home related puzzle

[ScottHoward v3.1]

water puddle in the basement, kinda big
almost certainly came from the safety blowdown of the hot water heater
what would cause this?

ldo high pressure

but why would it have built up high pressure all of a sudden?
thats the puzzle
somebody smart please tell me

[Mark_K]

[ QUOTE ]
water puddle in the basement, kinda big
almost certainly came from the safety blowdown of the hot water heater
what would cause this?

ldo high pressure

but why would it have built up high pressure all of a sudden?
thats the puzzle
somebody smart please tell me

[/ QUOTE ]

Two ideas:
1. Water hammer... Either air in the pipes, has your water been turned off recently? Or some appliance that turns the water off fast (e.g. like a dishwasher)

Or

2. Old water heater with faulty thermostat. The water heater thermostat didn't turn off, water boiled, safety fired...

[RoundTower]

if there's a build up in pressure in the heater, you have two options to eliminate it. Reduce the pressure in your heater, or increase the air pressure in the rest of your house. Fixing the heater could be pretty tricky, and probably voids the warranty, so option 2 is probably easier if you want to take care of the problem yourself.

first, you'll need to seal off your house including all windows, doors, vents



then you'll need one of these

which you can probably find at any aircraft testing facility.

if you ever need to actually leave or enter the house, one of these could come in handy. This brand new model can be used with either Russian or American spacesuits, but if you don't need that flexibility you may be able to get a used one cheaply.