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mrmpa

(4,033 posts)
Sun Aug 3, 2014, 03:03 AM Aug 2014

Plumbing question

This evening in the bathroom the hot water faucet flew off its base & of course water went everywhere including to the condo unit downstairs.

I was not home, my 84 year old mother was. She was asleep in her bedroom when she heard an explosion and then water gushing everywhere. She called a neighbor who called maintenance, who got it cleaned up.

My question is, what would cause this to explode off its base. I think either too much water pressure, or possibly something else building up pressure.

I am looking for possible answers, because my maintenance fees pay for water and the maintenance of common elements which are the pipes. I want to at least sound knowledgeable when I meet with maintenance on Monday. I don't want to have my insurance company pay for something I'm not responsible for.

7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Plumbing question (Original Post) mrmpa Aug 2014 OP
Hot water faucet? it is likely to be steam intaglio Aug 2014 #1
I'm in a high rise............... mrmpa Aug 2014 #2
Here's a few possible reasons jeff47 Aug 2014 #3
The T & P valve should have tripped off before anything else blew apart. Kaleva Aug 2014 #6
Assuming there was one. (nt) jeff47 Aug 2014 #7
rust? lululu Aug 2014 #4
Can you post any pictures? Hassin Bin Sober Aug 2014 #5

intaglio

(8,170 posts)
1. Hot water faucet? it is likely to be steam
Sun Aug 3, 2014, 03:42 AM
Aug 2014

Something may be wrong with your boiler and/or its thermostat

mrmpa

(4,033 posts)
2. I'm in a high rise...............
Sun Aug 3, 2014, 04:18 AM
Aug 2014

condo & on the 4th floor. The boiler is on the 1st floor. I have no way of knowing if anything is wrong with the thermostat or the boiler itself.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
3. Here's a few possible reasons
Sun Aug 3, 2014, 08:45 AM
Aug 2014

Last edited Wed Aug 6, 2014, 10:03 AM - Edit history (1)

1 - just a defective faucet. The hot knob wasn't built properly and it eventually failed.

2 - High water pressure. Do your toilets make A LOT of noise when they fill? More than anyone else's? Does the water come out of the faucets much harder than other places you've been? (Or you could test the pressure - there's a cheap gauge you can find at a home center that screws onto a hose bib) Sometimes the city will upgrade the water system, and buildings that used to not need a pressure reducer suddenly need a pressure reducer.

3 - High water pressure mark 2: To protect the water system, cites are installing backflow preventer valves in the water line. What they do is keep water from flowing from your building back into the water system. The city doesn't want to have to worry about what you might have put in the water.

Where this can turn into high pressure is your hot water heater (or the building's hot water heater). Water, like most substances, expands when heated. Before backflow preventer valves, the expansion was absorbed by the water system - the extra volume just went back a little in the pipes. With backflow preventers installed, your hot water heater needs an expansion tank to absorb the extra volume.

If the backflow preventer is new, an expansion tank may not have been installed.

Kaleva

(38,171 posts)
6. The T & P valve should have tripped off before anything else blew apart.
Tue Aug 5, 2014, 09:47 PM
Aug 2014

Fixtures such as faucets, toilet fill valves and shower assemblies usually can handle much higher pressures then what would cause a T & P valve to trip (30 psi).

 

lululu

(301 posts)
4. rust?
Mon Aug 4, 2014, 06:42 PM
Aug 2014

I noticed rust in the innards of the handle of my bathroom hot water faucet and my plumbing friend said that was because the innards were not brass. I can imagine if left long enough that might loosen things.

Hassin Bin Sober

(26,693 posts)
5. Can you post any pictures?
Mon Aug 4, 2014, 06:48 PM
Aug 2014

I'm curious to see what this failed faucet looks like.

You also might try :

http://www.plbg.com/forum/list.php?1

That site has a bunch of old salty plumbers. I would definitely post a picture there (and here) Though Jeff has some good ideas too.

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