June 18-22, 2001
More work on the toilet room cladding. It should be finished by the end of this week. The plumbers were here for the final time. The recirculation line is re-attached. I checked the Aquastar after opening the recirculation valve: it was not on – a good sign. However, it looks like the pilot went out for some reason (discovered when I went to take a shower… brrr!).
The hot water problem wasn’t with the pilot on the Aquastar. The Aquastar just doesn’t come on which indicates the flow is too slow. I turned off the valve where the recirculation line comes into the main hot water heater. Now there is enough flow for the Aquastar to ignite.
The problem is that there is no check valve in the recirculation line. Without a check valve the path of least resistance from the water heater to the downstairs bathrooms is through the recirculation line, not the main water feed. We need to add a check valve that will allow some (slow) recirculation but now allow water to be drawn from the mineral laden bottom of the water heater.
I played plumber on Friday. Went to home depot and picked up a check valve and a short bit of 1/2 inch copper tubing. After some fun and games with the torch the check valve is installed. It may not be the prettiest installation, but it works (and doesn’t leak).
A second vent was added in the Aquastar enclosure. The wood for the trellis that is going to hide the external plumbing was oiled using Cabots Bleaching Oil to match the fences. And another row or two was added to the toilet room enclosure.
More pictures of the tub, so it can be compared with the toilet room wall.