Forums > Specific Focus > Home, Garden & Construction in Mexico

terrorr

Feb 8, 2009, 6:26 AM

Post #1 of 10 (11797 views)

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too much water pressure

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Hola, great forum, first time poster.

We recently added a second story. We moved the tinaco to the roof of the second story. Now it seems we have too much gravity pressure. There is a 1/2" pipe rising vertically out of the hot water tank ( located on the main floor). The pipe is about 12" tall (about 4' above the floor of the second level) and I am assuming it is for pressure relief.

When we open the valve from the tinaco to let water into our plumbing system, water comes spouting out of the top of this pipe like a fountain.

Do we need to extend the height of this pipe? Or do I need to look at something completely different?

Gracias!

(This post was edited by terrorr on Feb 8, 2009, 6:28 AM)

BajaGringo

Feb 8, 2009, 10:14 AM

Post #2 of 10 (11778 views)

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Re: [terrorr] too much water pressure

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Or maybe the pressure relief valve is no good????

Our House Building Project in Mexico...
Lomas de San Martin
Loving Life on the Baja Peninsula

Carron

Feb 8, 2009, 10:58 AM

Post #3 of 10 (11771 views)

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Re: [terrorr] too much water pressure

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Lucky you!! Most of us don't have this problem in Mexico.

Rolly / Moderator

Feb 8, 2009, 10:59 AM

Post #4 of 10 (11770 views)

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Re: [terrorr] too much water pressure

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What you describe is typical of many old style Mexican water heaters. They don't have pressure relief valves. Instead they use an open pipe to let steam escape. The pipe needs to extend above the tinaco, or it needs to be replaced with a proper relief valve.

I first encountered one of these some years ago in Manzanillo. The heater did not have a thermostatic control. You would light it when you wanted hot water and turn it off when you finished your shower or what ever. One day I forgot to turn it off until I saw hot water raining down on the patio. The water had begun to boil and steam was coming out of the pipe. I had to run through the hot rain to turn off the gas. I never forgot again.

Rolly Pirate

(This post was edited by Rolly on Feb 8, 2009, 2:03 PM)

terrorr

Feb 8, 2009, 5:31 PM

Post #5 of 10 (11721 views)

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Re: [Rolly] too much water pressure

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Thanks for the replies. Por favor, como se dice "relief valve" in espanol? Quien sabe?

Rolly / Moderator

Feb 8, 2009, 5:47 PM

Post #6 of 10 (11715 views)

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Re: [terrorr] too much water pressure

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You need to call a plumber because this is not a do-it-yourself project. First, it must be determined if a relief valve can be attached. Second, which is less costly? The valve or extending the pipe?

Rolly Pirate

Ed and Fran

Feb 8, 2009, 6:04 PM

Post #7 of 10 (11709 views)

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Re: [terrorr] too much water pressure

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Por favor, como se dice "relief valve" in espanol?

valvula de alivio

Georgia

Feb 24, 2009, 7:10 PM

Post #8 of 10 (11657 views)

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Re: [terrorr] too much water pressure

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You might consider putting in a modern "calentador de paso" or on demand hot water heater. It only turns on and heats water when you need hot water, doesn't keep a whole tank of hot water hot all day and night. Ours cut our propane bill in half ... paid for itself in a year.

terrorr

Feb 25, 2009, 6:16 AM

Post #9 of 10 (11642 views)

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Re: [Georgia] too much water pressure

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Hello everyone - here's an update:
We extended the pipe to the height of the tinaco which did the trick.

Georgia: we also installed an on demand hot water heater but it services only the second floor bathrooms and shower. I wanted to try it out and if it works I will replace the older "boiler" on the main floor.

Salud!

Georgia

Feb 25, 2009, 6:30 AM

Post #10 of 10 (11638 views)

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Re: [terrorr] too much water pressure

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For our second floor installation (we do not have a tinaco, but get our water from our well) we intalled a very small booster pump so we get nice, strong water pressure for our shower. One item of note: if your water pipes run across your roof, the water you get will be hot from being in the sun, and the heater will not turn on because the desired temp will already be reached. If the water turns cold, simply turn off the water, wait a sec. then turn it back on to ignite the on demand heater. This is not a problem in the morning, but in the afternoon or early evening it does happen.