03 9888 2887
Carmina, a resident in Bentleigh, noticed one day that the hot water coming out of her kitchen tap wasn’t very hot. Turning the mixer tap fully to ‘Hot’ only produced lukewarm water. Worried that there may be something wrong with her hot water unit, she called O’Shea Plumbing in Mount Waverley to come around and take a look.
O’Shea Plumber Jeremy arrived the next day and started by checking the hot water unit itself. First, he ensured that the pilot light was still lit and the burner that heated the water would still ignite. Next, he checked the temperature of the water in the unit and found that it was over 65 degrees so there didn’t appear to be anything wrong with the unit itself.
This made Jeremy suspect that the problem was with the tempering valve, which mixes the hot water from the unit with cold water to output hot water at 50 degrees Celcius from the taps inside the house. A tempering valve helps to prevent burns and scalding by blending the heated water with cold water to reduce the temperature to a far safer degree. When tempering valves fail they tend to let through too much cold water, which would result in the lukewarm temperature that Carmina was experiencing.
Jeremy also recommended to Carmina to replace the pressure and temperature relief valve (PTR), which should be replaced every five years. The current PTR valve was discharging onto pavement which is not recommended as the warm water from the unit can cause moss or algae to grow and create a slipping hazard. To fix this Jeremy would have to install a soakage pit by breaking through a small section of the pavement to allow the PTR drain to discharge into, so the water could drain into the ground and not pool on the pavement.
Carmina thought these were all great recommendations, she approved the works and Jeremy was able to get to work straight away. Jeremy replaced the PTR valve and installed the soakage pit, as well as rerunning the drain to the pit. He then replaced the tempering valve and checked the temperature of the water inside the house to ensure it was outputting at 50 degrees again.
Carmina was very pleased to have hot water again and glad to know that a potential slipping hazard had been eliminated in her back yard. Another job well done by O’Shea Plumbing!
If you are looking for a plumber Melbourne residents trust, call O’Shea Plumbing! O’Shea Plumbing is fast, reliable and trusted across Melbourne to provide professional, high-quality plumbing services for residential and commercial properties.
For a reliable plumber Bentleigh locals can rely on, you can reach us on (03) 9888 2887 – Call on us for all of your plumbing needs!