On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:33:51 GMT, Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
No need to turn both off if the valves work, but can't hurt.

Hi Edwin,

Wow. You're good. You caught a bunch of nuances that I will both modify to
improve (and repost when the job's done) and a few I'll explain better.

In this case, as per advice here, Bill will be removing the existing
twisty-knob cold-water valve to because I asked him to replace that round
green "gate" valve with a red-lever-twist ball valve.

- Open all hot-water faucets in the house to drain off pressure
One low valve will drain off the pressure in seconds.

Oh. OK. I was confused. I'll modify that. Some of the tutorials I read said
to open just one hot-water faucet while others said to open them all. I was
confused. I'll modify the tutorial so others following us benefit.

- Wait two hours, if possible, to allow the hot water in the tank to cool

Turn the gas off the night before. Alternately, turnt he gas off, run the
hot water to dilute what is in there a bit, then drain.

Good point. Actually, we take a long hot shower every morning and Bill has
been gone a while, so, we really wanted to take that last steaming hot
shower on the old tank so that's why I said it that way. It *is* a great
idea to bleed off the hot water so as to dilute the tank so that will be
added to the tutorial.


- Disconnect garden hose and close drain valve when done
It won't drain unless you allow air to get in.
Disconnect the top lines, then drain.

Good point. I realized I mixed the standard-maintenance drain procedure
with the removal procedure. For a maintenance drain, we'd open a hot-water
faucet. For a removal and replacement, we can disconnect the lines. Good
point. I will modify the tutorial so we all benefit.

- Separate the vent pipe from the draft hood
In your parts list I did not see anything for the vent hood that will be 5"
shorter. Can you just cut the existing flue pipe?

Very astute Edwin. The Sears guy, when showed pictures of what we had with
yardsticks taped in place said we could just tin snip or hack saw the
existing 3 inch vent pipe a few inches shorter. This will be the biggest
'modification' that we'll have to do to accomodatge the hugely larger
heater. The Sears salesman said it was so much larger because of all the
insulation. He even said we don't need any blanket as it wouldn't add any R
value, he said.

- Remove all gas plumbing up to and including the old shut-off valve
Why? I didn't see any gas fittings on the parts list.

Wow Edwin. You are very observant. After speaking to the Sears guy, we
tried to find a gas line that had an integrated on-off valve like the one
we have and we couldn't find any of them in his yellow hose collection. He
said the gas line doesn't corrode and our pictures we showed him show it to
be in good shape so we figured we'd keep the existing gas line. For the
tutorial, I did a "do as I say not as I do" but you caught me in my parts
list! Very clever!

Should I remove this part from the tutorial?
Does nobody replace the gas lines? (we're not going to).

- Open all the hot-water faucets in the house to bleed out air
I'd leave them closed all along the way, save for one.

OK. I'll modify the hot water heater replacement how to.

Thanks for your astute advice - I'm happily surprised that others pay as
much attention to detail as I do in my home water heater replacement
tutorial!

Donna