Speakeasy forum: I see we all survived the end of the world. What a

for a contractor to install your water heater. You can do it yourself without a permit. If you ask for an installation quote, however, the price doesn't include the permit. I believe the last quote I got for installation was about 250 bucks. That was 8 to ten years ago. I put my own water heaters in but it's rather a pain getting rid of the dead body.

need to call ahead and schedule. You put it by the road and the city contracted service will pick it up if some scapper doesn't beat them to it. Draining an old heat that's full of lime is a mess. Unless you're the Arnold, you can't just pick it up and walk out with it. Mine is in a basement. I'm not a strapping 20 year old anymore so the job isn't as easy as it was when we first moved in. I'm on my 4th heater now.

Have to wait a few days to go get a copper elbow as the T&P relief move on the new models but that's optional.

Back in my last town Guido took the dead body for 50 bucks. They used to pick up with a tag but now you get to deliver it to the dump and buy the tag there. Actually it goes to recycling but you pay now.
Bob

on the cold water inlet side. You need the type that can take the heat of your torch if you're going to sweat solder. Any water in the pipes prevents proper heating of the joint and you must let the solder connection cool slowly so the metal doesn't crystallize. Having that valve at the water heater might let you get away without turning off the main valve but you still can't use water while the pipes are cut. Your main valve is critical in that it's seldom used and prone to leaking after being turned on and off if you've got the older types using rubber innards. You don't want to shut that valve off and find that it needs to be replaced. Don't do this on a day when your water department isn't available to help in an emergency.

for gutter drainage. I do suspect you need to wait a while longer for bonding than with sweat soldering. There are various Teflon pipe thread sealers out there and some are meant for different uses like gas or hot water. I've never really been able threaded metal pipe to be completely leak proof. Heating and cooling may be part of the problem. Generally I see a small leak to self-seal after a while. I don't know if it forms a plug made of debris or the force exerted at the taper eventually distorts the metal enough to seal. I'm not a plumber but have worked with copper, brass, galvanized and black pipe. So far, no basement floods or gas explosions. We learn by making mistakes and I've made my share.

especially if the pieces have already been used. I'll clean and resin the threads and wick in a little solder after they're tightened. It's probably not code but it's my house.

pressure sealant. It's used to fill gaps under such as sink drain hardware to prevent leakage. It's benefit is that it doesn't harden.

I've not done that. You work with MAPP gas which is much hotter and I don't believe you use solder paste and you heat the connection to cherry red. I mean to try that sometime. You'll do with repairing high pressure lines such as in your air conditioner. You can do that with standard copper plumbing but I'd be careful to make sure your work wasn't near framing lumber. I used to keep asbestos sheets around as backing insulation when working within walls replacing tub and shower fixtures but haven't had to do that in a while.

I was lucky in that the cold inlet had a shutoff so the water to the rest of the home was still on, but cold only.

It was one of those small leaks so out with the wet+dry vac to hasten the drying.
Bob