Are Your Appliances Installed In Drain Pans?

[jyl]

Some friends returned from vacation to find their water heater had failed and dumped 10K gals water into their house. Fortunately a neighbor noticed it and shut off their water, or would have ruined more than it did.

I always thought water heaters, washers, dryers, etc were supposed to be installed in a drain pan plumbed to a drain, to prevent this sort of calamity. But then I notice that mine are not - okay, they are in the basement close to a floor drain - but even so . . .

A couple years ago my aunt and uncle returned from a month trip to find a fitting in their upstairs bathroom had failed, flooding both floors and the basement. Destroyed thousands of valuable art books and much more, they had to live in a extended-stay hotel room for months.

Anyway, just a reminder and/or warning to us all.

I guess safest thing is to turn off the water when leaving on a trip - but in my case, my neighbor waters my plants when I'm gone, so need the water "on".

[pwd72s]

As we've changed thing around this house over the years, I've had lots of stainless ball valaves installed...just a 90 degree twist of a lever shuts off the water to specific areas. Stongly suggest installing these in the utility room, high enough on the wall to easily reach the clothes washer. Burst washer hoses are more common than water heaters...

[legion]

I've never seen an appliance actually on a drain pan, in any house I've ever been in and seen the appliances.

[jyl]

That makes a lot of sense.

One of these days, I need to have a new main line installed, so that I can get enough flow for a sprinkler system. When I do, I may have the outside hose bibs and sprinkler supply line separated from the house's inside plumbing, and install separate shut-offs on each. So that when leaving for a trip, I can easily shut off water to all inside fixtures and appliances.

As things stand, I am one failure in a cheap Chinese-made hose or plastic fitting away from flooding the whole house. I think most of us are.

[peppy]

Plastic water lines on ice makers are a disaster waiting to happen.

We have a pan on our hot water heater, but they are cheap plastic, so by the time you need them there is a hole in it.

[legion]

Thankfully my washing machine and hot water heater are in the basement 2 feet from the drain.

[Zeke]

On 2nd story it is mandatory in my thinking. They don't help much if there is a break that sprays.

[vash]

i think the moisture sensing pads that shut off some solenoid is a great idea. one under the washing machine makes sense.

[stevepaa]

Originally Posted by peppy

Plastic water lines on ice makers are a disaster waiting to happen.

We have a pan on our hot water heater, but they are cheap plastic, so by the time you need them there is a hole in it.

put in a new refrigerator and hooked up the old plastic hose to it. a few weeks later we noticed water undre the laminate flooring. The plastic line developed a pin hole leak about 2 inches back from the fitting.

Changed the hose to copper and replaced the flooring.

[LeeH]

Ever since our dishwasher's compression fitting worked its way loose and flooded our house one night last year, we have been shutting off the water when we go out of town. The landscaping will recover from a few days with no water. I hope I never have to face the level of hassle caused by that mess again.

I will never have another compression fitting inside my home. Every inside water line in my house is now threaded/braided.

[Jim Richards]

Our washing machine was installed on one. It developed a major leak, which unfortunately was too fast for the pan/drain line to keep up with.

[fingpilot]

Our 50-gal water heater has a aluminum drain pan with a 4 inch lip, and a 1 1/2 inch drain PVC line. I recently changed the water lines into the house, Isolated the house (so it can be shut off, and have two addititonal valved lines for the outside drip on timers, and the outside hose bibs.

[jyl]

That is what I want to do. Failure isn't only a risk with water heaters or other big appliances. My aunt's home was flooded by a faulty fitting on a sink. You can't put everything on a drain pan.

[aigel]

Plumb the water so you can shut off everything to the house while keeping the outside waterhose and sprinkler system on. My house has it this way. Also, consider putting the washer in the basement or ground floor. It isn't that tough to carry laundry around the house.

George

[VINMAN]

If we are gone for more than a day, the water gets shut at the main.

Ive pumped out way too many basements as a firefighter to take a chance. Its amazing how fast a broken 1/2 water line can fill up a basement in a day.

[wreckersteve]

When wife left, she bought a brand new townhouse. She wanted new. No problems. First time she did laundry the hose starting leaking. Ruined the ceiling in the garage. I had to smile.

[billybek]

I just shut off my neighbors humidifier water supply line. The plastic tube had split and you would be amazed at how much water can flow out of a 1/4 inch tube.
Use copper tubing on all your ice makers and humidifiers with a proper ball valve for isolation. Those piercing saddle valves are a disaster in the making as well.
Shut off your water if you are away and make sure the main shut off valve is functional.

[legion]

Um....shutting off your water when away in the winter is a BAD idea...

[Zeke]

So is shutting down a water heater. That's when they like to fail.

[jyl]

Maybe another argument for tankless water heaters? Can they be shut off and turned back on without issues?