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Posted by Mike Hartigan on December 9, 2006, 5:10 pm
dpbozarth@swko.net says...
>
> Mike Hartigan wrote:
> > hallerb@aol.com says...
> > >
> > > Don Phillipson wrote:
> ...
> > > There are water heater drain pans the heaters sit in with a outlet to
> > > drain them, add a water sensor so you KNOW its in trouble.
> >
> > Sounds perfect! Unfortunately, I used solid copper pipe when I
> > installed these, so I wouldn't be able to simply slide them under the
> > tanks without doing some plumbing work. While not a BIG problem, I
> > was hoping for something simpler. This may, nevertheless, be the
> > route that I eventually take.
> ...
>
> Will need to plumb in a drain line anyway if you are intending to make
> this nearly foolproof (and, of course, that still doesn't account for
> the possible relief valve letting go some time), so unless there's a
> local drain that you could essentially turn into a shower floor type
> basin by pouring a lip around, there's still plumbing to be done since
> there's no way the drip pan will hold more than a few gallons at most.
There's a drain about 1 foot away, so that's not a problem. Indeed,
with my current setup, the last time a tank died, the water only
spread out to about a 2' radius. I'm not talking copious amounts of
water here - just enough to cause a headache.
> While doing it, modify the plumbing connections to either use a union
> if keep the hard copper or make a transition w/ the flexible lines
> designed specifically for water heaters so when you do need to replace
> one it is a doable chore w/o soldering required at that time...
Soldering is not a problem and I think the flexible lines have a DIY
look to them - tacky, IMO. I already have dielectric unions, so as
long as a new tank is exactly the same height as the tank it's
replacing, there's no need to solder.
> On the original note, if there's a requirement for a sump pump in a
> basement, I'd certainly not be satisfied that there's no moisture
> problem for flooring w/o significant preparation solely by the plastic
> sheet test for a few days...that's indicative you may be able to solve
> the moisture problem but isn't anyways close to a conclusive test. In
> other words, it's kinda' like the old math theorem phrase--"necessary,
> but not sufficient."
A sump pump is required in all new construction in my village. I'm
told that it was a broad brush, knee-jerk solution to an isolated,
though severe, flooding event some twenty years ago. It's not an
indication of drainage problems.
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