# t&p relief valves



## ap plumbing (Nov 9, 2010)

I have a queston if you have a t&p relief valve on a water heater but there is no way to run the discharge line outside. Whats the solution? I heard you have to install an emergency shutoff but how are they installed ? thanks for the help


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

Here they would require it to be discharged to the pan. As an added measure you could install a water alarm in the pan.


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## Ron (Jun 12, 2008)

Not required if existing water heater never had one. Like for like. An exception in the OPSC book.


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## grandpa (Jul 13, 2008)

If they are allowed in your area, you install this on the gas supply
http://www.watts.com/pages/_products_details.asp?pid=3435
and also install a simple pressure relief on the cold water supply somewhere outside the building.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

Stub it down into the safety pan. Or if there is a dedicated 3/4" line for the T&P stubbed out of the wall, then use that. Some of the older condos have a 1/2" copper line stubbed out of the wall for the T&P relief, I won't tie into that, but I'll 90 the T&P down into the pan, (this assumes of course that the pan has a drain to the outside.)


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## Optimus Primer (May 20, 2009)

Tommy plumber said:


> Stub it down into the safety pan. Or if there is a dedicated 3/4" line for the T&P stubbed out of the wall, then use that. Some of the older condos have a 1/2" copper line stubbed out of the wall for the T&P relief, I won't tie into that, but I'll 90 the T&P down into the pan, (this assumes of course that the pan has a drain to the outside.)


Down to pan with airgap


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

If I can't run it outside or pipe it to the clothes washer box standpipe, then I install an indirect drain.

My insurance company would **** little green nickels if I walked away from an install without providing an alternative to a flooded basement.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

Years back, our code allowed a T&P relief line to be trapped, for example: the T&P lines were looped under the slab when the ground-roughs were done. Now, however the T&P lines can't be trapped.




edit: perhaps our code didn't actually allow it, but we did it in the field and inspectors never failed it.


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## NYC Plumber (May 4, 2011)

Tommy plumber said:


> Years back, our code allowed a T&P relief line to be trapped, for example: the T&P lines were looped under the slab when the ground-roughs were done. Now, however the T&P lines can't be trapped.
> 
> edit: perhaps our code didn't actually allow it, but we did it in the field and inspectors never failed it.


What would be the point of traping a relief line?


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

NYC Plumber said:


> What would be the point of traping a relief line?


 



Down here, we have almost no basements, so with slab-on-grade houses, all the DWV and water lines are under the slab. So when we would loop the water lines, we'd loop the T&P relief line as well. This technically trapped the line because the T&P line came up outside the form board (which was the foundation) and terminated outside or it was stubbed up in the slab to later be 90'ed out of the slab after the slab got poured, but before the block masons built the walls. What can I say, it's a Florida thing.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

Here's a quick sketch in case you didn't picture what I was trying to explain.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Tommy plumber said:


> Here's a quick sketch in case you didn't picture what I was trying to explain.


That would be illegal here.
The T&P line must be pitched to drain dry....
An Ice Plug could get nasty....:yes:


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## ap plumbing (Nov 9, 2010)

:laughing:would a pan be enough ?emergency shuttoff would turn off the gas if it discharge any pressure i guess . just not sure what to do . maybe i should ask a plumber:laughing:


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## Optimus Primer (May 20, 2009)

Tommy plumber said:


> Here's a quick sketch in case you didn't picture what I was trying to explain.


Oh no you didn't. If there is going to be any drawing here it's going to be by me. No for real, I remember doing it that way. Used to do pan drains too like that. Can't do them anymore


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

Recently had a house where the water heater was originally installed in the middle of the house in a closet. On initial install no pan no relief line, home over 50 years old. No crawl space, the floor of the home does sit roughly 12 inches higher than the outside grade.
State Farm was scheduled to leave the area and the home owner had to get new insurance and no insurance company would insure the home with the existing heater location and no drain pan or relief line.
2 choices break the floor up and jet a new line for the pan or relocate the water heater to the garage. We (home owner and me) chose to relocate the water heater.
How difficult would it be to relocate the water heater?


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

*condensation pump*

we recently got into a situation where their was no
way to drain a water heater in a finished basement

the basement had just flooded out with the floor drains
all pernamently plugged due to constant sewage backage from the streets....

the heater blew and flooded everything.. so the insurance company was not happy to just do nothing
and they were watching us like hawks for an acceptable solution....


I tried to talk them into a sump pump pit in the basement but that was not gonna happen.
eventually , they will have to install this sump pump .. when they can come up with the
cash to do it,,,
its just not in the budjet for now......
--------------------------------------------------------------

the only solution we came up with was to raise the heater up on 6 a inch block platform,,,, 
then install it in a pan.. and install a thermal expansion tank.... drop the t+p into the pan

then we had to install a *condensation pump* on the floor and pump it overhead to the laundry drain....

the only concren is how much hot water a condensation pump will pump before it has issues, and how much volume it will pump if the heater would have a catastrophic leak again...

they were happy ... for now anyway-


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## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

Here we can run them up as long as you have a drain valve @ the lowest point.


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## Epox (Sep 19, 2010)

In the cases where the original drains can't drain dry the inspector here allows us to put a tee in the vertical, with a boiler drain on bottom side so one can be sure the line is empty. Course no one is going to check it but that's the resolve we have.


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## ap plumbing (Nov 9, 2010)

Have u guys heard of a emergency shuttoff that u install in place of the t&p relief valve.:blink: I never installed one before:blink:


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

ap plumbing said:


> Have u guys heard of a emergency shuttoff that u install in place of the t&p relief valve.:blink: I never installed one before:blink:


These? http://www.watts.com/pages/_products_details.asp?pid=3435

A relief valve is still required...


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