Relocate sediment trap BEFORE flex gas line

[DIYER39]

I hope everyone is healthy and staying safe out there.

I recently installed a new water heater exactly as the old one was installed by a plumbing company. Everything went smoothly. Shortly after, I learned about new code (2016) that requires the sediment trap to be installed before the flex line instead of after the flex line.

What additional fittings would I need to move the sediment trap? So far I can only think of two. #1---A female to male adapter from the valve to the larger T fitting. #2---Another flare fitting for the gas line to the control valve.

I would really appreciate if someone give me the proper names, metal, and thread of these fittings and let me know if there is anything else that I am forgetting? I dont see this job being too hard but if I use the wrong thread, metal, or adapter, things can quickly go wrong. The valve to T fitting is my main concern because the sizes look different. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Niccolo]

I hope everyone is healthy and staying safe out there.

I recently installed a new water heater exactly as the old one was installed by a plumbing company. Everything went smoothly. Shortly after, I learned about new code (2016) that requires the sediment trap to be installed before the flex line instead of after the flex line.

What additional fittings would I need to move the sediment trap? So far I can only think of two. #1---A female to male adapter from the valve to the larger T fitting. #2---Another flare fitting for the gas line to the control valve.

I would really appreciate if someone give me the proper names, metal, and thread of these fittings and let me know if there is anything else that I am forgetting? I dont see this job being too hard but if I use the wrong thread, metal, or adapter, things can quickly go wrong. The valve to T fitting is my main concern because the sizes look different. Any advice is greatly appreciated.View attachment 61233 View attachment 61234

I'm curious about this, too. I have a sediment trap installed as depicted, except that my flex line comes in horizontally, not vertically. I'm guessing the logic of the new code is that flow in the flex line could be turbulent, making sediment more likely to bypass the trap rather than falling into it. I asked the plumber about it, and he insisted this was how sediment traps were supposed to be installed, i.e. as close to the appliance they were protecting as possible.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[DIYER39]

Well Niccolo, I think we are at the right forum. Two different big box stores were stumped today when I asked them about the proper adapter to use. They said most people don't even have a sediment trap ha!

I've figured everything out except for what adapter to use from the valve to the T fitting. It's a flare end that is made for compression, so that confuses me. Anyone?

 

[Niccolo]

Well Niccolo, I think we are at the right forum. Two different big box stores were stumped today when I asked them about the proper adapter to use. They said most people don't even have a sediment trap ha!

I've figured everything out except for what adapter to use from the valve to the T fitting. It's a flare end that is made for compression, so that confuses me. Anyone?View attachment 61255

Yeah, my general contractor installed without a sediment trap. And when my Bradford White water heater had issues, another plumber told me that they could have negated the warranty based on that installation, because they require sediment traps.

Hope someone knowledgeable answers your question, definitely above my pay grade!

 

[DIYER39]

I think I figured it out. Does the sediment trap go on before the valve?

 

[Niccolo]

I think I figured it out. Does the sediment trap go on before the valve?

Then you can't close the valve to clean out the sediment trap. And at least in CA, apparently after the valve but before the flex line is what's been specified since 2016 (https://jmcinspections.com/what-is-a-sediment-trap/).

I wonder whether the gas flow to the T fitting must be vertical, as in your pictures? Mine is horizontal, is that either a less effective sediment trap and/or not code-compliant?

 

[Phog]

Your valve is a combination shutoff / adapter, in that it adapts from female NPT (inlet) to male flare (outlet). You could switch it out for an in-line gas valve with NPT at both inlet & outlet and build your drip leg off that. (You will need a second NPT-to-flare adapter, similar to the one that feeds into the tee in your picture, to connect the flex line to).

But why are you trying to mess with this anyway? It looks fine as-is and why mess with a working setup and chance creating a leak? Do you have unannounced random code inspections in your municipality or something? Your unfamiliarity with even basic fittings also makes me think this is a job you'd be better served to leave to a gas plumber, gas is super dangerous if done wrong.

(By the way you will never have an occasion to "clean out" the drip leg)

 

[Niccolo]

By the way you will never have an occasion to "clean out" the drip leg)

I'm just an amateur trying to work as constructively as possible with licensed plumbers. I happen to have a few plumbers in my contact list, and it's crazy to me that I get very different answers from them.

Yesterday the licensed plumber who installed my new water heater under warranty told me it was good practice to occasionally check/clean out the sediment trap. If sediment were actually building up, wouldn't it make sense to clear it? I'm guessing your answer is no here because 1) it's rare that very much sediment actually builds up; 2) clearing sediment means messing with a sealed connection, after which it's crucial to establish that the connection is sealed again, otherwise you have yourself a gas leak.

For what it's worth, this is also the plumber who oriented the "T" fitting for the sediment trap like this, i.e. didn't incorporate a change of direction of gas flow into the sediment trap. I'm uncertain whether that's just not best practice, or actually not code compliant.

And it's the plumber who, given a recirculation pump located between the dedicated hot water return loop and the heater, insisted it needed to push hot water back into the return loop, not pull hot water back into the heater. Bradford White just emailed me telling me that if the pump is in that location, it should be pulling hot water back into the heater. Of course, another licensed plumber I know told me that forcing the pump to push water into the bottom of the tank will put an extra load on it, and will eventually cause corrosion of the piping and spigot at the bottom of the water heater, so the pump should either be pumping hot water out the top hot water outlet or formerly hot water back into the top cold water inlet (depending on whether I had a dedicated return line, which I do, or a thermal bypass valve).

 

[DIYER39]

Thank you Phog. I finally realized that I needed a new valve last night. Let me try to answer your questions as politely as possible. I really do appreciate your help and I assure you that I am being as careful as possible.

Yes, I will eventually have a code inspection. I admit that I do not know every little plumber fitting and adapter but I am trying to plan this job out as carefully as possible. As with all of my vehicle and home jobs, I will not perform if I am not 100% sure about everything. I also check for leaks thoroughly when finished. I have a great deal of experience working with my hands and I am very happy with my track record.

Regarding this 2016 code, I have a hard time finding information and examples online. That is why I reached out to terrylove.com. I was hoping to get some help from this forum. Niccolo and I both have the same question now. Sediment leg vertical or horizontal? Gas flowing straight into the leg, or into the T fitting?

 

[Niccolo]

Thank you Phog. I finally realized that I needed a new valve last night. Let me try to answer your questions as politely as possible. I really do appreciate your help and I assure you that I am being as careful as possible.

Yes, I will eventually have a code inspection. I admit that I do not know every little plumber fitting and adapter but I am trying to plan this job out as carefully as possible. As with all of my vehicle and home jobs, I will not perform if I am not 100% sure about everything. I also check for leaks thoroughly when finished. I have a great deal of experience working with my hands and I am very happy with my track record.

Regarding this 2016 code, I have a hard time finding information and examples online. That is why I reached out to terrylove.com. I was hoping to get some help from this forum. Niccolo and I both have the same question now. Sediment leg vertical or horizontal? Gas flowing straight into the leg, or into the T fitting?

There seems to be widespread consensus that a 90 degree change in gas direction is desirable for a sediment trap (but not for a drip leg).

As best I can tell, current code does not explicitly require a 90 degree change in gas direction. I found one instance of someone explaining that the the IFGC 2009 code did not explicitly require a change of direction, but no other support for that: "The direction of flow or change of direction was determined to not have an effect on sediment in the line because of the low velocity of the gas." https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?1086831-How-to-build-a-proper-sediment-trap

But others seem to suggest the change in direction of gas flow is actually required.

 

[DIYER39]

I'm just an amateur trying to work as constructively as possible with licensed plumbers. I happen to have a few plumbers in my contact list, and it's crazy to me that I get very different answers from them.

Yesterday the licensed plumber who installed my new water heater under warranty told me it was good practice to occasionally check/clean out the sediment trap. If sediment were actually building up, wouldn't it make sense to clear it? I'm guessing your answer is no here because 1) it's rare that very much sediment actually builds up; 2) clearing sediment means messing with a sealed connection, after which it's crucial to establish that the connection is sealed again, otherwise you have yourself a gas leak.

For what it's worth, this is also the plumber who oriented the "T" fitting for the sediment trap like this, i.e. didn't incorporate a change of direction of gas flow into the sediment trap. I'm uncertain whether that's just not best practice, or actually not code compliant.

And it's the plumber who, given a recirculation pump located between the dedicated hot water return loop and the heater, insisted it needed to push hot water back into the return loop, not pull hot water back into the heater. Bradford White just emailed me telling me that if the pump is in that location, it should be pulling hot water back into the heater. Of course, another licensed plumber I know told me that forcing the pump to push water into the bottom of the tank will put an extra load on it, and will eventually cause corrosion of the piping and spigot at the bottom of the water heater, so the pump should either be pumping hot water out the top hot water outlet or formerly hot water back into the top cold water inlet (depending on whether I had a dedicated return line, which I do, or a thermal bypass valve).

I understand your frustration Niccolo. One thing I have learned about any professional in any field....Just because you hire a professional does not mean that things will be done perfectly, up to code, or even right for that matter. When I take on a new DIY project, I often improve on the professionals previous job where they forgot to fasten something down or torque to proper specs. Might not be that important but I do my best. That is why it is important to give additional advice on safety and parts, instead of just telling people to hire a professional. I listen and accept all advice and use my best judgement when its time to hire a professional.

 

[DIYER39]

There seems to be widespread consensus that a 90 degree change in gas direction is desirable for a sediment trap (but not for a drip leg).

As best I can tell, current code does not explicitly require a 90 degree change in gas direction. I found one instance of someone explaining that the the IFGC 2009 code did not explicitly require a change of direction, but no other support for that: "The direction of flow or change of direction was determined to not have an effect on sediment in the line because of the low velocity of the gas." https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?1086831-How-to-build-a-proper-sediment-trap

But others seem to suggest the change in direction of gas flow is actually required.

I read something about gas having to flow into the leg so that it traps sediment, but that would not look like the standard vertical sediment trap. I bet these plumbers are having a good laugh watching me figure this out

 

[Niccolo]

I read something about gas having to flow into the leg so that it traps sediment, but that would not look like the standard vertical sediment trap. I bet these plumbers are having a good laugh watching me figure this out

It's interesting to think about the logic.

If the gas flows horizontally over the sediment trap, gravity will cause larger sediment to drop out, but tiny sediment could get carried across the gap.

If gas flows vertically down into the sediment trap, and then changes direction 90 degrees to flow into the appliance, then larger sediment will drop/get blown into the sediment trap. It's often said that the same is true for smaller sediment, but I'm not so sure. Having the gas blow down into the sediment trap should create turbulence (albeit only mild because of the relatively low velocity of the gas), and that turbulence seems likely to swirl tiny sediment and potentially cause it to get carried into the appliance, too.

Part of what this seems to illustrate is just how crude a sediment trap is. If sediment was a significant concern, I would have expected a more sophisticated engineered solution to stop and trap it. My hunch is that sediment used to be a bigger problem in the past, is far less of one now, and that's why a more sophisticated substitute for sediment traps hasn't been adopted and also why so many plumbers don't bother with sediment traps, code notwithstanding.

But I'm neither a plumber nor do I play one on TV, so all of this should be taken with a massive grain of salt.

 

[Phog]

First I should state for the record that I am not a professional plumber. There are many pros on here though and they can chime in if needed.

No offense intended and always happy to help a fellow DIYer; just want to impart that gas plumbing (while not extremely complicated) is one thing that should scare you more than just about anything else you might tackle. If you have a plumber friend maybe think about having them do the work with you the first time just so you can see the process, how to correctly leak check etc.

As far as code goes, that is typically very specific to your locality. What I see in the topmost picture above (with the downward flow incoming & changing direction 90 degrees into the appliance, trap vertically underneath) is the correct orientation. The part about the sediment trap being downstream of the shutoff to be serviceable is definitely true but as a practical matter you will never need to do that, except maybe when a new water heater is installed, and even then...

In my area flex lines are not allowed on water heaters at all, period, everything must be hard plumbed. So I don't really have any idea on the order of the drip leg / flex line. If you are getting an inspection best thing to do is just call up your inspector in advance (after pulling the permit), cite the code section # you're looking for clarification on and check what they'll be looking for. Some have a few very specific things they want to see but might not care about all details; others are anal-retentive about every little thing in the code (even if it doesn't appear to matter in your particular situation).

 

[DIYER39]

Well said, and great advice Phog. Thank you.

Anyone else familiar with sediment traps or California code willing to contribute some expertise? There is not a lot of simple to understand information online about the 2016 sediment trap code changes, so Im willing to bet this thread will help a lot of people in the future. Even many professional plumbers on youtube are making videos the wrong way regarding the new code.

 

[Fitter30]

Sediment trap will only work like the picture post#1 gas feed from the bull of the tee horizontally not vertically.

 

[Niccolo]

Well said, and great advice Phog. Thank you.

Anyone else familiar with sediment traps or California code willing to contribute some expertise? There is not a lot of simple to understand information online about the 2016 sediment trap code changes, so Im willing to bet this thread will help a lot of people in the future. Even many professional plumbers on youtube are making videos the wrong way regarding the new code.

2016 code:

1210.8.2 Sediment Traps
The installation of sediment traps shall comply with Section 1212.8. [NFPA 54:7.6.3]

1212.8 Sediment Trap
Where a sediment trap is not incorporated as a part of the appliance, a sediment trap shall be installed downstream of the appliance shutoff valve as close to the inlet of the appliance as practical, before the flex connector, where used at the time of appliance installation. The sediment trap shall be either a tee fitting with a capped nipple in the bottom outlet, as illustrated in Figure 1212.8, or other device recognized as an effective sediment trap. Illuminating appliances, ranges, clothes dryers, decorative appliances for installation in vented fireplaces, gas fireplaces, and outdoor grills shall not be required to be so equipped.

So the code doesn't explicitly say that a 90-degree change of direction for the gas flow is required, but it does illustrate that. The part about "or other device recognized as...effective" is pretty freakin' vague.

 

[DIYER39]

2016 code:

1210.8.2 Sediment Traps
The installation of sediment traps shall comply with Section 1212.8. [NFPA 54:7.6.3]

1212.8 Sediment Trap
Where a sediment trap is not incorporated as a part of the appliance, a sediment trap shall be installed downstream of the appliance shutoff valve as close to the inlet of the appliance as practical, before the flex connector, where used at the time of appliance installation. The sediment trap shall be either a tee fitting with a capped nipple in the bottom outlet, as illustrated in Figure 1212.8, or other device recognized as an effective sediment trap. Illuminating appliances, ranges, clothes dryers, decorative appliances for installation in vented fireplaces, gas fireplaces, and outdoor grills shall not be required to be so equipped.

So the code doesn't explicitly say that a 90-degree change of direction for the gas flow is required, but it does illustrate that. The part about "or other device recognized as...effective" is pretty freakin' vague.

Fascinating! I'm interpreting the picture example to mean that all sediment traps now be horizontal looking like a long pipe. "Gas supply inlet" is a dead giveaway. Picture should really be flipped on its side, ha! ha!

Here's a pic of what I ended up with. Had to change the drain valve anyway. I know, it's amateur hour, but feel free to comment. Don't worry, I'm a big boy

 

[Niccolo]

Facinating! I'm interpreting the picture example to mean that all sediment traps now be horizontal looking like a long pipe. "Gas supply inlet" is a dead giveaway. Picture should really be flipped on its side, ha! ha!

Here's a pic of what I ended up with. Had to change the drain valve anyway. I know, it's amateur hour, but feel free to comment. Don't worry, Im a big boy View attachment 61276

I'm curious what others think of this, but my hunch is that this may be a pretty effective design, better at separating sediment from gas flow than what's suggested in the code image.

 

[DIYER39]

I'm curious what others think of this, but my hunch is that this may be a pretty effective design, better at separating sediment from gas flow than what's suggested in the code image.

Thanks Niccolo. It should be easy to change if necessary.

In case anyone is wondering, the 8-9 year old sediment trap did not have any sediment at all.