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Hot Water Tanks In Your Home Can Be Deadly
Water Heater Rockets.
Please read your care and maintenance instructions
today and test the blow valve before it kills
you and your family.
WATCH THIS REAL VIDEO DEMO FOR YOURSELF.
Or watch it in FLV below
http://www.year2012info.com/hotwatertank/132341_water_heater_rocket_1_NEW.flv
ADDED 10-30-2008
There is actually a web site dedicated to
this water heater problem:
http://reliefvalve.net/
They link to many stories including one with
seven deaths.
It's amazing how powerful these explosion
are!!!!!!
It can happen to you at home or in any business
at anytime, so maintian your hot water
heater
yearly....
Phx. home explosion launches water heater
hundreds of feet 06:01 PM MST on Thursday,
August 14, 2008
It was an electric water heater!!!!
 
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Procedure how to blow the temperature-and-pressure-relief
valve:
1. Get a pan or a bucket and place it under
the blow valve pipe that runs down the side
of the tank at the bottom.
2. Make sure you are wearing pants, so if
water sprays you will not get burned.
3. Make sure your legs are FAR Back away
from the pan, reach over & pull the valve
out and hold for 2-3 seconds &
release.
If the pipe is dripping after you do this,
please wait for 5 minutes for water to fully
drain out of the inside of the blow pipe.
If the pipe is still dripping, get a metal
object like a wrench, plastic handle of screw
driver, or small hammer and now pull the
valve one more time and hold for 3 seconds
and release it and now TAP Gently 3-5 times in on the pin valve and wait for
5 minutes to make sure it does not drip anymore.
If it is still dripping do this this 3 times
in a row with out waiting:
Pull the valve and tap it 3 time, then pull
the valve again and tap 3 times, then pull the valve again and tap it 3-5 times and wait again 5-10 minutes
to make sure it does not leak.
DO NOT HIT PIN VALVE VERY HARD OR YOU WILL
DAMAGE THE PIN VALVE AND IT WILL THEN LEAK.
NEVER CAP THE LEAKING PIPE, REPLACE BLOW
VALVE WITH A NEW ONE FROM A HEATING AND COOLING
COMPANY OR FROM STORE THAT SELLS WATER TANK
PRESSURE RELIEF VALVES.
Pressure Relief Valves: To Test or Not to
Test
Doing talk-radio is interesting.
Callers
ask their questions in a minute
or less and
we must answer equally briefly.
As with this column, we do a
lot of research
to ensure that the information
we provide
is not only correct, but timely,
as well.
A recent caller had a question
about a water
heater. As an adjunct to our
answer, we suggested
that she toggle the lever on
the temperature-and-pressure-relief
valve (T & PR valve) every
six months
or so to be sure that it was
operating freely.
The T & PR valve opens to
release pressure
buildup from within the water
heater, thus
preventing a possible explosion.
She thanked
us and the program continued.
About twenty minutes later our
computer monitor
showed that a caller was on the
line who
wanted to scold us for advising
our listeners
to test T & PR valves. When
he came on
the line he stated that he worked
for a water
heater company and that it was
their recommendation
to never test a T & PR valve,
and that
we should not have recommended
such a procedure.
This was because, according to
the caller,
"testing could cause the
valve to leak
and would most certainly damage
the spring
within the valve."
We felt we were correct, but
neither of us
could recall the source of our
recommendation.
We thanked the caller for his
comments, advising
him that we would research the
matter further.
We then contacted the folks at
Watts Regulator
Company in North Andover, Mass.,
a firm that
manufactures T & PR valves.
We spoke
to one of their technical service
representatives
who advised us that the company
recommends
an annual check of their T &
PR valves.
The reason: mineral salt, rust
and-or corrosion
build-up can cause a T &
PR valve to
freeze up and become non-operational,
which,
she said, can lead to a water
heater explosion.
She offered an interesting parallel
that
we thought might interest you.
When a water
heater explodes the force generated
is equal
to that caused by a stick of
dynamite (other
sources say two pounds of dynamite
for a
thirty gallon unit).
So, if you want your water heater
to be as
safe as it can be, make sure
that the T &
PR valve is operating freely.
If the valve
wasn't supposed to be tested,
it wouldn't
have a lever designed specifically
for that
purpose, and appropriately named
by the manufacturer,
the "test lever."
Larry & Suzanne Weingarten,
authors of
the "Water Heater Workbook,"
authorities
on water heaters and accessories,
tell us
that they recommend testing every
six months.
More frequent testing can reduce
the chance
of a leak caused by mineral and
corrosion
build-up. However, Larry tells
us that if
a leak results immediately after
a test,
to simply operate the test lever
several
times in an attempt to free lodged
debris
that may be preventing tight
reclosure of
the valve.
Testing ensures that the valve
is operational.
If you don't think testing is
important at
your home, check out this statistic:
According
to a survey done by Domestic
Engineering
Magazine, approximately one of
every three
T & PR vales is frozen shut
and non-operational.
The Weingartens also tell us
that the pipe
leaving the relief valve should
be the same
diameter as the exhaust port
of the valve
(usually three-quarters of an
inch). Also,
the pipe should be made of a
material that
is not affected by heat. Copper
is a safe
choice.
The T & PR drain pipe should
travel in
a slightly downhill direction
from the valve
to the point where it terminates.
And, it
should end outside the house
at six to 24
inches above the ground. If the
drain pipe
moved uphill first and then downhill,
water
could get trapped against the
outlet of the
valve and corrode it shut. If
the drain line
had a trap or a low spot, water
could freeze.
And even if the valve was working,
pressure
would be captured and an explosion
might
occur.
As consumers, we spend much of
our time worrying
about when our water heater is
going to begin
leaking and therefore need replacement.
If
one maintains a water heater
properly, it
will last a very long time. Also,
it will
operate more safely and cost
effectively.
If you want to know more about
your water
heater and its operation we suggest
you pick
up a copy of the "Water
Heater Workbook"
by Larry and Suzanne Weingarten.
Send a check
for $12 to Elemental Enterprises,
P.O. Box
928, Monterey, CA 93942.
http://www.onthehouse.com/wp/19940207
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h
p://www.fox11az.com/news/topstories/stories/phoenix-20080814-explosion-launches-water-heater.48f95d78.html
There is actually a site dedicated to this
problem:
http://reliefvalve.net/
They link to many stories including
one with
seven deaths.
It's amazing how powerful these
explosion
are!
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