Plumbing Fittings Interview Questions And Answers

1.) Turn off electric power or gas before doing anything. Damage will result if element comes on when tank is dry. Turn of water supplying HWT. Note that a time switch is NOT a safe place to turn off the electricity! Do it from the circuit breaker, or pull the fuse.
2.) Drain the water heater (HWT). After HWT is drained, and hose is still attached, open and close the inlet valve a few times to help flush the sediment out. Do this 'till the water comes out clear. You may have to dismantle the valve, if there are large chunks of scale coming loose.
3.) Remove the sacrificial anode, which looks like a plug in the top of the HWT. Inspect; it should be almost as long as the water heater. Replace if any portion of it is thinner than about 1/4";.
4.) With anode out, shine flashlight inside of tank to inspect for rust. If you see a lot of rust, it's probably time to replace it...before it fails. Water heaters are normally glass- or ceramic-lined to prevent corrosion; this is also what the anode's for. The heat of the water hastens corrosion, once it starts.
5.) Open up the element access panels. Disconnect one wire from each of the elements. With a volt-ohm-meter, check to see that both elements are still functional (the resistance across the terminals should be ??? ohms, but if your meter peaks out with exceptionally high ohms, it's time to replace the element).

Conventional water heaters are by far the most common type of water heater in the U.S. today. They range in size from 20 to 80 gallons (or larger) and are fueled by electricity, natural gas, propane, or oil. Called ‘storage’ units, these water heaters transfer heat from a burner or coil to water in an insulated tank. The down side to a conventional water heater is that energy is consumed even when no hot water is being used.

Tankless water heaters do not contain a storage tank like conventional water heaters. A gas burner or electric element heats the water only when there is a demand for hot water.

There are many things to consider when choosing conventional vs. tankless water heating systems. Your Blue Mountain representative can guide you through your options and get the right system for home that will give years of service and efficient performance.

Yes. In fact, the difference can be damaging to your home and your body. Maybe you have experienced damaged clothing from the laundry, excessive soap consumption, pipe scaling, faucet and fixture deterioration, skin problems, or undesirable tastes or odors from your water. If you have, then you have a water problem. Call Blue Mountain for expert advice on all kinds of water treatment systems.

No. We would recommend that you call a qualified, trained and certified plumber. Why? The water pipes inside and outside your home can be very delicate. In an older home, pipes wear thin from the inside out making them appear sound but in fact are very brittle. An unqualified and unskilled rooter company could cause extensive damage to your pipes and your home. The highly trained and certified technicians at Blue Mountain will take the time to properly diagnose the problem and utilize the right tools and techniques to solve the problem. Should there be an issue of a broken pipe or other unforeseen problems after we begin the job, our expert plumbers can immediately take action. Can the other guys? We’re not sure…and we don’t recommend that you take a chance.

The relative energy efficiency of these systems depends a lot on other factors such as the amount of heat loss from a more traditional storage tank system or the length of time hot water is stored before it is used. In practice they require a good deal more energy per volume of heated water than conventional systems and they cannot usually provide enough hot water for more than one fixture at a time. The traditional storage tank type of water heater can be quite efficient if the tank and the hot water pipes are properly insulated.

The on-demand type heaters have their uses in the appropriate situation. I have found them practical and efficient in situations where hot water is used only occasionally such as in some shop situations or where a fixture is at a considerable distance from a traditional storage tank water heater, such as in a guest house or pool house. They can also be handy if you are adding hot water to a structure that has been cold-water-only and the cost or inconvenience of adding a complete hot water piping system will be prohibitive.

Gas HWT have to be at least 18" off the floor because combustible fumes *sink* and for air intake.

You might buy a better flushing toilet for your situation. Some air assisted toilet flush well. When the low gallonage gravity toilets first came out I replaced a couple of new Kohler Wellworth Lites with the Am.Std. air assist toilet with good results. That was then and this is now. Today most brands of gravity toilets flush well (including the redesigned Kohler Wellworth models). Power assisted toilets tend to be noisy and frankly, today I definitely do not recommend power assisted toilets.
By the end of 1999 (most brands of U.S. made) gravity toilets manufactured were flushing fine. At the end of 2000 my guess is that over 85% of 1.6gpf toilets flushed well.

Is the top of the flange even (or close to even) with the finished floor? If it to low - then use two wax rings. One regular wax ring on the bottom and one (or more) with the plastic horn insert on top. ) I have seen leaks like you describe if the glued flange is not really glued in all the way. Take a look at that - if your floor and flange is flush. Sometimes you need to shim the toilet if the floor is uneven or the flange is to high.

If your water pressure is so high that it leaks past a Fluidmaster 400A or another new ballcock (aka: "toilet fill valve") - then you NEED a pressure reducing valve. Other water pipes, connectors, clothes washing machine hoses and your water heater could leak or break. Best to get a pressure regulator if your pressure to the house is more than 60 pounds (80 is code throughout most of the U.S.).

Get the best results by using the large donut gasket of the type that is square cut inside to match the shape of the nut on the bottom of the tank. Sealant will not help. Tighten the bolts down evenly to the point where the tank is snug on the bowl. Over tightening will break the bowl and/or tank.

The leading cause for sump pump to failure is usually a switching problem. Sometimes the pump can move inside the basin. This movement causes the float that operates the switch to lodge against its side. Debris can also be a factor by interfering with the action of the pump switch. It is important to make sure that your pump switch and float arm assembly move freely. The main thing to remember about sump pumps is that they don’t last forever…even if you never use them. Internal part wear out and make them virtually useless when you need them most! Blue Mountain can test, maintain or replace any brand of sump pump. For flood-prone areas and homes that get water seeping in on a regular basis you may want to consider a sump pump back up system. There are even non-electric systems that work in the case of a power failure. Call Blue Mountain for more information.

A broken water line out in the yard may include an excessively high water bill, puddles in your yard or the sound of running water when no faucets or appliances are using water. Blue Mountain can pinpoint the problem without needless trial and error destruction of working pipes. In many cases we can fix the problem right away and save you money.

When the lowest plumbing fixture in the house overflows when another fixture (like a CWM) is draining; the septic tank needs to be pumped, there is a break in the sewer pipe outside the house or the main drain is plugged somewhere.

The washing machine line could be connected to close to the "suds rinse zone", meaning the washer waste ties into the waste or soil line of another fixture to close downstream from the problem fixture. What is happening is the water is rushing by the suds at a high velocity, pushing ahead of the suds. Because the fixture is the closest place of relief, the suds will come up into the fixture, even a toilet. The code requires that a washing machine, kitchen sink, shower, and dishwasher line be connected at least 5' downstream from any fixture branch. This could be just one of many possibilities for the bubbling and backup.-Bill Dwight,

To get a snake in the drain you take off the *overflow plate*. That's the chrome thing on the tub wall with two screws. When you pull it out - two sections of the stopper mechanism will come with it. It's hinged so it will bend through the hole. Chances are that hair caught on the end of this mechanism is clogging the drain- you might not even need to snake it. BTW - A snake will not go through the drain hole at the bottom of the tub.

Yes, drain pipes do dry out and get real rough. Will it clear up with use? Maybe.

It is replaced from the top, that is sitting in the tub. Hopefully you have *crosshairs* or a couple of little *nibs* inside the drain flange (the chrome part). That's the part that unscrews. The tool is called a *pickle* - it has a fork at one end and crossed slots at the other. Or a *dumbell* which is tapered and has crossed slots at both ends. Or just use pliers and stick the handle end down into the drain, catch the cross hairs or nibs and unscrew. Clean off the old plumbers putty. Slide a new washer between the underside of the tub and the *shoe* (part with female threads) and put putty around the chrome flange and screw it back in.

Yes and no. A toilet with no vent may not flush the contents out of the bowl, but any other drain will work without a vent. (NOTE: the code is that all fixtures shall be vented). Only twice in 15 years has the vents been the cause of a drain backup. In one case it was roofers who stuffed the old roofing material down the vents and the other was just a stray piece of wood. In both cases the material made its way down into the drain pipe and had to be removed. No amount of *vent cleaning* would have done any good.

I see this all the time and nine times out of ten its the grout or a bad pan under the shower. Before anything else I try to determine if the leak is constant or if it is periodic. If it is constant there is a good chance the leak is in the pressurized water lines. Usually the leak is periodic so I have a series of tests that I perform to track it down. Sometimes a quick visual inspection of the tile will show that the grout is shot and is the most likely cause of the leak but I will often complete the rest of my tests to be sure. What I do is first fill the tub half way and drain it. This will tell me if it's in the drain pipe. For a shower with a lead or vinyl pan I block the drain and fill the base with water. This will tell me if the pan leaks. Then I remove the shower head and put a 1/2" cap on the shower arm and turn on the pressure. This will tell me if there is a leak in the pipe between the shower valve and the shower arm. If no leak has shown up by then I tend to think the leak is water bleeding through the tile due to bad grouting or that water is escaping the shower and going down through flaws in the bathroom floor. I can check this by taping up a plastic dropcloth inside the shower covering all the tile work and having the customer use the shower normally for a day or two. If the leak has suddenly disappeared then we know it coming through the tile. A few cups of water on the floor will show a leak through bad tile or a cracked floor base.

It is illegal to connect any rain or ground water to the sewer. IF, however, you do hookup - at the very least put a trap in the in the line to keep sewer gas out of the house.

Moen faucets have cartridges that can be replaced. There is a clip (on top) that has to be pulled up and out before the cartridge can be replaced. Often it seems stuck as if it will not come out. Some replacement cartridges provide a plastic square to turn the cartridge in the valve body 1/4 turn. This breaks it free from the valve grease that it is stuck in. If, after replacing the unit ,the hot and cold are reversed, re-install with the cartridge turned 180 degrees.

You can buy a Delta single handle faucet repair kit with a tool for maybe five to seven bucks. It has all the instructions and is very easy to do.

99% of the time when you hear a clunk in any pipe when you turn a faucet on/off - it's a loose washer in the faucet. When you take it apart be sure you get the old washer and a screw. If you don't - turn the water back on and flush out the missing part.

These faucets are special to CFTs they have 2 3/8"; centers. Some units have 1/2"; and some have 3/4"; water connections at the back. The 3/4"; needs special CFT supply pipes. Most older faucets are not code and it is still easy to buy non-code faucets. The code is that the faucet spout must have a gap of at least 1"; between the top of the tub rim and the bottom of the spout - that's so bath water in the tub cannot siphon back into the drinking water supply.

IMHO unless the HB is new enough to match the insides with the exact same brand, model et - replace the darn thing. You can try , but , I just don't seem to have permanent success when I just repair them. Now to replace them- if they come through the wall under the house then they can be unscrewed or unsoldered from the crawl space. If it is above the floor a *window* has to opened in the wall. Just unscrewing it from outside will often result in a broken pipe in the wall.