9 Things Can Go Wrong If You Install A Water Heater By Yourself
Doing things on your own is something that is recommended and is a good habit when you talk of life. The DIY (Do It Yourself) culture is also something that we see as a growing one encouraging people to do their task on their own. Is going the DIY way a cool thing when it comes to electric or HVAC installation?
What would you do if you need water heater installation in San Diego, CA, San Jose, Austin, etc? Do it yourself or call a professional help? Most of the time you would say call a professional for installation of a water heater. For those of you who dare to do it yourself, well done. However, thinking of it and doing it actually is totally different. Yes, as you do it yourself you are prone to make many mistakes.
Discussing those mistakes here we are with a list of the common and major ones that you can do if you are doing the task on your own.
Picking Wrong Tank
This mistake is common if you have opted for a tank water heater. The tank size for your heater (and selection of heater capacity) depends upon the number of members in the family. If you go buy yourself you might end up choosing the wrong size without being able to properly assess the need as per members in house.
Poor Site Selection
Post the tank and heater selection the next big mistake is the choice of location or site for installation of the device. Generally what the idea would be to place the heater at a place from where you remove the old one. This might be kind of ok but not all time as maybe the problems of your previous heater was due to its location. Further, if you are installing it for the first time then there is more possibility of this mistake. Ask out for professional help here as heat dissipation, water flow, and the system’s functioning can be affected adversely by a selection of the wrong location.
Inefficient Soldering
Soldering is an important part of heater installation. To establish the connection between tank and water pipeline you need to solder it effectively. There are chances you might solder too close to the tank which is generally made of plastic. Further you can perform inefficient soldering as it is a precision task requiring patience.
Pressure Relief Valve
The pressure relief valve is there as a safety measure in the device. It controls the temperature and pressure of the device. If you make a mistake with the pressure relief valve then you are putting your heater to the threat of explosion. The general standards say that the valve should be placed 6 inches above the floor and placed at the side of the tank. This allows it to automatically open and relieve the pressure.
Lack Of Knowledge Of Material
Not being a professional there are high chances of you not having knowledge of the material to be chosen for piping. You may pick the metal ones in place of plastic and vice versa causing a mess. Further with your actions you affect the efficiency and warranty of the device as well.
Error In Metal Connections
Making compatible metal connections while installing and setting up the water heater is necessary. Say that with pipes made of copper you should have copper connectors and not iron or any other one. These incompatible metal connections can be the cause of leakage and corrosion in future.
Placing Drain Under Tank
It is advised to have a drain under the tank to collect water from any leakages or bursts. A standard size drain pan depending on the size of your water heater and its capacity made corrosion-resistant has to be installed. Lack of knowledge of corrosion-resistant material and estimation about the drain size can make a mistake here.
Neglecting Safety Precautions
Quite often people don’t pay much heed to the precautions and safety codes that are standardized and set for the purpose. A common of such errors is the switching on the heater ignoring whether the tank is full or not. This is called dry firing and can cause damage to the heater’s heating element or a gas leak (if the heater is gas based).
Delaying The Professional Help
During self installation we keep saying that it’s our first time or we are not professional so it’s ok. That’s where we keep delaying the professional help and by the time we ask for it the damage is already done. So, the first point where you feel that you are stuck don’t hesitate for a second to ask for help.
Conclusion
As we said that doing things on your own is cool but not when it’s about appliances. Asking for professional help for water heater installation can save all the mistakes that we discussed here. Leave alone the mistake, the risk of damage and even the heater bursting can be really threatening and dangerous which you must not take. In case you need more info here to get Water Heater Installation San Diego, or anywhere in California you can keep check our website.