Hi!

I’m hoping this group can help me. I live in a 100 year old, very large, 12 unit condo complex. (I’m the HOA treasurer) We just had our hot water tank replaced and the plumber told us that in CA we are not allowed to turn our hot water temp above 120 due to scale issues.

However, when the temp is 120 at the tank, it is not 120 out of every faucet, particularly mine, which reaches about 100 at 120.

I’ve had my unit looked at internally and was told (by a plumber) that the difference in my temp vs others is the distance from the tank. I’m probably not the only unit affected but I turned the temp in the tank back up ( historically it’s been at 180 from my kitchen faucet OW but I have a mixer)

To get the water at 120 consistently, we have to bump the temp to 140+. The plumber who did the installation says this is too hot and is a scald issue. Units closer to the tank get very hot water. It’s not uniform. The previous board was insulating the pipes but because if funding the job went unfinished. We will work on finishing this but are trying to get our financials in a row after years of mismanagement.

We are residential and hot water is lovely. Can anyone give me some educated advice here?

I was called to check the small tankless hot water heater in the HR office kitchenette and found this glorious install! It’s a granite countertop that never had the proper hardware installed so I guess where there’s a will there’s a way.

I installed a hot water heater today, and unfortunately had to do some soldering. The line that was connected to the previous hot water heaters cold or inlet line had a corroded valve on the upstream side. The hot side did not have a valve. When I replaced the corroded valve and l closed the valve to do a pressure/leak check and turned my water supply on. My “hot” water line started pouring cold water out and didn’t have a valve. First mistake. Did a bit of googling somewhere said possibly a pressure issue so I connected it to the hot water heater just like the previous one was in order to fill it up to see if it would go away. Awhile later my wife said her water was nice and hot in the shower but went away fairly quick. I went out to check and the hot water side line was cold and the cold water side was warmish.

My questions are: Did the previous owner/installer really install them wrong and with no valve on the supply line? Or is there a possibility that there may be a bad check valve that causes this? Or should I just install a valve and cross the lines over and call it good?

Any help would be appreciated.

I'm looking at a couple of bathtubs from a plumbing company in India. It seems they offer 5 year warranty on the plain acrylic models but only 2 years on the steel enameled models.

Any reasons why this could be the case?

Does it possibly imply their acrylic is better quality than the steel/enamel?

I'm an apprentice plumber in Los Angeles, California. I work for a small company of 4 people and started with them 4 months ago. I had zero experience as a plumber or in construction, and had never used tools before, but now I'm much better. We sometimes do remodeling and construction projects, but mostly we work in service. My boss pays me $150 per day. Schedule is 6 days a week, 7am-7pm (sometimes earlier, sometimes later, but average end time is 7pm). I'm very tired and frustrated lately. It would be easier mentally if I got paid overtime. Am I being a pussy about this job, or does everyone get paid and work like this in the beginning? I'm thinking about spending 1 full year with this company to get as much experience as I can and then move to another company with better conditions. And yes, no medical insurance - I'm working as an independent contractor.

Should i go to trade school? Just start with an apprenticeship? I’m kind of lost on what to do, i just got out of a the military and want to become a plumber, where should i start and how should i go about it? TIA!!

Hey friends.

This past summer I moved into a new house. When we moved in, the sewer line was clogged. Taking showers made the toilets bubble.

Called a plumber, snaked out the line from the clean out, all is good. Previous owner flushed a bunch of plastic flossers.

Now, about 7 months later during my shower the toilet started to bubble and the drains around the house smelled bad. Toilets also wouldn’t flush.

Ah great another clog.

As I was looking for my plumbers number, I heard a rush of water and both of my toilets in separate parts of the house went dry.

Tried flushing, and they flushed no problem. Shower didn’t cause bubbling toilet either.

Strange.

Did I have a clog in my sewer drain for just a minute and it went through?

No busted pipes anywhere, very strange. The last time this happened it was completely blocked up.

I'm a first time homeowner. I need to buy a washer but this white PVC pipe is just hanging out on the floor. What is it? Why is it there and can I remove it?

https://preview.redd.it/jyujo38zfvge1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=557877cda0d247921573ab45e70dfa73d2317d93

https://preview.redd.it/5sw3248zfvge1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b47f2b7d36191eabda53a482a4892f4ab80eb3ea

Installed this today at the house I rent today.

Roast Walter Whites Plumbing!

So I’m had my share of digital/analog sensors over the years. My partner had one of these installed in the house recently and I started to monitor it’s output. They have a minimum flow resolution in native unit of 0.1 gpm.

Here’s where the fun starts. Only 1 faucet, one toilet, and a recently redone shower are plumbed in. None are leaking. The Flo is registering ~39 gallons of usage each day with no actual usage.

House was built in ‘94 in SoCal. Interior plumbing is distributed through the attic. The Flo is about 2’ downstream of the main shutoff. The irrigation is branched off just before the main shutoff.

I have a feeling that maybe, just maybe I’d notice a 40 gallon per day leak. I do need to flip the main valve to verify that the flow rate of 0 in the Flo is not software defined because it thinks its own valve is turned off. But aside from that, how would you go about figuring out this conundrum?

https://preview.redd.it/4pi90tb69vge1.png?width=1021&format=png&auto=webp&s=17176a53fd2fea1bb7e38c0ddee2fad3859b5500

I have this Vesta VRP-199 water heater, i guess its a Korean brand, was already in the house when I moved in. It leaked a few months ago and I found the spare o-rings in the bag taped behind the the door. Inside they have metal tubes that connect between the tank and burner etc, and they push in with these gaskets/o-rings and then they have a metal clamp to hold it together. After a few months its leaking again, i'm guessing maybe the gaskets are too old even in the bag. I can NOT find them anywhere, they're like double ribbed. I'm contacting Vesta now but they are not really good at responding, last time I filled out an online form, never got a response. Anyone know where I can get these o-rings? What they're called?

.

Hi! I have a totally newbie question!
I have a Vanfoxle shower system and wanted to know if I can switch the shower head to a Symmons one.
I noticed that Vanfoxle has a higher GPM than Symmons, so I don’t think that would be an issue, but I’m wondering if I need to check anything regarding water pressure before switching.
Is there anything else I should check before making the switch?

Thank you in advance!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vanfoxle-Single-Handle-1-Spray-3-Spray-Patterns-Shower-Faucet-1-8-GPM-with-Pressure-Balance-10-in-Shower-Head-Brushed-Gold-10-inches-A3C-BG/329603434

https://www.amazon.com/Symmons-352SH-BBZ-1-5-Showerhead-Brushed-Bronze/dp/B07CYF5BM7?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&gQT=1&th=1

A few years ago I bought this kit. It's already not working well and I've tried YouTube tricks. The Handle sticks, slow filling, etc. Is there a quality brand to buy? Kohler Brand toilet. I'm willing to pay a bit more for the quality.

I’m in the research phase of putting in a new bathtub. Looking for something with a decent depth for soaking (currently 10” depth feels like a kiddy pool). I’ve found a few that look promising from their specs.. the Delta Classic 500, the Wyndham Collection Grayley, and the Kohler Underscore (especially the last two at 16” and 15.5” depths!) But damn if the reviews don’t have me worried. Every single tub keeps getting 1 star reviews over and over for thin fiberglass issues, voids/pockets that chip out, finish peeling, drains that are poorly designed and don’t seal, and cracks forming after use anywhere between a month and a year later. There’s also some creaking/flexing issues that sound like a mortar bed install would alleviate, so no big deal there.

So now I ask.. are all of these people wrong? Are new tubs just thin junk? Is there something decent out there that will last if properly installed?

Was hoping to spend around $1000 on the tub (not including drains, materials, etc), to give an idea about the approximate budget I’m looking for. But if $1000 doesn’t buy anything worth having let me know!

If someone lives in an apartment, and their bathroom has a wall facing the outside, at what temperature do you recommend to start dripping the faucets to prevent pipes freezing?

This is so bizarre… there’s absolutely no noise coming from the toilet when it’s used normally during the day, BUT if it’s flushed in the middle of the night, it makes a constant dripping noise!!!

Any idea why it only occurs in the middle of the night?!?