Recent content by edbreyer

Thanks everyone for all the additional replies - including about turning of the main water valve and possibly the well pump. I have flood sensors under all the major water appliances/sinks/basement floor/water heater/etc that when triggered will automatically notify me AND close the main water...

Thanks everyone for the replies! Sounds like the clear consensus is to use the vacation mode when away - not shut off the electric to the power vent system - so that's what I'll do. A couple folks suggested I also turn off the main water valve when gone. I am hesitant to do that because I'm...

We recently acquired a lake cottage which we plan to visit somewhat routinely year-round - with typically 1-2 weeks between visits. It is fully insulated and heated year-round and I've added a wifi thermostat and Guardian flood sensors/main shut off - so pipes freezing should not be a major...

The glugging sound of the water being sucked out of the sink trap is a clear indication of a venting problem. When the water flows down the sewer drain it creates a vacumn that usually pulls air in from a vent line. In your case the vent is either non existent or has become blocked (unlikely)...

The corralation between low outside temp and the pilot going out must be more that a coincidence. Could this boiler be getting the brunt of a downdraft in the chimney - that blows out the pilot? Cold air = heavy air which could cause a downdraft. Or does this boiler have any sort of flue...

Thanks for the reply.

One more thought... THe Heater does need to go. Shop around now to find a good price instead of waiting until it leaks and rushing to buy one at the closest place. I expect that the reason the pressure starts out better then fades is that a little bit of extra pressure builds up when water...

Either it's faulty - in which case you should just replace the Temp/Pressure valve - or your heater is building up too much heat and/or pressure. Is the heater set to a very high temperature or have you noticed the water being much hotter than it used to be? I'd replace the pressure/temp...

Do the heat-trap fittings installed in inlets/outlets of home hot water heaters reduce the pressure very much? I recently installed a second hot water heater (in series) in addition to my existing water heater. The water pressure is still very good in my regular shower - but I'm wonering...

Circulating pump? Any chance your home has a circulating pump? These pumps are sometimes used on today's larger houses to keep hot water in the hot water pipes at all times - which eliminates a long wait for hot water to come out of the faucet at the far end of the house. Just a thought.

So far so good. The flush is so quick/short that at first I thought something was wrong - but it seems to be taking everything down just fine. I did notice that if I don't hold the handle for a split second - it sometimes cuts the flush off too short. But when I watched the flapper in operation...

I recall reading somewhere that water heaters have sacrificial anode rods that help reduce internal corrosion. Are these rods replacable in most heaters? I now have two Richmond/Rheem 50 Gal power vent heaters and with the new design (for flamible fumes) they're getting pretty pricey - so I'd...

Thanks for the response Thanks for the response - I'll check the installation instructions as suggested but agree that it's very unlikely they can share the same exhaust vent.

Flushing out periodically is the best answer? Based on the reply about the curved dip tube - it seems like the best maintenance task for a water heater is still to flush out several gallons periodically through the bottom spigot - is this correct? I used to do it every couple of months but...

I need to install a second power vent water heater (new master bath/whirlpool) and had assumed I'd need to have a second PVC vent line run out the side of the house. However, a contractor friend thought it was possible to share the existing vent line. Seems to me that without some sort of...