Below is a video on how to install a water heater expansion tank
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Today we are going to be showing you how to install a water heater expansion tank.
The reason we are installing one on this water heater is when it reaches temperature it sets off the pressure relief valve causing water to go into the water heater drip pan.
The pressure relief valve has already been replaced by someone else so we can rule that out as being the problem.
We are going to be installing the expansion tank on the horizontal part of the cold line going to the water heater. Then we will mount the tank mount to the stud within the wall to support the tank.
Some of the items you will need for the install will be the expansion tank, expansion tank mounting bracket, pipe cutters, fittings and pipe, pipe primer and glue, teflon tape and some soft thread sealant.
A screw gun and screws to mount the tank bracket and two sets of pliers or adjustable wrenches to tighten the fitting onto the expansion tank.
The first step will be to turn off power going to the heater if you have an electric water heater. For this one it’s gas so we will turn off the knob on the gas supply valve.
Next you will need to shut the cold water feeding the water heater. So for us there is a valve just behind the heater.
With the cold feed shut will also locate the valve that allows hot water to the house and close that as well.
Next you will need to figure out where you will install your expansion tank.
Once you have figured out where you plan to install the expansion tank we can start by mounting the bracket to the wall or stud.
For us we will use 2 screws and the screw gun and mount it to the stud. Next we can grab the hose clamps from the box and cut the zip ties and feed them though the bracket slots.
Now that we have the hose clamps within the bracket we can grab the tank and slide it into the bracket and hose clamps. Then we can grab a nut driver or a flat screw driver and tighten the clamps.
With the tank mounted to the wall we can grab our teflon tape and place some on the ¾ male threads on the expansion tank. Next we can place some soft thread sealant on the teflon tape.
With the teflon tape and sealant on the threads of the tank we can thread on our adapter ¾ female thread to ¾ CPVC for this install.
Well use the 2 adjustable wrenches to tight it on. One to hold the tank and the other to tighten on the adapter.
With the power or gas valve turned off and the water shut off going to and coming from the water heater we can now grab a small bucket and place it under the pressure relief drain tube.
Then we can open the pressure relief valve that way when we cut the pipe we can drain some of the water out of the pipes and heater allowing us to glue without water in the pipe.
Now that we have the bucket and pressure relief valve open we can grab the cutters and cut the pipe where we plan to install the tee.
Next we can take a paper towel or rag and wipe the pipe end off then grab our primer and primer the end of the pipe and tee fitting.
Once we have it all prime-red we can grab the glue and glue it into position. Then we will go back to the tank side and primer and glue in a ¾ to ½ reducer bushing and the piping is ½.
Next we can primer and glue in a short piece of pipe and then a union.
From the union we can primer and glue in place a 90 elbow and then a ball valve.
Once we have the ball valve glued in we can primer and glue in a length of pipe and then another 90 elbow and then a short piece of pipe up and into the tee fitting that we first installed.
The idea behind installing the ball valve and union is to make it easier to isolate and replace the expansion tank when it fails. You can just shut the ball valve off, undo the union and remove the tank.
So as we wait/ give the glue time to set up we can set the pressure in the expansion tank.
To do this you will need a pressure gauge. Then one we have goes onto a hose bib. So well go outside to a hose bib remove the hose install the gauge and turn the hose bib on.
Will the hose bib on you can see the pressure in this house is right at 60 PSI. Its a good idea to run another faucet or two within the house then come back out and check the pressure.
So we run the other outdoor faucet came back and you can see the pressure is now at 58 PSI. So pretty close to our original number of 60 PSI.
We are going to set the expansion tank pressure at 60 PSI. To do this well go back inside and on the top of the expansion tank there is a blue cover.
Well use a flat screw driver to pop that cover off as sometimes they are a bit of a pain to get off. With that cover removed we can remove the valve cap.
Once we have the valve cap removed we can grab a pressure gauge and check the current pressure within the expansion tank.
This tank came per-charged to 45 PSI. So we can grab an air pump and pump up the pressure to 60 PSI.
Now that we have 60 PSI in the expansion tank we can reinstall the valve cover and the bigger blue cover.
With the covers reinstalled we are ready to turn the water valves back on the cold supplying the water heater and the hot valve going out to the house.
Once we have the valves turned back on we can run the hot water to get the air out of the heater.
After we have ran the water for a while and are sure we have gotten all the air out of the heater we can turn the water heater back on.
If you have an electric one you can turn the breaker back on. For us it will be turning the gas valve back on and relighting the water heater.
Next we can inspect the pipes and expansion tank to ensure that there are no leaks.
You will also want to recheck once the water heater has gotten up to the set temperature as that is when this heater would start to leak out of the pressure relieve valve.
With no leaks that’s it we have just shown you how to install a water heater expansion tank.
