I was messing around trying to fix my sink. The hot water wouldn't turn all the way off, and the water knob under the sink is so old and rusted that, when I tried to loosen it with a wrench, it sprung a leak and..... to make a long story short, I need to cut the hot water off at the source. I seem to have managed to do this by moving a lever on the pipe coming out of the hot water heater into the "off " position. My question is....is it ok to turn that lever off? Am I going to cause the water heater to back up and explode or anything? I doubt that Ican get a plumber out until Monday. I don't mind not having hot water....I just dont' want to blow up my basement !
2006-09-16 06:00:26 · 7 answers · asked by Schleppy 5 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
I just realized from Kim R.'s answer that I didn't make myself clear...I already tried the silver, football-shaped knob under the sink, but it is so rusted that turning it caused a leak to start in the pipe itself.
2006-09-16 06:10:57 · update #1
So Mustella Frenata....I actually do have two shut off valves, one on the incoming pipe and one on the outgoing. Are you saying if I turn off the one going out, but not the one coming in, I don't have to shut off the power?
2006-09-16 06:33:57 · update #2
Nope, that is just the isolation valve. It's whole purpose is to shut off hot water so that you can do repairs.
Now, I am assuming you have a hot water heater like mine where the isolation vale is actually on the cold water INLET to the water heater (so that you can turn it off to replace the water heater without having to shut off cold water to the whole house). Feel the two pipes -- the hotter one is the outlet, the cooler one is the inlet. They are also almost always marked on the water heater, but on old ones it can be really hard to read.
If it is going to be shut off for more than a few hours (that is, you are not going to be able to have someone fix the faucet today) then you should shut the gas or electricity off to the water heater or turn it all the way down, so that it can't slowly evaporate away all the water that is till inside it (since the outlet has a leak). Instructions for how to do that should be on a plate on the side of the water heater. You don't need to do this immediately, but it should be done within a couple hours.
If your isolation valve is actually on the OUTLET valve (rare, but could be the case) or if you have isolation valves on both the inlet and the outlet, then just shutting off the valve from the water heater outlet to the rest of the house is OK and you don't need to worry about shutting down the hot water heater itself. There is nowhere for the water to evaporate to, and even if it did then the inlet will replace it with fresh cold water.
Be very careful about shutting off gas water heaters. Ideally you want to shut off the main burner without shutting off the pilot light (this guarantees any gas that might sneak through will be burned). Most gas water heaters will have a control knob that can be set to "off" or "vacation" while leaving the pilot light lit. Don't try to shut off the gas supply (at the wall) unless there is no way to shut down the water heater itself -- it is possible that a leaky valve could let enough gas trickle through after the flame is out to slowly build up a dangerous level of gas later, that could flash or explode when you try to relight the pilot light. BTW, your local gas company will usually send someone around for free to relight the pilot just to be sure it is done safely, if you do the repairs yourself. If you have a plumber do the repairs, have him relight the water heater when he is done.
Oh yeah, one last note -- if you leave the water heater on and you have turned the outlet valve off and the water heater is fairly old (over 10 years), check to make sure the overflow or relief valve pipe (which usually comes out of the top of the heater) has a bucket or something to catch any water that starts coming out of it, or that it vents to the outside of the house. It shouldn't start venting just because you close some valves, but with really old water heaters who knows -- they can sometimes do odd things. Better safe than sorry.
While working on this one repair, go around and check all the other faucet isolation valves under each of your other sinks -- others may need fixing too while you are at it.
This is also a good reminder to go around and close all of those valves down then open them upo again once a month or so, to make sur they never get this badly stuck again. Thanks for reminding me, I need to go do so myself right now!
=== RESPONSE ===
Yep, if you have two shutoff valves at the heater, just turn off the OUTLET valve (the hotter one if they are not labelled) and you don't have to worry about shutting off the water heater. I would still put a bucket under the overflow pipe if it opens to the inside of the home or garage, though -- just to be sure...
2006-09-16 06:08:07 · answer #1 · answered by Mustela Frenata 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No you wont hurt the water heater at all. Turn it off and then fix the problem at the sink. Go back down and turn the water back on. Then later, fix the shutoff under the sink. It is best to replace them both if you doing it!! But dont be afraid to turn the hot water valve off! Good luck!! Any questions just zip me an e-mail! I'll walk you through it!!
2006-09-16 13:02:03 · answer #2 · answered by djjay_2000_00 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes ,you can but by doing so ,you shouldn't have any water-- if its electric find the breaker and turn it off, if it's gas turn off the pilot light in front of the water heater ( most are a red knob )and the plumber will make it all right when he fixes it
2006-09-16 06:08:20 · answer #3 · answered by Ladder Captain-29 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi, if the water is dripping off a lightbulb , just leave the light off, poke some small holes through the ceiling where the water is dripping, this will allow it to come through and not sit on the plasterboard, which will drop if it gets very very wet. So poke holes, let the water out and collect it in buckets. Turn the water off if possible in the street, although this may turn other people off too and cause more problems, and it might not even stop the water because it could be a hot water tank that is leaking which is already filled with 200 litres. Stop taps are always turned CLOCKWISE to turn them off, not anticlock. Yes if you have insurance call them.
2016-03-27 04:05:02 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should have a water cutoff under the sink. It is probably silver and football shaped. I don't think that you are going to cause your hot water heater to blow up.
2006-09-16 06:08:09 · answer #5 · answered by kim 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can do that. Thats is you best bet. Or you can turn off all hot water to you house using the hot water heater. It won't explode. Althought that would be cool (not for you tho).
2006-09-16 06:10:46 · answer #6 · answered by Barack The Boat!™ 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think it will hurt anything.
2006-09-16 06:14:03 · answer #7 · answered by Steve B 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋