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I considered posting this in the Live Steam forum, but figured it really is of use to a wider audience!
I remember an incident when I was a kid still in grade school. My brother and I were getting ready for school and we complained to Mom that the hot water was "too hot". She scolded us that we were just complaining and told us that it was important to use hot water when washing our hands. She then went to wash her hands in the kitchen and got only steam from the faucet. She then tried the bathroom faucet and got only steam and could not get it shut off! She then shoo'd David and I off to school (a bit early, as I remember it).
She told this story many years later, saying that she then called the gas company, and they told her to leave the house and not go back in until they got there. She said that there was steam all through the house and water was condensing on the walls and running down them. She said the Gas company came "right away" and one worker went to the basement and shut off the gas and then came back out and they all sat around for a long time to let the water heater cool down. They told her that the water heater could have exploded up through the roof and killed her. They also said it was a good thing that she was unable to shut off the water at the faucet and that was likely what saved the house AND her life!
I know we then got a new water heater. I remember it being installed and the safety valve being tested.
I have told this story a few times and usually get a response that it could not happen; it is just a myth.
Well. Watch this video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7DpfdQTHvY
It is an episode from the "MythBusters" TV show. I really believe the Myth Busters thought it would be proved a myth... WOW!
I was surprised at what the they found happened to a water heater that is damaged such that the safety valve is broken and the heat and pressure sensor fails to shut off the heat mechanism. That is a "double-failure" and probably a rare occurrence, but I know it happened to our water heater in the mid 1950's.
I remember an incident when I was a kid still in grade school. My brother and I were getting ready for school and we complained to Mom that the hot water was "too hot". She scolded us that we were just complaining and told us that it was important to use hot water when washing our hands. She then went to wash her hands in the kitchen and got only steam from the faucet. She then tried the bathroom faucet and got only steam and could not get it shut off! She then shoo'd David and I off to school (a bit early, as I remember it).
She told this story many years later, saying that she then called the gas company, and they told her to leave the house and not go back in until they got there. She said that there was steam all through the house and water was condensing on the walls and running down them. She said the Gas company came "right away" and one worker went to the basement and shut off the gas and then came back out and they all sat around for a long time to let the water heater cool down. They told her that the water heater could have exploded up through the roof and killed her. They also said it was a good thing that she was unable to shut off the water at the faucet and that was likely what saved the house AND her life!
I know we then got a new water heater. I remember it being installed and the safety valve being tested.
I have told this story a few times and usually get a response that it could not happen; it is just a myth.
Well. Watch this video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7DpfdQTHvY
It is an episode from the "MythBusters" TV show. I really believe the Myth Busters thought it would be proved a myth... WOW!
I was surprised at what the they found happened to a water heater that is damaged such that the safety valve is broken and the heat and pressure sensor fails to shut off the heat mechanism. That is a "double-failure" and probably a rare occurrence, but I know it happened to our water heater in the mid 1950's.