"Karen" wrote in message
...
We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to the
hot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays lit
all the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the gas?
My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on when the
water cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out of the
heater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?
Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light

Turn off the gas and find someone that can relight the pilot. Chances are,
nothing would happen, but there is still that possibility of it draining for
some reason.

"Karen" wrote in message
...
We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to the
hot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays lit
all the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the gas?
My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on when the
water cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out of the
heater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?
Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light


1) Does you physical condition prevent you from lighting the pilot? If so,
what about a neighbor?

2) If you don't want to deal with the pilot light, get close to the
temperature knob with a flashlight. Many will have "Vacation" engraved on
them, or some other indication of a level which is just shy of actually
turning the thing completely off.

3) The water heater is a sealed system, not a pot of water on the stove.
Where does your husband think the water will evaporate to? I think you won
on this point, and he owes you a foot massage.

By the way, if the heater is very old and on the verge of failing, that
would bring you back to #1, the pilot light. Get the foot massage first, and
THEN mention this to your husband. :-)

"Karen" wrote in message
...
We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to the
hot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays lit
all the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the gas?
My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on when the
water cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out of the
heater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?
Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light


First start by learning how to relight the pilot. Operating equipment other
than the designed way requires an understanding of how the appliance
operates.
You do not say if this is for a long period of time nor the temperature
concerns if any.

On the dial of the water heater that should say "pilot". Move the dial to
that setting and then see if the burner comes on. If not you should be able
to shut off the water.
Given information provided.

Karen wrote:
We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to the
hot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays lit
all the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the
gas?
My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on when
the
water cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out of
the
heater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?
Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light

It's ironic that we are so concerned about the water heater when we
leave the house when there are so many more things that can go wrong.

Two years ago we left for a 4 day minivacation. When we got back we
found the house flooded from a broken fill valve in a commode. Over
10,000 gallons of water had run through the house. The sheetrock was
wet 3' up the walls. The ground was soggy for 20' around the house. The
cleanup & repair bill was $14,000 (thank God for insurance!). So now we
turn the water off at the curb (valve on our side of the meter) if we
are leaving for more than a day or two.

Bob S.

"Karen" wrote in message
...
We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to the
hot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays lit
all the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the gas?
My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on when the
water cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out of the
heater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?
Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light

Do both--shut off the water at the main shutoff valve--usually just before
the water meter. Turn off the gas at the water heater. Worry about
lighting it in a month when you get back. As a minimum, open the lowest
faucets and let the water drain out. If you're in a cold weather climate
get some RV Anti-Freeze (Home Depot in Plumbing) and put some in all your
sinks, toilet bowls (after flushing so as to empty the tank), washing
machine and it's drain trap, dishwasher and showers etc. Where ever you
will have standing water.
MLD

If you live in an area that can reach 20f or so have the water main
shut off by the city and drain everything. Heating equipment breaks when
you need it , this will prevent freezing pipes. An unocupied house is
often denied insurance. Turn off completly the water heater, no the
water wont boil out if you dont, it is just safer. Call your insurance
broker.

wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:18:21 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:



Instead of "on the verge of failing", I should've said "If its age makes
you
wonder.....". Even so, nobody really knows when the stupid things are
going
to go belly up.


Murphy always knows!

BB

That asshole! Let's beat the crap outta him! He knew when my laundry sink
was gonna overflow, but he didn't say a word.

"Bob S." wrote in message
ps.com...

Karen wrote:
We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to the
hot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays lit
all the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the
gas?
My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on when
the
water cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out of
the
heater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?
Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light

It's ironic that we are so concerned about the water heater when we
leave the house when there are so many more things that can go wrong.

Two years ago we left for a 4 day minivacation. When we got back we
found the house flooded from a broken fill valve in a commode. Over
10,000 gallons of water had run through the house. The sheetrock was
wet 3' up the walls. The ground was soggy for 20' around the house. The
cleanup & repair bill was $14,000 (thank God for insurance!). So now we
turn the water off at the curb (valve on our side of the meter) if we
are leaving for more than a day or two.

Bob S.


Holy ****. :-( I take it you were not pleased.

"MLD" wrote in message news:XCSFd.2257$qu2.588@trndny08...

"Karen" wrote in message
...
We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to the
hot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays lit
all the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the gas?
My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on when the
water cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out of the
heater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?
Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light

Do both--shut off the water at the main shutoff valve--usually just before
the water meter. Turn off the gas at the water heater. Worry about
lighting it in a month when you get back. As a minimum, open the lowest
faucets and let the water drain out. If you're in a cold weather climate
get some RV Anti-Freeze (Home Depot in Plumbing) and put some in all your
sinks, toilet bowls (after flushing so as to empty the tank), washing
machine and it's drain trap, dishwasher and showers etc. Where ever you
will have standing water.
MLD



They could concoct a perfect story, call the gas company, and tell them
their pilot light went out. I don't know about other parts of the country,
but here (Rochester NY), they'll stop by at no charge for that kind of
stuff, especially if you can make yourself sound really clueless. If you
blow up your house, the utility guys have to leave Dunkin' Donuts for longer
than if they just helped you with something small.

On 1/14/2005 11:48 AM US(ET), Doug Kanter took fingers to keys, and
typed the following:

"Bob S." wrote in message
ups.com...


Karen wrote:


We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to the
hot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays lit
all the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the


gas?


My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on when


the


water cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out of


the


heater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?
Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light


It's ironic that we are so concerned about the water heater when we
leave the house when there are so many more things that can go wrong.

Two years ago we left for a 4 day minivacation. When we got back we
found the house flooded from a broken fill valve in a commode. Over
10,000 gallons of water had run through the house. The sheetrock was
wet 3' up the walls. The ground was soggy for 20' around the house. The
cleanup & repair bill was $14,000 (thank God for insurance!). So now we
turn the water off at the curb (valve on our side of the meter) if we
are leaving for more than a day or two.

Bob S.




Holy ****. :-( I take it you were not pleased.


And then the water bill came!

--
Bill

"willshak" wrote in message
...
On 1/14/2005 11:48 AM US(ET), Doug Kanter took fingers to keys, and typed
the following:

"Bob S." wrote in message
oups.com...

Karen wrote:

We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to the
hot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays lit
all the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the

gas?

My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on when

the

water cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out of

the

heater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?
Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light

It's ironic that we are so concerned about the water heater when we
leave the house when there are so many more things that can go wrong.

Two years ago we left for a 4 day minivacation. When we got back we
found the house flooded from a broken fill valve in a commode. Over
10,000 gallons of water had run through the house. The sheetrock was
wet 3' up the walls. The ground was soggy for 20' around the house. The
cleanup & repair bill was $14,000 (thank God for insurance!). So now we
turn the water off at the curb (valve on our side of the meter) if we
are leaving for more than a day or two.

Bob S.



Holy ****. :-( I take it you were not pleased.

And then the water bill came!

Enough. I'm cleaning out all my basement floor drains tomorrow with a
magnifying glass and tweezers.

There should be a valve where the water main comes into the house. Turn it
off there. On the water heater, there should be an arrow that says
higher/lower temperature. Turn it as low as possible. Also if you haven't
used the water main turn off for a while, turn off the water for a few hours
the day before you go just to make sure that valve doesn't leak after being
moved for the first time.


"Karen" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 10:42:20 -0600, (m Ransley) wrote:

If you live in an area that can reach 20f or so have the water main
shut off by the city and drain everything. Heating equipment breaks when
you need it , this will prevent freezing pipes. An unocupied house is
often denied insurance. Turn off completly the water heater, no the
water wont boil out if you dont, it is just safer. Call your insurance
broker.
We are not physically able to lit the pilot light, yes we both know how.
We do turn the water off to washing machine, don't have a dishwasher.
So if I'm reading the reply's correctly we can turn the water off?
I went down and looked, there is no vacation mode, or pilot light only
mode.
Temperature is not a problem with pipes freezing.
Thanks

"Art" wrote in message
ink.net...
There should be a valve where the water main comes into the house. Turn
it off there. On the water heater, there should be an arrow that says
higher/lower temperature. Turn it as low as possible. Also if you
haven't used the water main turn off for a while, turn off the water for a
few hours the day before you go just to make sure that valve doesn't leak
after being moved for the first time.


Or, try it a day or two ahead of time, in case the water company needs to
come out and deal with the drip.

Hi, Karen.

Gas-valve on heater must have separate pilot-only position from
"normal-run" or you could get seriously burned/blown-up on lighting
pilot. All I've ever seen have sequence "off", "pilot", "on", with
valve safety provision that gas can flow to pilot or main burner only
after pilot has sufficiently heated a sensor.

If there's possibility of unburned gas near the burner or pilot, you
could be seriously injured. That area must be properly ventilated
before doing anything else.

Lighting unit: from "off" turn valve selector to pilot; press down- now
gas flows to pilot- light it. Some require cover(s) removed and match
at pilot- some have piezo-electric igniters (press to make spark.)
Keep holding down (maybe for 20-30 sec) until pilot remains on when
control is released. Turn to "on" and check t-stat setting. _Now_ you
know how to light pilot on lots of heaters. Not rocket-science.

HTH,
John

Karen wrote:
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 10:42:20 -0600, (m Ransley)
wrote:

If you live in an area that can reach 20f or so have the water main
shut off by the city and drain everything. Heating equipment breaks
when
you need it , this will prevent freezing pipes. An unocupied house
is
often denied insurance. Turn off completly the water heater, no the
water wont boil out if you dont, it is just safer. Call your
insurance
broker.
We are not physically able to lit the pilot light, yes we both know
how.
We do turn the water off to washing machine, don't have a dishwasher.
So if I'm reading the reply's correctly we can turn the water off?
I went down and looked, there is no vacation mode, or pilot light
only
mode.
Temperature is not a problem with pipes freezing.
Thanks

The night before you leave:

First, shut off the water main in your basement. Then, using a hacksaw,
cut a notch out of the main supply line. Follow the same procedures
with your gas line.

On the morning of departure, turn the water and gas back on, and head
off to vacation.

This method is the easiest of all sugegsted ... and it has the added
benefit that you won't have to wonder if anything has gone wrong back
at home while you were away.

(smiley face)

Sometimes the problem is one involving installation. In my previous house,
the water heater was located in such a way that you had to sort of slide
yourself between it and the cinder block wall in order to light the thing.
This might be impossible for some people.


wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi, Karen.

Gas-valve on heater must have separate pilot-only position from
"normal-run" or you could get seriously burned/blown-up on lighting
pilot. All I've ever seen have sequence "off", "pilot", "on", with
valve safety provision that gas can flow to pilot or main burner only
after pilot has sufficiently heated a sensor.

If there's possibility of unburned gas near the burner or pilot, you
could be seriously injured. That area must be properly ventilated
before doing anything else.

Lighting unit: from "off" turn valve selector to pilot; press down- now
gas flows to pilot- light it. Some require cover(s) removed and match
at pilot- some have piezo-electric igniters (press to make spark.)
Keep holding down (maybe for 20-30 sec) until pilot remains on when
control is released. Turn to "on" and check t-stat setting. _Now_ you
know how to light pilot on lots of heaters. Not rocket-science.

HTH,
John

Karen wrote:
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 10:42:20 -0600, (m Ransley)
wrote:

If you live in an area that can reach 20f or so have the water main
shut off by the city and drain everything. Heating equipment breaks
when
you need it , this will prevent freezing pipes. An unocupied house
is
often denied insurance. Turn off completly the water heater, no the
water wont boil out if you dont, it is just safer. Call your
insurance
broker.
We are not physically able to lit the pilot light, yes we both know
how.
We do turn the water off to washing machine, don't have a dishwasher.
So if I'm reading the reply's correctly we can turn the water off?
I went down and looked, there is no vacation mode, or pilot light
only
mode.
Temperature is not a problem with pipes freezing.
Thanks

Doug Kanter wrote:
"Bob S." wrote in message
ps.com...

Karen wrote:
We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to
the
hot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays
lit
all the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the
gas?
My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on
when
the
water cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out
of
the
heater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?
Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light

It's ironic that we are so concerned about the water heater when we
leave the house when there are so many more things that can go
wrong.

Two years ago we left for a 4 day minivacation. When we got back we
found the house flooded from a broken fill valve in a commode. Over
10,000 gallons of water had run through the house. The sheetrock
was
wet 3' up the walls. The ground was soggy for 20' around the house.
The
cleanup & repair bill was $14,000 (thank God for insurance!). So
now we
turn the water off at the curb (valve on our side of the meter) if
we
are leaving for more than a day or two.

Bob S.


Holy ****. :-( I take it you were not pleased.

To say the least! It took 10 days of professional size fans &
dehumidifiers to dry the house to where repairs could start. All
because a Fluidmaster plastic fill valve broke in half about an inch
above the bottom of the tank. As I mentioned the problem to quite a few
plumbers, none were surprised. Some said Fluidmaster valve failures are
a large part of their business. With all the hardware stores selling
them I thought they were decent quality. No more for me - all mine are
now brass.
If there is a humorous note to my problem, we stopped at a casino while
on vacation and I won $250. Of course that had to be the amount of the
insurance deductable! BTW, talking to the city waterworks and showing
them the repair bill resulted in them writing off 1/2 of the water
bill. Not great, but better than nothing.
Bob S.

"Bob S." wrote in message
oups.com...

Doug Kanter wrote:
"Bob S." wrote in message
ps.com...

Karen wrote:
We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to
the
hot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays
lit
all the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the
gas?
My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on
when
the
water cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out
of
the
heater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?
Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light

It's ironic that we are so concerned about the water heater when we
leave the house when there are so many more things that can go
wrong.

Two years ago we left for a 4 day minivacation. When we got back we
found the house flooded from a broken fill valve in a commode. Over
10,000 gallons of water had run through the house. The sheetrock
was
wet 3' up the walls. The ground was soggy for 20' around the house.
The
cleanup & repair bill was $14,000 (thank God for insurance!). So
now we
turn the water off at the curb (valve on our side of the meter) if
we
are leaving for more than a day or two.

Bob S.


Holy ****. :-( I take it you were not pleased.

To say the least! It took 10 days of professional size fans &
dehumidifiers to dry the house to where repairs could start. All
because a Fluidmaster plastic fill valve broke in half about an inch
above the bottom of the tank. As I mentioned the problem to quite a few
plumbers, none were surprised. Some said Fluidmaster valve failures are
a large part of their business. With all the hardware stores selling
them I thought they were decent quality. No more for me - all mine are
now brass.
If there is a humorous note to my problem, we stopped at a casino while
on vacation and I won $250. Of course that had to be the amount of the
insurance deductable! BTW, talking to the city waterworks and showing
them the repair bill resulted in them writing off 1/2 of the water
bill. Not great, but better than nothing.
Bob S.

Went away for a few days---Toilet shut off flapper had a small leak--started
refill process--Fluidmaster shutoff "didn't"--overflow tube handled most of
the water, the rest leaked out of the tank through the lever (handle) hole.
Wiped out two bathrooms, one on top of the other. Professional restoration
company came in. 2 to 3 people for one week of drying everything out,
tearing everything apart-walls, tiled floors, vanities, tiled shower et al.
$23,000 and six months later we were put back together. I must admit
though, despite all the aggravation, we were able to significantly upgrade
both bathrooms and ended up better than we started out. Not that you want
this to happen again but if it does, don't deal with it yourself----call in
a Public Adjuster. Even though it costs, you will end up better off--they
deal with the insurance company and will get a better settlement.
MLD

A water heater can burn otu the bottom of the tank if the tank goes dry.
This is unlikely with turning the water off, but leaving the gas on.
(assuming you leave the water in the tank, and don't open the drain at the
bottom).

"evaporate it all out", well, where is the vapor going to go? From water to
vapor, the volume expands times 1800. And it's a sealed system, not like a
soup kettle which is open on top.

But why take the chance? I suggest either leave the water on, or turn them
both off. Of coruse, the relighting problem. Got any neighbors to relight it
for you? Relatives?

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"Karen" wrote in message
...
We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to the
hot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays lit
all the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the gas?
My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on when the
water cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out of the
heater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?
Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light