Cold water valve on a hot water heater

[novel]

I would like to add a attachment to this valve so I could use the cold water attached to my garden hose. Is this possible and how? Preferably not to cut the pipe above it and below it.

[nestork]

Normally there's enough play in the water pipes that you can cut the pipe in one spot; install a tee fitting and install a "sillcock" on the middle leg of that tee.

If you are not experienced at soldering, there are fittings called "Sharkbite" fittings that push directly onto the cut copper pipe so that you don't need to do any soldering.

[Stormin Mormon]

I did something like this, years ago. I had to cut, sweat solder, and rework the piping a bit.

. Christ> I would like to add a attachment to this valve so

I could use the cold water attached to my garden hose.

Is this possible and how? Preferably not to cut the

pipe above it and below it.

>

[Retired]

Is this valve soldered to copper pipe, or threaded on iron pipe ??

Is there an elbow nearby ?? It might be easier to replace an elbow with a tee and add hose faucet/bib to the tee.

[novel]

YES, its soldered to what looks like a 1" copper pipe and no elbow in sight.

what is a tee and faucet/bib? Sorry, but thanks

[nestork]

This is a copper tee:

This is a faucet/bib:

The latter goes by many names. Some people call it a sillcock, others call it a hydrant, others call it a boiler drain valve. It's just a valve with a male garden hose outlet so that you can attach a garden hose to it.

However, you said:

- I would like to add a attachment to this valve so I could use the cold water attached to my garden hose. Is this possible and how? Preferably not to cut the pipe above it and below it.-

I presumed you wanted to add a valve to which you can connect a garden hose, but on rereading your post, you're saying you already have a valve in place and want to modify it with an attachment so that you can connect a garden hose to it.

If you already have a valve in place, but there is no place to connect a garden hose to it, then you'd need to add a tee, and connect a faucet/bib to that tee.

[trader4]

Google is your friend. Just google "copper tee", "hose bibb". Also, I doubt that the copper water pipe coming into the WH is

1". 3/4" would be more common. Basically you're going to have to do what you don't want to do, cut the pipe, then solder in the appropriate new stuff, eg a tee, adaptor, and hose bibb. I'd probably put the bibb somewhere better located though, so that if it drips, someone opens it, etc it's not pouring down on the WH.

[hrhofmann]

A couple/few photos of the current installation would be very helpful. Isn't there any other place you could tap into the cold water supply to add an outdoor faucet??

[bob haller]

Dont SOLDER lines anywhere close to water heater!! the cold water inlet dip tube are plastic and can melt ........

far better to install a valve far from the heater......

lines and valves are cheap, water heaters cost far more, and if a tank is older disturbing the lines can cause a leak, in which case your far better off to just replace the tank

[nestork]

Anything more than 12 inches away from the tank shouldn't be a problem, Bob. If it's a concern, a person could just wrap a wet rag around the pipe between the tank and where the soldering is being done. As long as the copper pipe is wet on the outside, it can't get any hotter than 212 deg. F.

Good soldering practice involves heating the joint you want to solder QUICKLY with the torch burning like crazy. That's because the longer you're heating a joint, the warmer the surrounding joints will get, and the greater the possibility that a neighboring joint is gonna melt or even come apart on you. And, the longer you're heating a joint, the greater the liklihood that you're going to boil off all the flux inside the joint so that it doesn't take solder. In fact, some torch heads have TWO mixing tubes to heat joints twice as fast and get them twice as hot for brazing refrigeration tubing:

What does happen a lot when you do anything with a water heater is sediment on the inside of the hot water supply piping loosening up and causing your hot water to turn yellow or even brown when you first turn on the water after replacing the water heater. If you have cast iron hot water supply piping, it's common to have your faucet aerators getting clogged up with sediment loosened up from the inside of the hot water supply pipes. Whenever faucets stop working properly immediately after replacing the hot water heater, check that the faucet spout aerators aren't clogged up with stuff.

[novel]

The valve I am talking about is the cold water inlet valve. Yes, I could at tach the hose to a washer , but there would be too many curves to get a goo d flow. I would rather have a straight flow if possible. The faucet/bib is what i would like to have, but i am not that handy to install a tee first. Is it possible to remove the 'wheel' of that inlet cold water valve and scr ew this into it bypassing the tee installation?

[Nate Nagel]

The latter goes by many names. Some people call it a sillcock, others

No, and you want to leave that valve in place to simplify installation of a new water heater if/when that time comes. In fact I like to put a valve on the outlet as well, that way you don't have to drain down the whole house just to install a WH.

You're going to have to cut a pipe and splice in a tee/valve to do what you want to do, but it's not the end of the world. Don't worry about the elbows restricting flow, that's a 3/4" pipe, and the flow is not going to be significantly limited by a single 90.

If you're messing about in that area, do you have a humidifier and does it do an adequate job of humidifying in the winter? One thing you could do while you have the system drained is to tee it into the hot water outlet from the heater, the hot water to the humidifier will evaporate faster than the cold water that is usually used.

nate

[trader4]

Would about 32 feet be a safe distance?

[DerbyDad03]

One thing that has not been mentioned is the water pressure at the tank.

I have a Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) to lower the street pressure before the water enters my main plumbing system. The front hose spigot has always been plumbed in before the PRV so my front spigot has full street pressure, which is great for washing cars, watering etc.

However, the spigot for the back yard was plumbed in after the PRV, in fact, into the pipe that feeds the water heater, just like you want to do. This resulted in lower pressure for the back yard hose. A wimpy garden hose is no fun.

A few years ago, I installed a SharkBite Tee into the pipe to front spigot and then ran PEX across the basement ceiling to the rear spigot so that I now have street pressure for the backyard hose also.

If you have a PRV, then you probably have house pressure at the tank, which is what you'll get from the hose. If you have a way of Tee'ing in before the PRV, I think you'll be much happier with the results. Sharkbites and PEX make this such an easy job, that even a person who hates plumbing can do it.

[dennisgauge]

What are you doing that the single-digit-% reduction in flow from a few curves in the hose is THAT critical?

You would need to be running hundreds of feet of hose before you'd start noticing any reduction in pressure/flow due to losses from the hose not being perfectly straight.

In fact, the losses in the TEE are more significant than anything caused by the hose.

[DerbyDad03]

...and, as I said in an earlier post, if he has a PRV, the loss from that device is going to have the greatest impact, by far.

If the OP is worried about pressure, and if he has a PRV, he really should consider Tee'ing in before the PRV. I "moved" my back yard spigot from after the PRV to before it and the wife was quite happy with the results. When even she, the most non-technical person I know, noticed the difference the first time she watered the gardens, you know that there was a vast improvement in the pressure.

[Stormin Mormon]

Years ago, I took some fire protection courses. We learned that globe valve equals about 70 feet of pipe, angle valve is 45, and ball valve or gate valve are nearly no added resistance. So, I'd worry more about type of valve, rather than a couple elbows.

. Christ> >> The valve I am talking about is the cold water

inlet valve. Yes, I could attach the hose to a washer , but there would be too many curves to get a good flow. I would rather have a straight flow if possible.

in flow from a few curves in the hose is THAT critical?

before you'd start noticing any reduction in pressure/ flow due to losses from the hose not being perfectly straight.

than anything caused by the hose.

>

[trader4]

More importantly, to be able to shut it off if it springs a leak, without shutting off water to the whole house while waiting to get a new WH.

In fact I like to put a

IDK, it could be. Might be better to call a pro. I'm also wondering about if the location even makes sense, ie there might be a better location, more convenient, etc that you could do with about the same work. I can't recall ever seeing a garden hose bibb located on the cold water intake line of a water heater.

[DerbyDad03]

...snip...

It sounds to me like the OP wants to make the installation as easy as possible, i.e. one fitting in an already exposed run of pipe.

If everything after the WH goes up into a finished space, it might be difficult to tap in anywhere else, especially if he doesn't even want to cut that one pipe.

That said, I'd still look into the PRV situation since the OP seems to be concerned about too many turns in the hose reducing the pressure. Tap in before the PRV and pressure probably won't be an issue.

[trader4]

It sounds like he wants to just unscrew the valve on the water heater input, or part of the valve, and somehow convert it into a hose bibb. I think we'rea all in agreement, that isn't going to happen.

I agree. If you have to cut a copper pipe, which isn't a big deal, it could open up all kinds of options, so I think he shouldnt' focus on just the WH