Water heater pressure relief value drip

[HeatMan]

The codes require the releif to be piped to a place where the discharge will

*not* harm someone. How it's piped is usually locally determined.

I install a lot of releif valves that have nothing to do with the temprature of the water. Do you have a clue what I am talking about?

I don't use language like that and I think it's vulgar and demeaning. You need to grow up and start reading what is written with an open mind. This has never beena personal attack and will never be in a public forum. One of the best rules of management is to praise in public and punish in private.

By the way, what exactly do you do for a living? It sure isn't mechanical contracting.

Actually, you jumped in when I asked the OP "Who told you to pipe it to a drain?" My comment to that was doing that without repairing the problem wasn't not the proper way to solve the problem. You then said something about an air gap. The thread went downhill from there.

I will agree that is *should* be piped to a drain. It's just that it's not always possible.

Harry, people like you don't need a keyboard. You think you are always right and hide behind the keyboard proclaiming your superiority to anyone that will listen. That superiority complex you have (like a mini Napoleon) gets magnified because you can hide behind a keyboard.

When you have 20 plus years in the mechanical field, you will have the right to say what you want. Until you can prove to me you have been in my field for enough years, you are still a moron.

I am done with this thread and will no longer respond to your idiotic comments. If you wish to continue this conversation, you may email me at my response address.

BTW, your TPR comments are wrong. I call it a relief because they relieve pressure in boilers and water heaters. I have never seen a boiler set up correctly that had a 'TPR' on it. Most boilers I work on have relief valves that open at 30 pounds. Even those are supposed to be (at least) piped to the floor. Piping a steam boiler relief to a floor drain can be a major waste of materials.

'nuff said. Have a good life Harry.

[HeatMan]

One last thing.

I know I said I would not respond again, but I'm responding to my own post.

You want to see personal attacks? Go to news:alt.hvac and you'll see some personal attacks. And except for one person, I don't do that.

[Remove dots from userid to rep]

Humble respondent apologizes for opening a can of worms and causing a

****storm and promises not to do it again, if he can figure out how to ask a simple question without such result.

Now everyone take a deep breath and return to whatever it is you were taking apart before. And have a good week. I'm going to put an expansion tank on.

...phsiii

[William Morris]

If nothing else, phsiii, you helped provide some entertainment for the rest of us. :)

[HeatMan]

Apology not accepted, but understood.

I won't accept your apology because you don't need to give (or offer) one. Part of my job is to teach people. Some people don't want to be taught.

If you still wish to offer an apology, I will accept it. I still don't think it's necessary.

[Harry K]

So calling me a moron for only saying that it -should- (notice not must) be piped to drain is not a personal attak. While it was fun as a kid stirring up an ants nest to watch the activity, your amusement value has worn off. If you treat your customers the way you have been acting here, I would say you probably don't have a lot of repeat business...bye

Harry K

[Toller]

Your plumbing should be about 50psi. The T&P valve will drip at about

150psi. Can you see why letting it drip is a bad idea?

Someone recommended either a shock absorber or a capped pipe. The smallest expansion tank is probably 50 times the size of a shock absorber. Can you see why a shock absorber probably won't work?

You might want to check your water pressure. Mine is 50psi normally, and goes up to 80psi maximum when the water heater does it worst. If yours is enough to trip the T&P, then it might be too high to start with.

[HeatMan]

FWIW, when I bought my house, it didn't have a pressure reducing valve, therefore the pressure was about 120 psi. One of the first things I did was to install a PRV. The wife complained because the 50-55 psi I had it set to wasn't high enough, I reset it to 80 psi and she's happy.

[Toller]

Mine was 85psi and the local code wisely allows a maximum of 70; so last year I installed a PRV, cutting it to 50.(except for my main outdoor outlet, that I replumbed to come before the valve) Can't really tell the difference except that a pinhole leak just before the water heater, that I couldn't rouse myself to fix, stopped leaking!

[Chris Lewis]

According to Toller :

No ;-)

Water is incompressible. That means that _very_ small thermal expansion leads to very high pressures in a rigid plumbing system. A few cubic inches worth of expansion room is usually going to be more than adequate to handle the fractions of a percentage of expansion from the "HWT downstream of checkvalve" problem.

But if you have the room, an expansion tank would be better. Usually overkill, but "better".

You really should regulate that out too. Mine doesn't vary more than a PSI or two. Important if you're on a well (eg: with poly well lines).