Hot water pressure low (pictures)

1325 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by bluefoxicy, Dec 12, 2012

bluefoxicy

Discussion Starter · Dec 12, 2012 (Edited)

So I disassembled my water heater pipeline and tested it. Cold water in, hot water tank (there's a valve for testing on the tank), and hot water out. All three have full pressure.

Just down the line, the washing machine has 70% pressure on hot water versus cold water. Kitchen is 70% or so, and bathroom upstairs is VERY slow, maybe 30%.

Coming off the water tank

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/411633_4399005366630_342430554_n.jpg
This is where that pipe goes. Branch off to washing machine follows down the line. Branch off to kitchen follows after a 90 bend, which the cold water pipe also has.

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/256383_4399010806766_4091156_n.jpg
This is down the line. The hot water line has 5 more bends, cold has 2 more. This is after the kitchen, before the bathroom.

I'm thinking:

Run the flexible hose into a 1 inch connector that goes to 2 inch pipe
Run the 2 inch pipe out past the cold water line, connect to main hot water line

I'm hoping the 2 inch pipe will provide less resistance around three 90 degree bends than 1 inch pipe. If I run the pipe sloping down, I can make that two 90 degree bends. Alternately, I could make it a complete run of flex pipe?

Getting the hot water line on the opposite side will eliminate all that stupid crap in the third image. That's 2 bends in the cold water line and 4 in the hot water line.

Good start?

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joecaption

· #2 · Dec 12, 2012

#1 Are those supply line PVC or CPVC. Againt code to use PVC for anything except drain lines.
No way do you need any more then 1" line as a main run. Most home are done with 3/4" and work just fine.
Unless your running a rooming house with 10 bathrooms forget about changing it to 2".
That's on funky plumbing job with all those elbows, but that not what's causing the problum.
Did you remove the aireators on the faucets and shower head to see if there pluged up?
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...97C96515F9373A0491B75DBC1B19DE42956C3&first=1

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ddawg16

· #3 · Dec 12, 2012

Yikes.....don't want to be around that when those pipes break......at least put some staps on them on the floor joist.....

When you talk about pressure, do you really mean flow? As in, only 30% of the flow? Have you measured your actual pressure? Remember, for about every 10' of vert rise, you get about a 5 PSI drop in pressure.

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TheEplumber

· #4 · Dec 12, 2012

The first place I'd look is the hw outlet nipple at the tank. Sometimes they will start to plug because of their interior design

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bluefoxicy

Discussion Starter · #5 · Dec 12, 2012

TheEplumber said:
The first place I'd look is the hw outlet nipple at the tank. Sometimes they will start to plug because of their interior design

I took the intake and hot water outlet hoses off at the tank and at the CPVC, respectively, to test. I also tested the port on the tank face. Getting 2 gal/sec from both, I think the problem is in the piping somewhere past the tank. Filled a 5gal bucket in a few seconds...

Everything is slow. Washing machine, kitchen, bathroom.

Yeah I am eyeballing flow. I lose almost a third at the washing machine. Upstairs the cold water eclipses the hot. Showerhead is new AND I removed the flow restrictor so..

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