Anyone good with Water Heaters?

Topic: Anyone good with Water Heaters? (Read 1169 times) previous topic - next topic

Anyone good with Water Heaters?

July 19, 2005, 07:35:22 PM

...because apperantly, I sure as hell am not. I need the advice of someone who's good with plumbing on this one. The other night I came home to find water pouring from the bottom of the hot water tank. Fast forward to today and I got the new one home and started to hook it up. First time around I neglected to tighten the two small "dielectric couplers" that go into the inlet & outlet side of the tank. Because from the top of the tank up, it's all PVC, I had to cut and then re-couple it after I re-tightened them. Even after tightening them and letting all the PVC cement set up, it still has a leak where the dielectic couple goes into the top of the tank. I'm not sure what I did wrong here... I used teflon tape on the fittings and tighened them as tight as I was comfortable doing. When I started threading them in by hand I noticed that no matter what I did, they seemed to want to go in crooked. I figure that the holes threaded on the top of the tank might not be at a perfect 90 degrees. They both threaded in smoothly with no signs of cross-threading. What shall I try next? This will make the third time I've cut and re-coupled these ed pipes.

Re: Anyone good with Water Heaters?

Reply #1 – July 19, 2005, 08:25:22 PM

Well I dont know for sure but I believe the teflon tape is for metal/copper pipes. I think you actually have to users plumbers putty aka plumbers dope for the PVC. Also, is there one of them black o-ring rubber gaskets? Im not sure if those a required with pvc but I thought I would ask. Maybe itll clear it up for somebody that actually knows about this stuff...Hope I was some what of assistance...

Re: Anyone good with Water Heaters?

Reply #2 – July 19, 2005, 09:20:26 PM

PVC cement is necessary. Your joints are gonna leak without it. Ditch the tape. It's probably the reason it feels like its cross threading.

Re: Anyone good with Water Heaters?

Reply #3 – July 19, 2005, 10:37:11 PM

Make sure you use PVC not ABS cement, they are different. An do not use contact cement on any type of plastic pipe. If the couplers connect to the pipe with a clamp, be sure to heat the female end (ONLY) before clamping. Gentally use a propane torch, or soak the pipe / coupler in boiling water. Don't melt it with the torch, just heat.

Re: Anyone good with Water Heaters?

Reply #4 – July 20, 2005, 08:45:50 AM

I'm not having any leaks at all on the PVC. Lemme explain again what pipe is made of what. The tank and the fittings at the top are metal. The couplers I spoke of are also metal, look like galvanized. From there it's an adapter from the threaded pipe over to PVC 3/4". From that adapter up,everyhing is fine. I used cleaner and cement on each of the connections with no problems. So, where it's leaking is, oddly enough, between the metal tank and the metal couplers that go together. Last night my uncle suggested pipe dope for the metal threads but later called back and said it wouldn't work. Maybe I don't have enough Teflon tape on the threads? The book says 2-3 turns of it, but I only put it towards the top end of the threads, not where they start.

Re: Anyone good with Water Heaters?

Reply #5 – July 20, 2005, 08:50:31 AM

Quote

The book says 2-3 turns of it, but I only put it towards the top end of the threads, not where they start.

Well, pipe threads are tapered, so you might only have tape on the pipe part that isn't touching the coupler. Just cover all the threads with a few wraps.