Posted: 3/17/2026 9:49:23 AM EDT
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Background: I'm in a 2 bed 2 bath 55+ condo. City water 50 gallon gas Bradford white heater 2020 dated. Flushed twice water ain't too bad but calcium levels. The problem: You turn in the cold water, it goes hot after a couple seconds then back to cold. Gas bill has tripped in the weeks since this started. What I've done: The only 3 mixing valves i have are the bath, the shower, and the wash machines. I've shut off the wash machines hot supply overnight, no change. Replaced the showers mixet cartrig Replace the baths delta monitor cartridge. If you put your ear to any hot valve in the unit, you can hear a water flowing. I suppose the water heater itself might be flowing back into the cold side? Every other water fixture is a 2 handle. Any tips are helpful. I'm out in BFE and hard to get a plumber out here. |
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Are you located in Gila Bend, AZ? Because that was normal operating conditions when I was there due to the water storage tank being up on a rocky hillside in the sun. Google AI says: Attached File Attached File |
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If you hear water flowing on the hot valves and the hots are all off and the cold is all off throughout the house it sure sounds like you sprung a leak somewhere in a hot water line. Gas bill through the roof jives with that. If your colds taps are off then nothing should be moving or sound like they’re moving so I tend to not think it’s a back flow. That slab leak may be your issue. I never lived anywhere with water lines in the slab. F that shit. Eventually a pipe will fail. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
| If you have every faucet shut off and you still hear water flowing, you have a leak. A leak would also explain the high gas bills. What you have noticed so far won’t explain the high gas bills. A hot water leak will explain it. |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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A stupid-simple thing to do is to turn off the water at the main shut off valve. If the sound stops, you have a leak in your condo. At least you know, 100% for sure, and can trace it from there. If the sound doesn't stop, you have something else going on. How about shutting off the hot water outlet of the water heater. Does that make the sound stop? How about shutting off the cold water inlet of the water heater. Does that make the sound stop? |
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Google "plumbing cross connection" and learn as much as you can about the topic. Some are a nightmare to track down. Some are easy. Major culprits: - Mop sinks - Single handle faucets - Commercial dishwashers - Single handle outdoor hot/cold spigots When you see steam coming from the boys room urinals, you have a problem. Been there, done that in a schools with over 300 points of use. Took two of us three weeks to track down all the cross connections. |
What is a democrat? Someone who wants everything you have, except for your job.
Politicians should wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers so we could see their corporate sponsors.
Politicians should wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers so we could see their corporate sponsors.