While cleaning my crawlspace Sunday I notice water squirting out of my
furnace.
We are on a service plan so a technician was out to the house within a
couple of hours.
He replace a screw on valve that was on top of an "EXTROL" expansion tank.
He said the purpose of this valve was to let the air out of the system.
That's about all I could get out of him... Mr. personality!

What I was trying to find out from him was what the two thumbscrews on the
top of this valve were for. one was black and one was red. Hot water had
been squirting out of the red thumbscrew.
When I tightened this thumbscrew the water stopped. I loosened it back up so
water dribbled out of it as I didn't know it closing it would cause pressure
to build up?

While I may never touch these again I would like to know the function of
these two thumbscrews?
should they be open or closed?

TIA


Pop

"comcastss news groups" wrote in message
news
While cleaning my crawlspace Sunday I notice water squirting out of my
furnace.
We are on a service plan so a technician was out to the house within a
couple of hours.
He replace a screw on valve that was on top of an "EXTROL" expansion tank.
He said the purpose of this valve was to let the air out of the system.
That's about all I could get out of him... Mr. personality!

What I was trying to find out from him was what the two thumbscrews on the
top of this valve were for. one was black and one was red. Hot water had
been squirting out of the red thumbscrew.
When I tightened this thumbscrew the water stopped. I loosened it back up
so
water dribbled out of it as I didn't know it closing it would cause
pressure
to build up?

While I may never touch these again I would like to know the function of
these two thumbscrews?
should they be open or closed?

TIA
Pop


I don't know, but even after you get some good answers from others here, you
might want to call the manufacturer and get an owner's manual for the thing.
Or, see if they've got a web site where you can download a manual.

comcastss news groups wrote:
While cleaning my crawlspace Sunday I notice water squirting out of my
furnace.
We are on a service plan so a technician was out to the house within a
couple of hours.
He replace a screw on valve that was on top of an "EXTROL" expansion tank.
He said the purpose of this valve was to let the air out of the system.
That's about all I could get out of him... Mr. personality!

I understand the frustration, and as the service tech does have
contact with the public, it would be nice if his people skills were a
little sharper. However, he is not an instructor. His job is to fix
what's wrong. Being peppered by questions (you may have only asked a
few, but a few questions many times a day sucks up serious time) slows
him down.

What I was trying to find out from him was what the two thumbscrews on the
top of this valve were for. one was black and one was red. Hot water had
been squirting out of the red thumbscrew.
When I tightened this thumbscrew the water stopped. I loosened it back up so
water dribbled out of it as I didn't know it closing it would cause pressure
to build up?

You were right to put it back the way you found it. If you don't know
exactly what something does, it's nuts to attempt to adjust it. You
could easily cause a far bigger problem.

While I may never touch these again I would like to know the function of
these two thumbscrews?
should they be open or closed?

The Extrol tanks are pressurized and not meant to be fiddled with.
The manufacturer suggests a yearly inspection to make sure the preset
charge and tank operation are working properly.

http://www.amtrol.com/extrol.htm

R

I understand the frustration, and as the service tech does have
contact with the public, it would be nice if his people skills were a
little sharper. However, he is not an instructor. His job is to fix
what's wrong. Being peppered by questions (you may have only asked a
few, but a few questions many times a day sucks up serious time) slows
him down.

It depends on the person. I could tell right away this guy was not a talker.
I would have liked a 5 minute explanation of what went wrong and what he was
replacing.
Its the same with the IT service when they come in to service our company
network.
Or my car mechanic. I feel part of the service is to explain what is going
on.
That said, I make it a point not to hover over anyones shoulder while they
are working.
I leave them alone to do their job, then I try and find out what was going
on.
Like I said I just think its their personality....



You were right to put it back the way you found it. If you don't know
exactly what something does, it's nuts to attempt to adjust it. You
could easily cause a far bigger problem.

This is the part I would have liked explained...

The Extrol tanks are pressurized and not meant to be fiddled with.
The manufacturer suggests a yearly inspection to make sure the preset
charge and tank operation are working properly.

http://www.amtrol.com/extrol.htm


Thanks for the link

Pop

comcastss news groups wrote:
I understand the frustration, and as the service tech does have
contact with the public, it would be nice if his people skills were a
little sharper. However, he is not an instructor. His job is to fix
what's wrong. Being peppered by questions (you may have only asked a
few, but a few questions many times a day sucks up serious time) slows
him down.

It depends on the person. I could tell right away this guy was not a talker.
I would have liked a 5 minute explanation of what went wrong and what he was
replacing.
Its the same with the IT service when they come in to service our company
network.
Or my car mechanic. I feel part of the service is to explain what is going
on.
That said, I make it a point not to hover over anyones shoulder while they
are working.
I leave them alone to do their job, then I try and find out what was going
on.
Like I said I just think its their personality....



You were right to put it back the way you found it. If you don't know
exactly what something does, it's nuts to attempt to adjust it. You
could easily cause a far bigger problem.

This is the part I would have liked explained...

The Extrol tanks are pressurized and not meant to be fiddled with.
The manufacturer suggests a yearly inspection to make sure the preset
charge and tank operation are working properly.

http://www.amtrol.com/extrol.htm


Thanks for the link

Pop


The real question is: Do you want to PAY for your explanation? Let's
say a quarter hour @ $100/hr = $25 Since your research skills seem to
be rather limited you probably wouldn't understand what they explained
anyway. Google broken at your house?