On May 27, 11:47*am, "james" wrote:
I want to turn off my water main to repair an outside faucet. Do I have to
shutdown the water heater first? And after I turn the water back on, do I
have to do something to "reboot" the water heater?

No need to turn off the WH.

Just turn off the main and open as many faucets as you need to drain
the system so you don't get the system full of water draining out of
the one fixture you're working on.

As long as you are fixing the spigot, why not install a shut off for
it so you don't have to turn off the whole house next time - or even
in the winter?

One more tip: when you turn the main back on, turn it on full and then
close it about an 1/4 turn - assmuning it's a compression style with a
rotary handle. This gives you room to "play" if the main freezes up
due to corrosion in the future. If you open it all the way against the
stop, you won't have any "wiggle room" if it gets stuck.

This tip holds true for all compression style shut-offs, but is not
(typically) a concern for ball valves.