bigchale
Jan 10, 2008, 05:02 PM
Moved hot water tank 5 ft across the room. Now no water pressure. Have checked submersible pump & appears OK. Have checked pressure, etc in pressure tank. Seems OK also. Ever since we moved the hot water tank we have no pressure. Can't shower anymore as not enough pressure. Timed it this morning & it took 20 minutes for my tub to fill up enough to have a bath (its a normal sized tup). If someone is in bathroom with water running and you turn on the water in kitchen it just drizzles out. I have noticed if water isn't turned on for 1/2 hr or so that when it is first turned on it seems to have quite a bit of pressure but dwindles down to almost non existent in a few minutes. Any ideas or suggestions? Was fine before we moved the hot water tank... Kick on/off is set at 40/60
massplumber2008
Jan 11, 2008, 06:23 PM
Hey there BigChale... hopefully, I can help. Clearly you have a volume issue here... that's right... volume issue.. not pressure issue. You said it yourself... "I have noticed if water isn't turned on for 1/2 hr. or so that when it is first turned on it seems to have quite a bit of pressure but dwindles down to almost non-existent in a few minutes"... pressure is there... not volume.
First thought is that you may have shut a shutoff valve that has not reopened completely. Gate valves are famous for this as are some newer shutoff valves... point is you may need to replace the shutoff that you used to shut off the water to your water heater (or your home if you used a main water shutoff valve). Many older shutoffs look like they opened normally but their washer or stem have malfunctioned or broken in the cast shutoff valve body.
Another possibility... you said you moved water heater... if you used copper fittings... did you heat them in place on the nipples of the heater.. That would be a bad thing... would melt the plastic cold water dip tube and could reduce the volume of water into heater (i.e. reducing volume of water out).
Another possibility, again, if you used copper piping... did you oversolder a joint?? I mean is there... say... a copper pipe and fitting that was tough to solder and ended up getting overfilled... Hmmmm.. Sounds silly, but I have seen this 3 times in 26 years of doing this kind of work (and... 1 time it was me!. *ouch*). Similar can be said about CPVC pipe and fittings if you overglued them..
Anyway... seems to be a whole house issue. If it is, this info. Should help... if I misunderstood something, please let me know... good luck.
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