Pipe leak without connection..

[lor]

Possibly wording this wrong BUT.. was replacing 40 gallon water heater, it has been disconnected..gone for a wk, but kept finding water puddled, left hot water faucets open all over the home until nothing came out..4 times and there would be water the next time I would do the same. Just now, found that when kitchen sink faucet is placed in the middle(neutral temp) and ran, it causes water to flush out of the pipe that would be the outlet pipe for hot water to the home from the water heater.. is this normal? May be a moron, in my mind I see the running water pipe(cold water) going into water heater being the only access for the outlet(hot water) line to get water? Where and why would it mix to come together..if that's not normal, obviously will try to find issue in kitchen..just want to make sure if it's wrong or no.. I cannot imagine that it is normal, because that would mean once water heater is connected, water would flush back in there through the line that should take water out to home?

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

A horizontal line can hold a lot of water that doesn't just drain out. If the sink has stops, you should be able to turn them off to verify if water is leaking past from cold to hot. Maybe even a shower valve could be a cross connection.

 

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[Storm rider]

If I understand you correctly, you have an open pipe in the hot water side. When you place the kitchen faucet in the middle (warm) position, cold water under pressure is crossing over through the faucet into the open (unpressurized) hot side. If the pipe were capped or connected to the hot water tank under pressure that would not happen.

 

[Jeff H Young]

Sounds like youve got it !

 

[John Gayewski]

Yes this is normal. Water will push back through the hot water pipe when you operate a faucet. Not all faucets, but kitchen sinks generally will do that. That's why I tell customers not to use the water while I'm changing a water heater.