hot water pressure dropped after heater was replaced

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cabits

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The water system is a well with a two year old 50 gallon pressure tank and pump. The hot water heater was just replaced and moved to the opposite side of the basement to allow the drain and drain pan to empty into the sump pump. The cold and hot water piping is 3/4" cpvc. The only new parts are the heater, two shut off valves and some additional 3/4" piping. After the heater was moved a noticeable pressure drop developed. The cold pressure seems fine. I checked the I.D. of the valves and they are not significantly smaller as some valves can be. If you turn on a shower and go from cold to hot you can see a noticeable decrease in the volume and pressure of the hot water. My question is does the hot water heater cold water supply line need to be before it is broken off to supply the rest of the house?
The house is a split level. On pressure is 44lbs and off pressure is 58lbs. Although the water heater was moved there was actually no added length to the system piping. It was just added in at the other end of the current piping in the basement. I keep thinking the valves but when I took it apart and looked into the I.D. they don't appear to be smaller than the nominal pipe I.D.. So thats why I was wondering if I should run the feed directly to the water heater then out to the other circuits.
 

Cass

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Some of the new heaters come with heat trap energy saving nipples. Due to their design they restrict the water flow to a degree. Try replaceing the nipples with 6" plain brass nipples and see if this doesn help.

What brand of heater is it?
 

Jadnashua

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If the heat traps are not installed properly or swapped, the flow will be affected. Check them for arrows and color coding. If you used teflon tape and had it run over the end, it can affect the flow. the new piping could have had some crud in it and you could have a blockage.
 

cabits

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constriction

The new water heater does have heat traps but the nipples comming from them were constricted with a plastic liner which was seperate from the heat trap valve. The plastic liners basicaly decreased the volume down to 1/2" I.D.. I removed the nipples and the pressure increased enough to call it OK. I left the heat traps in and will wrap the pipies later. Thanks for the help guys.
 
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