Hot water hooked up to toilet

[5picker]

Originally Posted by johnbryanpeters

That won't prevent backflow of sediment into cold water system when air at tank top expands during cold water drawdown.

It will if its closed.

[DDC]

Hope your old enough for hot flushes

[johnbryanpeters]

Originally Posted by 5picker

It will if its closed.

We're posting at cross-purposes. You're describing use of low point drains, and I agree with what you're saying.

The check valve I'm recommending is for normal pressurized operation of the system. Consider the potable water system fully pressurized. You open a cold water tap for whatever reason. As pressure drops and before pump kicks in, any air at the top of the hot water tank will force water out the feed, tending to drive sediment from the water heater back into the cold water system. A check valve on the tank feed prevents this backflow.

[KyDan]

Originally Posted by Bama Rambler

Besides the above possibilities, there was a thread here about the hot and cold lines being switched at the water heater. You might want to look there and see where the lines are connected coming out of the tank.

This is a real possibility. The house I'm sitting in right this minute had the
same problem as built. They crossed the lines in the basement near the water heater. Since some bathrooms were backwards and some not it
required a lot of holes in the walls to fix some of it... hopefully your
problem is easy to access behind the WH and will be a fairly simple fix.

Let us know how it goes!

[5picker]

Originally Posted by johnbryanpeters

We're posting at cross-purposes. You're describing use of low point drains, and I agree with what you're saying.

The check valve I'm recommending is for normal pressurized operation of the system. Consider the potable water system fully pressurized. You open a cold water tap for whatever reason. As pressure drops and before pump kicks in, any air at the top of the hot water tank will force water out the feed, tending to drive sediment from the water heater back into the cold water system. A check valve on the tank feed prevents this backflow.

I suppose in theory that might be a possibility but I've never seen whatever air is trapped at the top of a water heater overcome the pressure of the water in the system under normal use. If that was really the case, every system would have a check valve installed to keep hot water from mixing back into the cold side. That isn't the case.

There was a thread a week ago where some folks think the air in the water heater acts like an accumulator tank. I say hogwash. After about 5-6 uses of the hot water after filling the tank, the air inside is negligible and so is any back pressure/back flow.

[johnbryanpeters]

Originally Posted by 5picker

I suppose in theory that might be a possibility but I've never seen whatever air is trapped at the top of a water heater overcome the pressure of the water in the system under normal use. If that was really the case, every system would have a check valve installed to keep hot water from mixing back into the cold side. That isn't the case.

There was a thread a week ago where some folks think the air in the water heater acts like an accumulator tank. I say hogwash. After about 5-6 uses of the hot water after filling the tank, the air inside is negligible and so is any back pressure/back flow.

I'm not going to continue further with this, but if you root about in this forum and others you'll find a number of descriptions of faucets and whatnot clogged by water heater sediment.

The reason there's no check valve installed is simple, manufacturers trying to keep build cost down at the expense of reliability.

[Bama Rambler]

This thread really got sidetracked. No wonder the OP hasn't been back to report what's going on.

dawnh2 -- If you're still with us, please let us know what you find. I'm curious to know what it is.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by Bama Rambler

This thread really got sidetracked. No wonder the OP hasn't been back to report what's going on.

dawnh2 -- If you're still with us, please let us know what you find. I'm curious to know what it is.

Yes.
Yes, please.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Bama Rambler

This thread really got sidetracked. No wonder the OP hasn't been back to report what's going on.

dawnh2 -- If you're still with us, please let us know what you find. I'm curious to know what it is.

Unfortunately, sometimes they do.

On the other hand... fortunately they do because some of the best discussions in forums like this are from suggestions and ideas that have little relevance from the original question that was asked.

Often you have to wade through several posts to get to the OP's answer but there can be a LOT of good stuff in between. I'd hate to see that get lost in any thread.

[Bama Rambler]

We disagree. That's all I'll say, as this is already sidetracked bad enough.


I really hope the OP gets their problem solved.