Thin walled flexible vinyl vent material appears to be unacceptable. My research indicated the vent material is required to be Schedule 40 PVC or equivalant. Opinions?
I have that, event that ‘stupid’ round shieldy thing.
I posted it here, and no one knew of any concerns. I’ll find my post.
tom
I have seen this type of venting on some older water heaters, A.O. smith I believe. The venting was supplied by the manufacture. What type of water heater is it? You may have to find the products spec to find out if it is acceptable for that brand. You may also want to make sure there isn’t any type of recall, I am not aware of any, but when you stop seeing things being used suddenly you have to wonder. But yes I have seen this type of venting used on water heaters before. Is that a 2" or a 3" vent? The water heaters I saw used a 2" vent and were not tankless.
2003 AO Smith. Their installation instructions indicate Sch 40 PVC vent material. I have never seen a non-metalic corrugated vent used for a standard 40 gallon powered vent water heater. Usually see smooth wall PVC.
looks like it was sure fast to hook up though…
Michael,
There were no manufacturer markings or ID of any kind on the outside of this vent. How would you know this is approved? I think I will send a photo to the local Plumbing Inspector for an opinion. Will post if I get a response.
Temp rating for PVC is about 140 degrees F
The flex may have a high enough rating if the water heater calls for schedule 40 PVC.
If you have no markings on the black flex, it’s going to be tough to find out it’s rating.
Without enough information available, it might be best to disclaim it in your report.
Is it a real problem? maybe maybe not
Good luck.
Ok so it looks like it was Bradford White used that type of venting. Again like I said you might have to check the manufactures specs, and any recall information, but they were once deemed acceptable.
One can get PVC with a 285°F rating. I have some in my garage.
Is it schedule 40?
I just ran into a setup exactly like this yesterday on a gas fired power vented Bradford White water heater. Right down to the unmarked black vent material. I was just getting ready to post this thread when I noticed this discussion here. I’ll post a picture as soon as I get a chance.
Where does one obtain the manufacturers installation and materials specifications. Obviously, from the manufacturer: does anyone have a resource for a website, telephone number or specific contact person?
Here’s the picture of the venting material I found on this Bradford White power vented model from the other day.
I found the specification sheet on the Bradford White website and it says only PCV, CPVC, or ABS type materials are approved for this model.
Related to Post #1. I re-inspected a few components in the home today. The vent was replaced with Schedule 40 PVC by a licensed plumbing contractor. The material shown in the original photos was improper according to the contractor.