Water Heater Safety – When To Do It Yourself And When To Call In A Plumber

Owners love to avoid wasting time and hassle and may be in a position to when it comes to working on a water heater. However, there are many circumstances and situations which need assistance from a plumbing pro. If you’re handy and happy with mechanics, then some situations concerning water heaters can be handled by you.

Before doing plumbing work you need to perform these safety steps:

Turn the electricity off if you’ve got an electrical water heater or turn the gas control knob to PILOT if you have a gas water heater.

Find the cold water line on top of the water heater and turn the gate valve off. The cold line is always located on the right hand side as you are facing the water heater.

Open a hot tap inside the house at any sink. This relieves pressure on the lines.

Twist the knob on the drain valve to open it on the water heater. It’s found at the base of the water heater and is like a hose bib. Drain out a gallon of water from the water heater, so it’s not completely full at the plumbing connections on top.

Tell everybody in the house or building to use cold water only.

Whenever removing electric elements on an electrical water heater, be sure that the electricity is turned off.

Whenever replacing the drain valve on a gas or electric water heater, be sure to turn the gas control knob to PILOT or to turn the electricity off.

Check the gas connections on your gas water heater by spraying liquid glass cleaner on them. If you’ve got a gas leak. The glass cleaner will spit and foam barely if you have a gas leak.

At this point you need to watch out the gas fumes do not backdraft into the house. When the gas smoke from a gas water heater travel up and out the draft diverter on top of the gas water heater, they are going to the exterior of your place thru a vent. The smoke can often be pulled into a chimney flue, an open window, or an air conditioner. If you smell rotten eggs inside your place, call a plumber or the gas company immediately.

If you are insulating your pipes for your water heater, do not cover dielectric unions, fittings, or copper flex lines. The insulation will cause the water to remain on the surface beneath and cause more damage from leaky pipes. Never put insulation on the tin draft diverter found above the gas water heate. The insulation can ignite.

If you know you have a recirculating loop for you water heater, it’s a smart idea to have a ball valve before the point at which the loop connects to you water heater. If you’ve got any type of pump located on this line, have a plumbing professional install a ball valve before the pump also.

Again, if you are not certain of your ability to work on a water heater in any way, get a professional service technician to help you.

My Dallas Plumber has been in the field of Plumbing for a long time and maintains a website about Dallas Plumber where you can get answers to the rest of your questions.