Help with check valve on recirculating pump

Mark Potter

This loop shouldn't be tied into the cold in and there shouldn't be a circulator there. Yeah u can put a check valve but not with the pump there to close won't work right.

H|P Capital

joeq

Thanks mark.. Yes I looked at a lot of diagrams and saw most of the loops feeding back into the bottom of the heater instead of the top cold supply. But the bottom has been used by the geothermal. I think thats why he chose to use the cold in for the loop. Thanks for affirming my suspicions about the "check valve" When I talk to my plumber he always makes me feel like I don't know what I'm talking about(which is mostly true), so it helps to get some support on what I think is going on. According to him, this is normal @@

Jackofall1

Not to be arguementative, but I don't see an issue with a check valve in that location. As long as the pressure from the incoming CW line can overcome the pressure from the pump it will work just fine.

Mark

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Mark Potter

No argument here Mark I think Most plumbing guys will have different opinions on set ups. It can be ok with check valve there really isn't much room there It looks like. I'm not big into geothermal heating I know how it is suppose to loop but that's about it.
For me it's hard to go from heating and hot water system in a home when I spend most time dealing with multiple apartments at once but that's why I'm on this forum so I don't loose the hole "smaller" system knowledge.

So the plumber did not install the geothermal system?
Your right the better way is to go on the bottom of tank with this issue.

H|P Capital

Alan

I also agree, there is nothing wrong with this setup.

The only issue I have with it is that it makes the top of the water heater awfully crowded.

We normally plumb them into the bottom of the tank.

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joeq

So the questions is do I need to add a check valve to the system to solve my problem?

http://joefrescoln.com/plumb/currentplumbing.png

Alan

Yes. Theoretically, the incoming pressure should always overpower the recirculating pump, but the problem is that depending on which bathroom you're using, the water is going to follow the path of least resistance. Totally dependent on the layout of your home.


There should be a check valve preventing the cold water from entering the recirculating loop, as well as a check valve preventing the recirculated water from entering the building's cold water system through the water heater's supply.

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