Community Forums

brobox · 07-27-2019, 04:12 PM

Vance, been watching the posts and learning. I remember your "flood" a couple of years ago and experienced the same thing with the AC handler in the attic...like you twice. The second time no water damage thanks to a "new" float switch but it still flooded. Like others mentioned, I moved the new AC out of the attic into the garage a re-plumbed everything. It worked! List night my thermostat shut of then back on several time. The drain was plugged causing the float switch to shut the thermostat off. As the water slowly drained the AC would come back on. Drove me nuts trying to find the problem. Long story short, new tech items works! In this case glad we were home. Mold is bad in FL without an AC running while you are gone. As NowaBeachbum said, every situation is different, but we are here to help each other. Thank to all of you that helped!

I want to thank those that offered links and how you upgraded for those of us that travel and don't know everything. Some are really good ideas that will work in one of my situations.

I am on an irrigation well so my lawn is covered while the water is shut off to the house. However I had problems keeping the pool filled. The pool service filled the pool, but left the water on and only closed the hose nozzle. The hose split, before a neighbor saw water running in the yard A $1,400 water bill for hiring a "professional".
I found this item https://www.amazon.com/Rola-Chem-M-3...s%2C175&sr=8-5
Connected it to one of the sprinkler lines and it keep the pool filled perfectly.

Vance if you can bypass the house and just run the sprinklers, this works for the pool coming off a sprinkler head line. I am on my second year with it. Took me about an hour to install it.

TXBart · 07-27-2019, 05:58 PM

Chuck,

Reference the keyboard warriors. We have Flood Stops at the attic water heater (see my original post), washer and dish washer. We have someone that checks the house once a week while we’re gone though we didn’t tell him what to do if he heard a beep from the attic. We can now turn off water to both water heaters and have a more effective electronic water turn off for leaks. I do not regret my prior planning as inclusive as some of the haters that have responded to this post which results in a total regret to posting in the first place.

Trust me, after coming home to the devastation we experienced a couple years ago we thought we had done everything we could do considering our property’s needs. Our preparation worked about 90% this time, the Flood Stop didn’t work completely but the water heater pan saved the day.

I thank responders like you and Gary (Nowabeachbum) and others for your support. My intent was to inform, not to be made to feel like the village idiot.

PS - In 65 years of water heater experience I had my first water heater failure, who would think I would have another 3 years later? At least this time we were better prepared.

mlacute1 · 07-27-2019, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXBart

We got home late yesterday afternoon, 29 nights and 4,100 miles. Great trip! Only issue was a dead water pump.

I heard a faint beeping when I walked down the hall at home. Pulled the attic stairs down and confirmed the beeping was from the flood stop at our attic water heater! Some recall when we came home from 8 weeks on the road a few years ago to be greeted by a split water heater and $53,000 damage to the back of our house! This time the water was contained. Plumber is replacing the water heater right now. Different brand going in this time!

I turn power off to both heaters when we leave but cannot turn water off completely because of lawn and pool water needs.

We have the same issue at our Florida home, teed around main coming in, so we can isolate house but keep pool and sprinklers going. Hope it helps

brobox · 07-28-2019, 10:16 AM

keyboard warriors, I like that.

Probably the same type that tell multi million dollar a year quarterbacks how to play the game on every play.

willbush · 08-01-2019, 02:57 PM

Need to put in a y split and run one to sprinklers and the other to the house;not that hard to do;we are lucky as we have on for irrigation and one for the house

Agab328 · 08-01-2019, 03:31 PM

Have plumber put shut off valve just before heater and use it before road trip. Had to do it for bathroom in attic because it would freeze.

Jamie65 · 08-01-2019, 04:04 PM

Split my system so that water to the house is cut off, sprinkler system is separate

mustangman · 08-01-2019, 05:04 PM

Never saw a water heater w/o a valve to shut off water to it.Also best to have no burst water lines to washer and dish washer. For ac units in attic,if older unit you can use a stinger vacuum to clear drain lines.All new ac units will have a kill switch installed in drain line,this is by codes.

nehog · 08-01-2019, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXBart

We got home late yesterday afternoon, 29 nights and 4,100 miles. Great trip! Only issue was a dead water pump.

I heard a faint beeping when I walked down the hall at home. Pulled the attic stairs down and confirmed the beeping was from the flood stop at our attic water heater! Some recall when we came home from 8 weeks on the road a few years ago to be greeted by a split water heater and $53,000 damage to the back of our house! This time the water was contained. Plumber is replacing the water heater right now. Different brand going in this time!

I turn power off to both heaters when we leave but cannot turn water off completely because of lawn and pool water needs.

First you should be able to turn off the hot water only. But regardless you may want to consider a split water system where you can shut off the water for the entire house while leaving the pool/lawn water on.

abqdan · 08-01-2019, 05:31 PM

In our location water heaters have to be on a drip tray with an outlet that drains to the exterior of the building. If the water heater leaks, the water runs outside. And you might consider sensors for water leaks to add to your alarm system.

TXBart · 08-01-2019, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abqdan

In our location water heaters have to be on a drip tray with an outlet that drains to the exterior of the building. If the water heater leaks, the water runs outside. And you might consider sensors for water leaks to add to your alarm system.

Reread my posts. My water heaters are in trays. I have sensors with water shut offs. Previous event I did not have the sensors and the tray drain failed or could not keep up with the volume or water. This time the sensor partially worked but the tray did and there was no water damage. And now I can shut off water to both my water heaters when we go on a trip.

StageCoachDr · 08-01-2019, 05:51 PM

We usually turn off the feed into our water heater is we're going to be away for more than 4 or 5 days. Keeps the spill down to 50 gallons. :/

Mark 7 · 08-01-2019, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nowabeachbum

I realize that it’s a little late now but Marathon water heaters have a lifetime warranty and have a 100% fiberglass shell.
Not cheap but great piece of mind!

I've got a Marathon... 1st one did start leaking after 20 years, but it was not catastrophic. I could not figure out where. I even put a bore scope camera into the hot water outlet to examine the tank and could not find a crack. In any case Marathon replaced it through Menards after the original seller (Grainger) told me to go away!

When I leave, there is no need for water anywhere so the supply to the house gets shut off. Just don't want to take any chances when nobody will be around to limit the damage. I also shut off the power to the water heater.

Off topic a little... when I got home after out last 1 week trip, the hot water temp was still at 90˚ out of the tap! I have it set at 120˚ normally. I thought a 30˚ drop in 1 week was pretty impressive. Love the Marathon heater.

glenthompson · 08-01-2019, 06:22 PM

If you need to have water on for other purposes have you considered changing your plumbing so those feeds are before a second main shutoff? I had a house with a manifold system that allowed me to shut off individual locations.

I currently have a leak sensor that communicates with a shut off on the water main. If it detects a leak the water main gets shut off and I get a message about it. When we’re on a trip I can turn the water heater on/off remotely along with the water main. Saves a lot of energy but allows me to have hot water when I get home.