Well, I live in a neighborhood about 15 years old. My next door neighbor's gas water heater just failed, as well as my neighbor across the street. Of course the builder didn't spend the extra nickel to put a pan and drain pipe under water heater so I am scared mine failing and damaging all kinds of stuff I have. I know how to sweat pipes and have actually installed a water heater in my old house, but haven't had to deal with expansion tanks, as they are new code requirement.
Expansion Tank Installation Diagram
So, I took a look at how my next door neighbor's water heater was installed by professional plumber. The plumber installed the expansion tank horizontally(tank horizontal attached to vertical pipe) which Watts literature says is okay - but only if you support the tank.
He didn't, it is just hanging there screwed into T-fitting. I have 2 options to install expansion tank when I buy new water heater next week. If I install the expansion tank vertically, I would have to extend the cold water supply a few feet on the ceiling, and then drop it straight down and back to the water heater. Would that be the best way to install the expansion tank, or should I just install it horizontally? If I do install it horizontally, what is the proper way to brace the expansion tank, given that the support would have to come from the ceiling? The closest wall is a foot or so away and is concrete that I'd rather not tap into.Thanks. I like the idea of just strapping it all to the ceiling joists.
I'll put new shutoff valve just upstream of it too. I know it will be a bit awkward to get at the shutoff valve in this setup, but not like I need to get at the shutoff a bunch of times every year anyway! My wife thinks I am over engineering this and installing the expansion tank horizontally even if it failed and filled with water would be no big deal. That's probably true, but there must be a good reason why the manufacturer says don't do this unless supported properly.
Click to expand.Most if the info on the web indicates that you can installan expansion tank vertically up or down, or horizontallysideways, or even on a 45 degree angle, anywhere onthe cold. While technically correct, it seems to me thattank up, connection at the bottom, close to & above theHWH intake would be best;Water would drain out of the tank, eliminating or reducing stagnate water.Semi stagnate water would go into HWH, hopefully sanitized, 140, not into cold drinking water.Completely drain each time system de-pressurized = no stagnate waterWould still function if bladder broke.Bladder could still be checked by de-pressurizing system, if tank psi holds bladder ok.Would drain out when replacing = low weight.Thoughts?
Whenever water is forced into the ET, whenever you later open a valve, the bladder in the tank pushes out that stored water, so it is exchanged on a regular basis regardless of orientation. Install it in any orientation the manufacturer allows, but also support it properly, as it will fill with water once the bladder fails and will become quite heavy. How long that is depends on a lot of factors such as the static pressure, the frequency of hot water use (how often the bladder stretches), and your water chemistry. Whenever water is forced into the ET, whenever you later open a valve, the bladder in the tank pushes out that stored water, so it is exchanged on a regular basis regardless of orientation. Install it in any orientation the manufacturer allows, but also support it properly, as it will fill with water once the bladder fails and will become quite heavy. How long that is depends on a lot of factors such as the static pressure, the frequency of hot water use (how often the bladder stretches), and your water chemistry. Click to expand.They're only heavy when they fail!
This is why they need to be properly supported. Under normal circumstances, if you've precharged it properly, they do not hold much water, and when they do (after a WH reheating cycle), when you open a valve to use hot water, that gets pushed out by the bladder for the most part. If the precharge equals the actual water pressure, the bladder will sit at its neutral point, and not be holding much of anything. When the heated water expands, it compresses the bladder, but if it is large relative to the amount of water, the pressure doesn't rise much at all.
If it is undersized, or underinflated, you'll have lots more water in it most of the time, and stretch it further than design, decreasing both its effectiveness and life, and, have a larger pressure change in the process. They're only heavy when they fail! This is why they need to be properly supported. Under normal circumstances, if you've precharged it properly, they do not hold much water, and when they do (after a WH reheating cycle), when you open a valve to use hot water, that gets pushed out by the bladder for the most part. If the precharge equals the actual water pressure, the bladder will sit at its neutral point, and not be holding much of anything. When the heated water expands, it compresses the bladder, but if it is large relative to the amount of water, the pressure doesn't rise much at all. If it is undersized, or underinflated, you'll have lots more water in it most of the time, and stretch it further than design, decreasing both its effectiveness and life, and, have a larger pressure change in the process.
Well, I live in a neighborhood about 15 years old. My next door neighbor's gas water heater just failed, as well as my neighbor across the street. Of course the builder didn't spend the extra nickel to put a pan and drain pipe under water heater so I am scared mine failing and damaging all kinds of stuff I have. I know how to sweat pipes and have actually installed a water heater in my old house, but haven't had to deal with expansion tanks, as they are new code requirement. So, I took a look at how my next door neighbor's water heater was installed by professional plumber.
The plumber installed the expansion tank horizontally(tank horizontal attached to vertical pipe) which Watts literature says is okay - but only if you support the tank. He didn't, it is just hanging there screwed into T-fitting. I have 2 options to install expansion tank when I buy new water heater next week. If I install the expansion tank vertically, I would have to extend the cold water supply a few feet on the ceiling, and then drop it straight down and back to the water heater.
Would that be the best way to install the expansion tank, or should I just install it horizontally? If I do install it horizontally, what is the proper way to brace the expansion tank, given that the support would have to come from the ceiling? The closest wall is a foot or so away and is concrete that I'd rather not tap into.Thanks. I like the idea of just strapping it all to the ceiling joists. I'll put new shutoff valve just upstream of it too.
I know it will be a bit awkward to get at the shutoff valve in this setup, but not like I need to get at the shutoff a bunch of times every year anyway! My wife thinks I am over engineering this and installing the expansion tank horizontally even if it failed and filled with water would be no big deal. That's probably true, but there must be a good reason why the manufacturer says don't do this unless supported properly. Click to expand.Most if the info on the web indicates that you can installan expansion tank vertically up or down, or horizontallysideways, or even on a 45 degree angle, anywhere onthe cold.
While technically correct, it seems to me thattank up, connection at the bottom, close to & above theHWH intake would be best;Water would drain out of the tank, eliminating or reducing stagnate water.Semi stagnate water would go into HWH, hopefully sanitized, 140, not into cold drinking water.Completely drain each time system de-pressurized = no stagnate waterWould still function if bladder broke.Bladder could still be checked by de-pressurizing system, if tank psi holds bladder ok.Would drain out when replacing = low weight.Thoughts? Whenever water is forced into the ET, whenever you later open a valve, the bladder in the tank pushes out that stored water, so it is exchanged on a regular basis regardless of orientation. Install it in any orientation the manufacturer allows, but also support it properly, as it will fill with water once the bladder fails and will become quite heavy.
How long that is depends on a lot of factors such as the static pressure, the frequency of hot water use (how often the bladder stretches), and your water chemistry. Whenever water is forced into the ET, whenever you later open a valve, the bladder in the tank pushes out that stored water, so it is exchanged on a regular basis regardless of orientation. Install it in any orientation the manufacturer allows, but also support it properly, as it will fill with water once the bladder fails and will become quite heavy.
How long that is depends on a lot of factors such as the static pressure, the frequency of hot water use (how often the bladder stretches), and your water chemistry. Click to expand.They're only heavy when they fail! This is why they need to be properly supported. Under normal circumstances, if you've precharged it properly, they do not hold much water, and when they do (after a WH reheating cycle), when you open a valve to use hot water, that gets pushed out by the bladder for the most part.
If the precharge equals the actual water pressure, the bladder will sit at its neutral point, and not be holding much of anything. When the heated water expands, it compresses the bladder, but if it is large relative to the amount of water, the pressure doesn't rise much at all. If it is undersized, or underinflated, you'll have lots more water in it most of the time, and stretch it further than design, decreasing both its effectiveness and life, and, have a larger pressure change in the process. They're only heavy when they fail! This is why they need to be properly supported. Under normal circumstances, if you've precharged it properly, they do not hold much water, and when they do (after a WH reheating cycle), when you open a valve to use hot water, that gets pushed out by the bladder for the most part.
If the precharge equals the actual water pressure, the bladder will sit at its neutral point, and not be holding much of anything. When the heated water expands, it compresses the bladder, but if it is large relative to the amount of water, the pressure doesn't rise much at all. If it is undersized, or underinflated, you'll have lots more water in it most of the time, and stretch it further than design, decreasing both its effectiveness and life, and, have a larger pressure change in the process.