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| The hot water pressure in the house has dropped. My local utility company sent a water heater guy out. He says the pressure coming out of the water heater spigot is fine. So it isn't the water heater. He put in a request to have a plumber come in. However, my plumbing policy doesn't include a water pressure problem.
Is there something I can check myself before calling for a plumber? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ronnatalie (My Page) on Fri, Apr 10, 09 at 11:22
| Not a conclusive test, frankly. Is it just one faucet or all of them? The cold side is OK I presume? |
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| Suspect you're not actually talking about "pressure" at all but flow-rate -- which, if it has changed, I would attribute to an obstruction on the outflow line from the water heater. Since you say the hot water pressure/flow has dropped throughout the house, I suspect the obstruction likely close to the heater outflow which would affect all of them. Since you say the utility company has already checked "pressure" at the heater's spigot as being OK, that would mean overall system pressure is fine. You've got an obstruction in heater outflow line. Is it possible for you to check the flow very close to the heater's outlet? Begin with the outlet itself directly, if possible. I would suspect obstruction there or at least between there and your closest hot-water spigot. This is not complicated but can be a thoroughgoing nuisance to accomplish. You may well choose to let a plumber handle it for you. |
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- Posted by dustynight (My Page) on Sat, Apr 11, 09 at 20:18
| Thank you for your imput. It does make sense that the obstruction is somewhere near the water heater. Every hot water faucet in the house has decreased flow - even the utility sink that is located in the basement along with the hot water heater. I will call the utility company again to see if a low-flow issue is handled by my policy. |
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- Posted by dustynight (My Page) on Tue, Apr 21, 09 at 23:42
| I noticed the smallest drop of water located at the junction where the copper pipe going out of the water heater, connected to PCV pipe. I called the utility company to share this latest finding and they scheduled a plumber to come out. The plumber could not have been here more than 10 - 15 minutes fixing the problem. Apparently it was the heat trap nipple (this tiny plastic piece) that had broken loose and blocked the hot water flow to the house. He replaced it with a new nipple and sealed it securely. He did'nt charge me anything because the repair was covered by my hot water heater policy. |
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