Sharkbite flex connector. I also considered a braided connector, but I prefer something more rigid.

BTW, from what I've read it seems as if a nipple with heat trap is recommended. However, I think the heat trap ball valve was the reason my hot water pressure suddenly decreased... It happened previously - corrosion had caused the ball to get stuck. At that time I just cleaned the debris and pressure was restored. I should have replaced the nipple, but thought it was better not to mess with it. My backup option to avoid removing the nipple is to go ahead with a quick and dirty fix by leaving the original nipple and try pull out the ball!

sharkbite-di.jpg


Sharkbite FIP to push fit
 

Terry

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My preference is the corrugated, either stainless or copper.
If you replace the water heater nipple, they should come with a plastic liner, or you can also use a brass nipple. I'm in Earthquake country, so we use the corrugated supplies most of the time.

rheem_farrell_3.jpg
 

Iscrewedup

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That pic you posted seems to have a T connection direct to the nipple on the cold water supply side.... can you clarify what type of connections I can attach direct to the dielectric nipple? Will any brass female threaded fitting be ok?

I should add that I'll only be using threaded and push fit options.
 

Terry

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I normally use a corrugated supply with the standard 3/4" threaded nut, comes with the rubber washer. No tape needed.
The brass there is because I have an expansion tank. You can used galvanized, but they rust up.
Most of us try to avoid Sharkbites.

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Reach4

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That pic you posted seems to have a T connection direct to the nipple on the cold water supply side.... can you clarify what type of connections I can attach direct to the dielectric nipple? Will any brass female threaded fitting be ok?
Brass or bronze is ok I think. Photo looks like bronze to me.
 

Iscrewedup

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Hmm, I also have an expansion tank - so I could potentially copy that exact setup if everything is threaded - so I would be able to connect a brass T connector like this direct to the nipple?

The reason I thought Sharkbite was a good idea for this application is the ability to rotate the connections so I can better choose the position of the expansion tank.
 
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