"Donna Ohl, Grady Volunteer Coordinator" wrote in
message ...
On Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:10:03 -0800 (PST), wrote:
add be prepared to replace drain valve, which may not shut or drip
when closed, espically the plastic ones. some valves will clog replace
tank drain valve with a ball valve at new tank install time
Thank you for all the advice!
You've given us the courage to tackle this ourselves!
Bill and I read *every* post here!
To replace our dripping 40-gallon (65-gallon FHR) home water heater, we
bought the best water heater I could find.
This turned out to be the $450 Sears #33154 (actually manufactured by AO
Smith) 97-gallon First Hour Rating (FHR) and 0.63 Energy Factor (EF),
nominally with a 50-gallon tank and coming with a (rather useless) 12-year
warranty on parts and a slightly useful 1-year warranty on labor.
We're going to do the job tomorrow so I'm reading *everything* I can find
on the net on how to properly remove and install a natural gas home hot
water heater. I'll summarize the steps we plan on taking in a subsequent
posting.
So far, Bill bought $686.47 in parts while I write up every step for him
before we do the work tomorrow, together. He will return any unused parts,
but here is what he bought from Sears today to get ready for the job.
$449.00 Sears #33154 50-gallon 12/1 year hot water heater 97FHR .63EF
$ 2.19 1-ounce TFE paste (for the gas pipe fittings)
$ 9.59 3/4-inch quarter-turn water valve (replaces plastic drain valve)
$ 8.99 3/4-inch CSA gas ball valve (for the gas line)
$ 15.99 3/4-inch swing check valve (for additional heat-loss protection)
$ 7.99 18" 3/4-inch by 3/4 inch FIP corrugated copper/brass flex pipe
(x2)
$ 7.49 15" 3/4-inch by 3/4 inch FIP corrugated copper/brass flex pipe
(x2)
$ 5.99 12" 3/4-inch by 3/4 inch FIP corrugated copper/brass flex pipe
(x2)
$ 12.99 18" 3/4-inch stainless-steel water-heater connector pipe (x2)
$ 10.99 12" 3/4-inch stainless-steel water-heater connector pipe (x2)
$ 8.99 3/4-inch by 3/4-inch Dialectric Union B (x4)
$ 3.59 1.5-inch long 3/4-inch male:male brass pipe nipples (x4)
$ 2.39 1.0-inch long 3/4-inch male:male brass pipe nipples (x3)
$ 52.32 sales tax at 8.25%
--------
$686.47 total
The reason for *both* the copper flex pipe and stainless steel pipe is
because the stainless steel might allow us to not need the dialectric
unions which are huge. Remember, the new tank is five inches taller than
the old tank so we are going to have problems with the plumbing most
likely
so having fewer nipples and dialectric unions will shorten the lines a
bit.
Do we really need to isolate the copper from the brass from the steel?
We assume so.
Also, we bought the extra one-way check valve even though the water heater
apparently comes with heat-loss protectors and we can s-kink the flex
lines
(not the steel lines, just the copper lines).
Do you think the one-way hot-water-outlet check valve will work to slow
heat loss?
Note we didn't buy the insulating blanket for the water heater, nor the
insulation for the hot-water pipes yet. We figured we could do that later.
Our biggest question is whether we really needed the dialectric unions.
Since they were female:female, that necessitated brass nipples on each
side, further lengthening the lines which we need to shorten.
What do you think?
Donna & Bill
It would be worthwhile to check the local plumbing codes, there's a national
code, but additional requirements vary by location.
Assuming the original heater was properly installed, you should be fine to
do the new one exactly the same way. 3/4" seems awfully large for a water
heater, all those I've dealt with were plumbed with 1/2" gas pipe and 3/4"
water pipe. I'm not sure why the ball valve for the gas is being replaced as
well, isn't there already a suitable shutoff valve? If you mess with the gas
plumbing ahead of the shutoff, you have to pressure test it and have it
inspected. Assuming the original plumbing is not damaged, I would leave the
ball valve and everything ahead (closer to the gas meter) of it alone. Take
care to hold the pipe so that it doesn't rotate and cause leaks at the
joints when you disconnect it from the valve. Replace the flexible pipe
between the heater and gas pipe in the house, you may or may not have to
rearange the pipe from the heater to the flex depending on the location.
I can't speak for your area, but here the standard setup is black iron pipe
in the house, with a 1/2" branch split off for the water heater. This goes
directly to a ball valve to shut off the gas to that appliance, and out of
that is a short length of black iron joining to a stainless flex which then
connects to another short piece of black iron, occasionally with an elbow or
two to change direction and connect up to the gas valve on the heater. Older
houses often lack the stainless flex and instead do the whole thing with
black iron using a ground joint union between the ball valve and the heater
to let you put it all together, but I like the flex better, it's a lot
easier to get things lined up.
When you do the flue vent, sometimes it goes straight up through the roof,
in that case you'll probably have to get up on top and remove a screw or two
through the roof jack to allow you to push the pipe up through the ceiling
to let you slide the heaters in and out. If it goes off at an angle and tees
into the furnace flue or goes through a wall, you can usually flex it enough
to work. Take extra care to get the vent right, a gas leak you'll smell, a
water leak you'll see, but an exhaust leak will just kill you.
As for insulation, often the water heater will come with some sections of
pipe insulation to take care of the flex lines in and out of it.