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Coming_down

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So I woke up this morning with what sounded like someone showering in my basement. Considering that my basement is a crawlspace, this did not seem likely. Then I found this.
2qbd375.jpg


So I shut off the water. I can now see the little part the water is spraying from.
rud1qw.jpg


As far as I can tell, with my vast lack of plumbing knowledge, it appears to be connected to an old water heater no longer in use. (I don't come down here much. And I've only lived here two years.) Almost as if it just routes through. I could be 100% wrong of course. But here's a picture of it from further away.
123pljk.jpg


So the question is, can I just replace that little nub, or just cap that off with something? The piece that's on there has a little hole the water is spraying off of, so I would think something without the hole would do. Or can I seal that off since I don't think it's actually being used at all?
 
That bleeder fitting has been leaking for quite a while based on the marks on the pipes. Does it turn or is it frozen in place? If it was new, you could turn it to seal it. Otherwise, I would take your pics to a good supply house (on a Sunday? Nope) and they can direct you with parts. Doubt you can find this at Home Depot or anyplace typically open on a Sunday.
 
That nub is a bleeder designed to drain the valve when the water is shut off. Usually for systems that are shut down for winter. You should be able to just tighten it and stop the leak. If that doesn't work remove it and look inside. There should be a piece of rubber to make the seal that may be missing or damaged.
 
Thanks, guys. For the life of me, I could not get the thing off, but I was able to tighten it and it brought the leaking down considerably. Not 100%, but I'd say 90%, which for an old crawlspace like this, is fine. It's usually wet down there anyway. Once I have an extra pair of hands, I'll take another whack at getting the cap off so I can replace the rubber seal inside.
 
If you are sure the tank is no longer used I would get it out of there completely. I have seen people with wells leave an old tank in line as a tempering tank. It gives the water a chance to warm up a little before going into the working tank. IMO this is a waste unless the tank is where it's warm and made to do that job. The fittings above are old flare fittings. If the tank is not needed find a good point to cut the line coming in and going out and connect them with copper or PEX. PEX and shark bite fittings would be simple.

Running your water thru an old nasty tank is not a good thing. IMO whenever I started messing around with old valves or bleeders that were dripping or spraying water 90% of the time it just got worse.


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Looking at your photos again. I was assuming you were talking about the white tank as not being used. The gray tank is your pressure tank for your water system and the big line going up supplies your house with water. That control tank looks like the old ones without a bladder inside and those have to have a way to get air in them when they get waterlogged. I bet that bleeder was to allow air back in the tank. The method would be shut off the pump open valve at bottom and drain tank into sump the open bleeder so tank can fill with air. When empty reverse procedure.

If that's the case you need to get bleeder to seal or replace it. The tanks I had like that I used one of the other bungs in the tank to let air in.


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That's a lot of pressure to make a bleeder spit like that. Is it because it's on the main line?

C-D: I'm not so sure I would settle for a wet crawl space...even if it's been like that for a while. If it's in the budget, think about replacing the pressure tank and the plumbing above it. Or just replace the plumbing for now and leave the tank with a plan for replacing. Plumbing is not rocket science and it can be DIY, especially with pex ( Bud is a big fan!). Ask questions here. You will get plenty of advice.

BTW- welcome to the site. Tough way to jump in, though.
 

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