Need Plumbing Advice

[Mr.Fitnah]

Why you want to mess with the meter?

Main feed comes in down by the floor then takes a 90 degree turn up to the first valve followed by the meter with what looks like a bypass system attached (like a large horizontal C) then to the second valve before going up to the basement ceiling.

Ahh down here the meter belongs to the city and is buried in the front yard ou dont mess with it and they dont mess with anything after the meter.Basements ? we dont have no stinking basments

 

[Ringel05]

Why you want to mess with the meter?

Main feed comes in down by the floor then takes a 90 degree turn up to the first valve followed by the meter with what looks like a bypass system attached (like a large horizontal C) then to the second valve before going up to the basement ceiling.

Ahh down here the meter belongs to the city and is buried in the front yard ou dont mess with it and they dont mess with anything after the meter.Basements ? we dont have no stinking basments

Here it depends on the year the house was built and the codes the county or locality had in place at the time.

 

[plumberbaltimor]

i 2nd demotion with SWAGGER: Yes, please consult a good plumber in your area, it might help you with your queries.

Plumber Baltimore

 

[Ringel05]

i 2nd demotion with SWAGGER: Yes, please consult a good plumber in your area, it might help you with your queries.

Plumber Baltimore

I did consult with a couple of good plumbers, both here on this board and yes, we figured out what the problem was, crap partially blocking the feed valve to the hot water tank. A new ball valve fixed the problem.

 

[Momanohedhunter]

Iron pipe or plastic of some type?
How old is the WH?

I would say the WH is plugged at a quick guess.
If iron pipe though could be a rust plugging issue.
Does water come out of the WH drain when you open it? And at a continued flow?
if so the problem is in the outlet of the WH or the associated plumbing.

I would shut off the gas or electric to the WH before testing/draining to avoid explosions, death that kind of undesireable events.

Also be sure the WH is completely filled before restoring the power/heat source.

Copper, electric don't know how old, we've been here 5 years. I guess I'll have to flush the WH tomorrow, hopefully that will fix the problem. I'm wondering if I can back flush from the washing machine hot water feed to clear any possible blockage at the feed side of the valves.... Older plumbing system, house built in 1972, don't imagine there will be a back flow preventer in the older system.
This might be a good time to replace the old gate valves with ball valves but will have to buy a new "torch", the old one went bad last year.
I've also been considering replacing the WH with a tankless system.

It sounds like you are getting plenty of good advise. The best I can recommend without seeing the problem would be to go to Home Depot and read through some of there books on plumbing and how to troubleshoot it. And not to say any goofball can do plumbing, but most of it is not hard to figure out. Good luck.

 

[Ringel05]

Iron pipe or plastic of some type?
How old is the WH?

I would say the WH is plugged at a quick guess.
If iron pipe though could be a rust plugging issue.
Does water come out of the WH drain when you open it? And at a continued flow?
if so the problem is in the outlet of the WH or the associated plumbing.

I would shut off the gas or electric to the WH before testing/draining to avoid explosions, death that kind of undesireable events.

Also be sure the WH is completely filled before restoring the power/heat source.

Copper, electric don't know how old, we've been here 5 years. I guess I'll have to flush the WH tomorrow, hopefully that will fix the problem. I'm wondering if I can back flush from the washing machine hot water feed to clear any possible blockage at the feed side of the valves.... Older plumbing system, house built in 1972, don't imagine there will be a back flow preventer in the older system.
This might be a good time to replace the old gate valves with ball valves but will have to buy a new "torch", the old one went bad last year.
I've also been considering replacing the WH with a tankless system.

It sounds like you are getting plenty of good advise. The best I can recommend without seeing the problem would be to go to Home Depot and read through some of there books on plumbing and how to troubleshoot it. And not to say any goofball can do plumbing, but most of it is not hard to figure out. Good luck.

Any professional contractor worth his or her salt avoids Home Depot like the plague. Oh and I have a library of non-harry homeowner books, like I said earlier in the thread, I used to build houses for a living.

 

[Ringel05]

Update:
The problem has resurfaced after the hot water feed valve replacement but now only worse. Yesterday I replaced the toilet feed valve in the main bathroom, turned the water back on and everything was fine. Later that night I got out of the shower, turned on the hot water in the sink then flushed the toilet. When I flushed the toilet there was a loud bang in the pipes downstairs and the hot water flow became a trickle, then no flow at all. Checked all the faucets and it was the same, no hot water flow. The cold works fine until I turn on the hot side then the flow diminishes also. I'm at a loss so I have a plumber scheduled for tomorrow morning. Can't wait to see what this is gonna cost me.