Water Heaters - Cold Water Runs Hot, Then Cold?
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Mthrboard
05-14-07, 09:50 PM
I live in a house that's just over 2 years old, with a 105 gallon Richmond electric water heater. My kitchen sink is the closest faucet to the heater. Whenever I turn on the cold water, it runs cold for a second or two, then gets hot (not just warm, it gets just as hot as the hot water) for about 10 seconds, then goes back to cold until I turn the faucet off. After being off for 10 minutes or so, it will repeat the same cycle. I've also noticed that the cold water input into the water heater is extremely hot to the touch. My wife's uncle, who is a "plumber", said this is normal with new heaters, but that just doesn't seem quite right to me. There is some sort of mixing valve attached to the hot output that's also tee'd into the cold input. Is this normal for newer plumbing, or is there some defect in my system somewhere? It's not a huge nuisance, but if it's a defect, I'd like to get it fixed, and we're having someone from the company who built our house out to fix a window that won't open on Friday.
CSG
05-15-07, 02:41 AM
It is not normal and should not be happening at all. The ONLY situation i can think of that this happens where it is normal is in a hot climate (like where i live in Florida.) Plumbing water pipes are ran through the attic sometimes where it is 140 degrees and when you first run cold water sometimes it will be hot for about 10 seconds till the new cold water fills the pipes in the attic back up.
Other then that situation...you shouldn't be getting any hot water when you open the cold water on your faucets.
Only other possibility i can think of is the faucet itself with water bleeding over from the hot side to the cold side which shouldn't happen either.
As for the water heater? 'I've also noticed that the cold water input into the water heater is extremely hot to the touch. My wife's uncle, who is a "plumber", said this is normal with new heaters' <--I don't agree with this but even if it was true...it still should have nothing to do with your problem at the faucet. It could have something to do with a recirculating system if you have one installed and they piped the return into the cold line supplying the water heater.
Other then that situation...you shouldn't be getting any hot water when you open the cold water on your faucets.
Only other possibility i can think of is the faucet itself with water bleeding over from the hot side to the cold side which shouldn't happen either.
As for the water heater? 'I've also noticed that the cold water input into the water heater is extremely hot to the touch. My wife's uncle, who is a "plumber", said this is normal with new heaters' <--I don't agree with this but even if it was true...it still should have nothing to do with your problem at the faucet. It could have something to do with a recirculating system if you have one installed and they piped the return into the cold line supplying the water heater.
Who
05-18-07, 01:47 PM
Sorry... no clue, no ideas and no hunches, but could you please inform us all what it was when you do find out? Thanks...