Well folks,
I get to 'fess up to a running dumb owner trick here. After Albuquerque I
installed a check valve in the cold water inlet to my hot water heater.
When using the preheat feature of the heater ALL of my water at all taps
was hot. Simple diagnosis from Emery turned out to be right on the money -
water was flowing from the tank through the cold line and supplying the
cold side of the water system when there was enough pressure from hot water.
Installed the check valve - solved the hot water problem I thought. Hot
water worked fine. BUT, when I turned on the cold taps NOTHING. Not a drop.
No gurgles. Not even a tiny drip. My brilliant guess - I'd installed the
check valve backwards. So I checked the flow direction on the check valve.
All was right. Still no cold water.
Lots of head scratching and "this can't happen" thoughts - but it was.
Emery helped me check my trouble shooting approach and made several good
suggestions.
The problem actually was two fold. First I don't have a remote switch in
the bath. SO, sometimes when I thought the pump was on it wasn't. BUT, I
still had hot water. The system actually works fine when the pump is really
running. The misdirection was interesting to me: the hot water tank
evidently has some air in it. So when the pump is turned on it pressurizes
the tank and shuts off. When the pump is turned off at the remote panel
there is still water pressure on the hot side, but none on the cold side IF
there is a properly mounted check valve.
If you update your water system or install one of the newer tank bypass
assemblies keep my experience in mind.
FWIW.
Henry
Henry Davis Consulting, Inc / new product consulting
PO Box 1270 / product readiness reviews
Soquel, Ca 95073 / IP reviews
ph: (831) 462-5199 / full service marketing
fax: (831) 462-5198
http://www.henry-davis.com/ http://www.henry-davis.com
I get to 'fess up to a running dumb owner trick here. After Albuquerque I
installed a check valve in the cold water inlet to my hot water heater.
When using the preheat feature of the heater ALL of my water at all taps
was hot. Simple diagnosis from Emery turned out to be right on the money -
water was flowing from the tank through the cold line and supplying the
cold side of the water system when there was enough pressure from hot water.
Installed the check valve - solved the hot water problem I thought. Hot
water worked fine. BUT, when I turned on the cold taps NOTHING. Not a drop.
No gurgles. Not even a tiny drip. My brilliant guess - I'd installed the
check valve backwards. So I checked the flow direction on the check valve.
All was right. Still no cold water.
Lots of head scratching and "this can't happen" thoughts - but it was.
Emery helped me check my trouble shooting approach and made several good
suggestions.
The problem actually was two fold. First I don't have a remote switch in
the bath. SO, sometimes when I thought the pump was on it wasn't. BUT, I
still had hot water. The system actually works fine when the pump is really
running. The misdirection was interesting to me: the hot water tank
evidently has some air in it. So when the pump is turned on it pressurizes
the tank and shuts off. When the pump is turned off at the remote panel
there is still water pressure on the hot side, but none on the cold side IF
there is a properly mounted check valve.
If you update your water system or install one of the newer tank bypass
assemblies keep my experience in mind.
FWIW.
Henry
Henry Davis Consulting, Inc / new product consulting
PO Box 1270 / product readiness reviews
Soquel, Ca 95073 / IP reviews
ph: (831) 462-5199 / full service marketing
fax: (831) 462-5198
http://www.henry-davis.com/ http://www.henry-davis.com
