"Speedy Jim" wrote in message
. com...

wrote:


Is there a check-valve somewhere in these photos of the plumbing around
the tank?

http://www.pbase.com/mrfixit/60527298.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/mrfixit/60527274.jpg

Thanks for your reply.

--
David Farber
LA, CA


Brass swing check right under the Intermatic.

Cat is precious :-)



"Speedy Jim" wrote in message
. com...
David Farber wrote:

Is there an easy way to test the check valve? Wouldn't the recirculation
pump have to be defective if the water were flowing backward?

Thanks for your reply.

--
David Farber
LA., CA


Looks like a pretty hefty pump.

Monitor (by hand) the temp of the water going *into*
the pump; IOW in the vertical pipe feeding the pump.
Normally, that should be at least luke-warm .

See what happens when many tenants are using hot water.
If the temp of the Hot supply out of the top of the
heater is still Hot but the Return pipe gets Cold,
suspect reverse flow.

Oooooooooooooo One thing we hadn't considered
was a bad dip tube. A broken dip tube will give
nice hot water **except** when many tenants are
demanding water. Then, although the heater is
full of hot water, the incoming Cold water
will simply "short circuit" and go out the Hot pipe,
diluting the temp.

Jim



Regarding the dip tube, when I was cleaning out the heater, there was a tube
right next to the clean out hole that was in tact though it did have some
lime build up on it. It reached to almost the bottom of the tank. I figured
that was the dip tube and it wasn't broken.

Just to recap from my original post, I had set the thermostat to 130
degrees. The temperature of the return pipe and the hot supply pipe were
about the same. I measured the temperature of the water at the utility sink
located near the water heater. It was a lukewarm 107 degrees. I called the
water heater company yesterday to report my findings. The tech said to check
for cold mixing with hot by turning off the cold water to the heater. Then,
turn on the hot faucet and there should be no water coming out. I tried that
and there was no water coming out of the hot faucet. He also told me to
check the water temperature at the relief valve. It was 116 degrees. I
called back with my findings this morning and spoke with a different tech.
His conclusion? The thermostat must be out of calibration due to lime build
up. Either replace the thermostat or turn up the thermostat until the water
temperature is at the desired temperature. I gave the thermostat about
another 8 degree boost to 138 degrees and finally the gas came on. I'll go
back later and see what the actual water temperature is.

Thanks for your reply.
--
David Farber
L.A., CA