[JPI1]

I have a question regarding relocating my water heater. I am trying to connect the piping in the new location but am running into a snag. The original installer used very short connections for the hot and cold coming out of the tank. Too short for me to cut and sweat on a coupling. So I would like to unthread the adapters that go into the tank and start over. But it doesn't look like the original installer used teflon tape and they look a little rough w/ light corrosion. I through a wrench on them and put a little bit of pressure but they didn't budge.
Can I really bear down on these or will I risk damaging the taps to the tank?
Will liquid wrench or something else help me break the threaded connection?
I don't want to sweat off the connection to the adapter in place as I read that applying heat too close to the tank could damage it.
I really would like to get these off and start from scratch opposed to cutting or sweating off as all connections are poorly done.
Thank all for your help.
Jason

[speedball1]

Hi Jason,

Can I really bear down on these or will I risk damaging the taps to the tank?

Put some muscle into it and get those adapters out of there.

I don't want to sweat off the connection to the adapter in place as I read that applying heat too close to the tank could damage it.

If you put heat on the cold water inlet you will melt the plastic dip tube.
How I get around this is to take two 3/4" male adapters and solder a 6" piece of copperr on each one. After they cool you can wrap the threads with Teflon Tape and install them. This way you can solder on a elbo without harming anything. Good luck and thank you for raying my answer. Tom

[Milo Dolezal]

Use large pipe wrench. The larger the easier it will go.

You can use water heater flex connectors to connect heater and pipes. They come in lengths up to 24".