leak mystery
August 3, 2015 1:50 PM Subscribe
plumbing emergency in my apartment. What could be going on?
i've had a damaged wall from a slow leak for years, but now hot water is leaking from the whole at about a litre per minute.
plumber turned off hot water in the building, which stopped the leak. plumber turned the hot water BACK ON to pinpoint the leak source, but the leak hasn't resumed.
What could be going on?
i've had a damaged wall from a slow leak for years, but now hot water is leaking from the whole at about a litre per minute.
plumber turned off hot water in the building, which stopped the leak. plumber turned the hot water BACK ON to pinpoint the leak source, but the leak hasn't resumed.
What could be going on?
It is hard to tell with the information you've given, but it sounds like a leaky hot water heater. Maybe the leak stopped because the water level in the heater got lower than the hole?
posted by 4ster at 2:23 PM on August 3, 2015
posted by 4ster at 2:23 PM on August 3, 2015
You're going to have to open up the wall at some point to fix the problem, so you might as well open it up now to help diagnose and identify the source.
posted by misterbrandt at 2:30 PM on August 3, 2015
posted by misterbrandt at 2:30 PM on August 3, 2015
Response by poster: I'm on the third floor, the heater's in the basement. This is in an interior hallway and my bathroom is opposite but almost if not all the damage is on the hallway side.
posted by blue t-shirt at 2:31 PM on August 3, 2015
posted by blue t-shirt at 2:31 PM on August 3, 2015
I'd think that's what you, or someone, is paying the plumber to figure out, no?
Sounds like a leaky pipe. What, and how, to be determined once you, or the plumber, dig into the wall.
Your description of turning off the main, but then turning the hot water "BACK ON" is confusing. At what point was the hot water turned off? How did the hot water have pressure if the main is still turned off. It will be very difficult to troubleshoot this on the internet with the information you're providing.
posted by humboldt32 at 2:43 PM on August 3, 2015
Sounds like a leaky pipe. What, and how, to be determined once you, or the plumber, dig into the wall.
Your description of turning off the main, but then turning the hot water "BACK ON" is confusing. At what point was the hot water turned off? How did the hot water have pressure if the main is still turned off. It will be very difficult to troubleshoot this on the internet with the information you're providing.
posted by humboldt32 at 2:43 PM on August 3, 2015
Response by poster: I'm not trying to solve the problem. I'm trying to figure out why , if turning off the hot water main stopped the leak, why did the leak not resume when the hot water was turned back on a few minutes later.
posted by blue t-shirt at 2:46 PM on August 3, 2015
posted by blue t-shirt at 2:46 PM on August 3, 2015
Best answer: well, grasping at straws, it could be in a pipe that is running pretty much constantly, and so is usually warm. and the leak could be such (perhaps a bad connection) that when it is cooler, it closes up. then turning off the hot water would allow the pipe to cool down, and seal up. turning it back on would not give a leak until it warmed up again.
or perhaps somehow air got into the system, and the leak is at a high point, which currently has air trapped.
or perhaps someone above you left the hot water running, and they have a slow leak in their waste pipe that normally isn't an issue, but constant running caused a leak (this one happened to us), and then when the water supply was cut they were surprised and went round checking taps and turned things off, fixing the issue until the next time they leave a tap running.
whatever reason, i would be very concerned about a plumber that left without finding anything. more than that, i'd want to know why whatever they blame behaved like this. it's not a nice place to be, with a leak you no longer know the source of.
posted by andrewcooke at 2:55 PM on August 3, 2015
or perhaps somehow air got into the system, and the leak is at a high point, which currently has air trapped.
or perhaps someone above you left the hot water running, and they have a slow leak in their waste pipe that normally isn't an issue, but constant running caused a leak (this one happened to us), and then when the water supply was cut they were surprised and went round checking taps and turned things off, fixing the issue until the next time they leave a tap running.
whatever reason, i would be very concerned about a plumber that left without finding anything. more than that, i'd want to know why whatever they blame behaved like this. it's not a nice place to be, with a leak you no longer know the source of.
posted by andrewcooke at 2:55 PM on August 3, 2015
Best answer: When you turn off plumbing the reduction in water pressure allows grit and scale to shake free from the sides of the pipes. When the water is turned back on the debris moves with it. It could be that the leak is temporarily plugged by some scale. I would not trust it to stay plugged for long.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 3:17 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Midnight Skulker at 3:17 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you had a bucket with a slow leak, it would drip until the bucket was full, the you would have a fast leak I.e.overflow. if you turned off the water, your would go back to a slow leak for a while before the fast leak resumed.
The "bucket" could be a section of pipe....
posted by SemiSalt at 7:59 AM on August 4, 2015
The "bucket" could be a section of pipe....
posted by SemiSalt at 7:59 AM on August 4, 2015
Response by poster: thanks folks.
this post was made essentially in the middle of the crisis. the plumber/handyperson was mystified by what was going on and i felt like the most useful thing i could do was try to help, rather than pacing and what-iffing. at the very least, it seemed like an interesting puzzle that could have been addressed with some top-notch lateral thinking, so i thought i'd share it with MeFi.
i appreciate all those who took the time to respond, especially those who proposed plausible causes.
posted by blue t-shirt at 8:04 AM on August 4, 2015
this post was made essentially in the middle of the crisis. the plumber/handyperson was mystified by what was going on and i felt like the most useful thing i could do was try to help, rather than pacing and what-iffing. at the very least, it seemed like an interesting puzzle that could have been addressed with some top-notch lateral thinking, so i thought i'd share it with MeFi.
i appreciate all those who took the time to respond, especially those who proposed plausible causes.
posted by blue t-shirt at 8:04 AM on August 4, 2015
so what was it?! :)
posted by andrewcooke at 3:20 PM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by andrewcooke at 3:20 PM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Not sure why the leak disappeared then reappeared. Midnight Skulker's explanation makes more sense than anything else. They came the next day, turned the water back on, then the leak recurred and were able to identify and patch the source.
posted by blue t-shirt at 3:17 PM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by blue t-shirt at 3:17 PM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
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