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Cindi Harris · Nov 18, 2012, 07:34 PM

Thursday washed a load of clothes in cold water and found a good size puddle of water by the washing machine. Thursday evening I was brave and did another load of laundry and hot water no leak. My husband took a shower before bed and although he didn't say anything at the moment, he later said that he remembered that the water wasn't as hot as usual. We ran the dishwasher at bedtime.

Friday morning at 7 when I got up we had no hot water. Because of work issues we couldn't work on it and it had to wait until Sat.

Saturday AM. We ran a few electrical tests and replaced the thermostat in the Hot Water Heater. While it was heating DH heard water running through the drain in the bathrooms and upon checking the clean out for the sewer he saw that there was a great deal of water running into the septic system. Eventually turned off all water to the house at the road.

Sunday AM we capped off the hot water to the washing machine as the ball valve is broke in the water spigot and just continues to turn so he got a cap, thus eliminating water running into the washing machine and back out to the drain. We replaced the emergency valve on the top of the water heater and as the old one didn’t allow overflow to drain off. We also unhooked the dishwasher to eliminate it as as a stuck valve or opening where the hot water would flow to the drain. Water was still pouring into the hot water heater and out so fast that the water couldn’t heat up. If the hot water heater is shut off at the valve no water drains through to the sewer. We even disconnected the water going into the hot water heater and hooked it up directly to the exit line and water was flowing through to the sewer.
We really think this is a stuck valve and have a friend who 25 years ago was a new construction plumber and came and helped try and eliminate things to no avail.

The one thing I haven't talked about or really checked is back in August my husband repaired the faucet in the bathtub shower. He was going to add an o-ring but had to replace a ball type part in this fixture. It has never felt right since then and I am wondering if that is where our problem is. Maybe we need to change out the mixer valve at the bathtub shower.

PJmax · Nov 18, 2012, 07:51 PM

Is your house on a slab ? If it is then you may have a broken pipe in the slab. If water was running into the clothes washer or dishwasher uncontrolled you would know. It would be all over the place.

Cindi Harris · Nov 18, 2012, 08:00 PM

Yes it is a slab, but no extra water anywhere but if you check the clean out out side going into the septic it looks like a water hose is running through the like and no faucets are turned on in the house.

PJmax · Nov 18, 2012, 08:31 PM

Wouldn't be the shower/tub... you'd see that. A toilet could cause the problem.

Cindi Harris · Nov 18, 2012, 08:58 PM

PJ how can a toilet cause this issue. It seams to be hot water and we have no hot water is piped to the toilet. We have turned off the toilet and still have water flowing through the lines unless we turn off the hotwater at the hot water heater. That said the sound of water flowing through the line is greatest at the toilet that lies just before the shower I was talking about. Our plumbing makes an L shape in the house.

PJmax · Nov 18, 2012, 09:28 PM

You turn your hot water heater off and the rest of the system is still live meaning that all the cold water lines are active. The water flow into the septic stops. You turn on the hot water and the flow into the septic starts. That means it's something in the hot water side. You'd see hot water running in a sink, you'd see it in the dishwasher, you'd see it in the clothes washer, you'd see it in the shower/tub... right ? And you don't see it any of those places ? Then the plumbing (a pipe) is leaking somewhere... usually in the slab where you can't see it.
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massplumber2008 · Nov 19, 2012, 06:09 AM

Hi Cindi

Let's back this up a bit and see what we can come up with, OK?

Since you eliminated the washer and dishwasher already you know these are not the issue.

The shower valve certainly seems like the next likely source for a cross connection, but a cross connection could be at any single lever faucet you have in your house. To eliminate these, just shut off the hot water shutoff under any sinks with the single handle faucets. If nothing obvious after that, it should leave only the shower valve.

With all that being said, however, you still haven't located the place where the water is entering into the drain pipe. Have you checked the T&P (temp. and pressure relief valve) discharge pipe out the top of the heater? You could have a faulty T&P valve.

How about a boiler/furnace or tankless coil... are these present in the home? If so, you need to go check/eliminate these discharge pipes/condensate drains or connections, too.

Let us know what you think...

Mark