# weird water heater tank connection?...



## BuenaHomes (Jun 13, 2007)

can anyone tell me if you ever seen a water heater gas line to be connected to the hole where the pressure valve was, and then from the place where the pressure valve its supposed to be another flex gas line comes out to feed the ingnitor?










I never seen this way for a water heater to be connected. A friend of mine told me that's the way it used to be?
The place where the pressure valve its supposed to be, has this "T" connection where the inlet and outlet gas lines are connected, and they both are hot to the touch due to the fact that they are in close contact to hot water.


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## Trick1 (Dec 6, 2008)

A picture would help immensely.


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## txgencon (Jan 4, 2011)

The way I understand your situation...

With water at 50+ psi and gas at a maximum of 2 psi, seems like water would be forced into the gas line all the way back to the regulator and perhaps beyond.

And I bet all the gas pipe connections would leak like crazy with that pressure.

That can't be right.


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## skyhook (Mar 17, 2007)

BuenaHomes said:


> can anyone tell me if you ever seen a water heater gas line to be connected to the hole where the pressure valve was, and then from the place where the pressure valve its suposed to be another flex gas line comes out to feed the ingnitor?
> 
> I never seen this way for a water heater to be connected. A friend of mine told me that's the way it used to be?
> The place where the pressure valve its suposed to be, has this "T" connection where the inlet and outlet gas lines are connected, and they both are hot to the touch due to the fact that they are in close contact to hot water.


This is a joke, right?


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## Splinter (Apr 5, 2005)

Sure, that's the gas pre-heater for cold climate applications.





Nah, Im kidding. Sounds like Handyman Harry got in there with a Home Depot 1-2-3 book...




.


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## paul100 (Dec 7, 2008)

I am not a plumber but i think I know what you are talking about. My sister had this old copper core water heater (37yo heater and still working) in a house she bought and instead of your standard pressure relief valve it used a valve that shut the gas supply off if the temp got to high. The valve was where the current heaters and the pressure relief valve. I figured if the gas shuts off the water stops heating and expanding so the pressure goes down. Here is a link to one. http://www.westsidewholesale.com/au...gdftrk=gdfV23580_a_7c1581_a_7c7215_a_7c575034


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## sunkist (Apr 27, 2012)

Trick1 said:


> A picture would help immensely.


how about helping emursely?


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## MASTERPLUMB (Jul 13, 2012)

Thats called a Watts 210-5 safety valve in case of high water temperature
it shuts off the gas supply to the heater there by preventing it from
blowing up
They are used in place of a regular t & p valve for a house on slap 
when there is no way to run a proper drain pipe from the t & p


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## asbestos (Mar 22, 2006)

How can there not be a way to run the drain for a T&P? Here the WH is often in the garage and the T&P goes out the wall.


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## MASTERPLUMB (Jul 13, 2012)

Yes but we don't all live in the same parts of the country !

while many houses in SO. CA. have their water heaters in a garage or
on the outside of the house,
Many also have in the center of the house, :thumbsup:
Or like here in Houston, Texas many are in the attics so you can Imagine
what it must be like when they flood out ! :whistling


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## BuenaHomes (Jun 13, 2007)

Trick1 said:


> A picture would help immensely.


Thank you.


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## BuenaHomes (Jun 13, 2007)

txgencon said:


> The way I understand your situation...
> 
> With water at 50+ psi and gas at a maximum of 2 psi, seems like water would be forced into the gas line all the way back to the regulator and perhaps beyond.
> 
> ...


I figured out thanks to MASTERPLUMB member, he had the right answer, this guy MASTERPLUMB is a walking plumbing encyclopedia he really knows a lot.


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## BuenaHomes (Jun 13, 2007)

paul100 said:


> I am not a plumber but i think I know what you are talking about. My sister had this old copper core water heater (37yo heater and still working) in a house she bought and instead of your standard pressure relief valve it used a valve that shut the gas supply off if the temp got to high. The valve was where the current heaters and the pressure relief valve. I figured if the gas shuts off the water stops heating and expanding so the pressure goes down. Here is a link to one. http://www.westsidewholesale.com/au...gdftrk=gdfV23580_a_7c1581_a_7c7215_a_7c575034


you are quite right. exactly like that. thank you


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## BuenaHomes (Jun 13, 2007)

asbestos said:


> How can there not be a way to run the drain for a T&P? Here the WH is often in the garage and the T&P goes out the wall.


I found that this way (that I described in the original post) it's not allowed in SANTA BARBARA constructions or plumbing installations. Somehow that's the way it's, but how safe it's..?- I do not know that.
I have only 10 years working as a general contractor in California, and this is something new to me, I still need to learn a lot more, always something new to learn.


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## BuenaHomes (Jun 13, 2007)

*Leaded Tap Water...My test Kit Says So..*

I'm sorry...the next post its the correct one, I could not figure out how to post the video earlier.http://youtu.be/X3vm92NpNz0


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## BuenaHomes (Jun 13, 2007)

*Video tap water rotten egg smell*

This is the same house, as you can see in the video, the water is very bad. We figured that somehow the gas leaked into the tap water supply lines thus causing the water to poison.
Also, I tested the water for lead with one of those Home Depot's Lead test kits and it did shown contaminated water.


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## plummen (Jan 9, 2010)

So what happens when that california dream doesnt shut the heater down and it launhes itself through a wall or the roof like an unguided missile? :whistling


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## WarriorWithWood (Jun 30, 2007)

plummen said:


> So what happens when that california dream doesnt shut the heater down and it launhes itself through a wall or the roof like an unguided missile? :whistling


go to 1:40 for the good part.


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## plummen (Jan 9, 2010)

We blew one up back when I was still teaching to show the apprentices what happens when one goes off,ours had no problem clearing the tree line! :laughing:


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## WarriorWithWood (Jun 30, 2007)

I was amazed at how easily it went through the floor joists, ceiling joists, and rafters.


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