Plumbing question

[mrmpa]

This evening in the bathroom the hot water faucet flew off its base & of course water went everywhere including to the condo unit downstairs.

I was not home, my 84 year old mother was. She was asleep in her bedroom when she heard an explosion and then water gushing everywhere. She called a neighbor who called maintenance, who got it cleaned up.

My question is, what would cause this to explode off its base. I think either too much water pressure, or possibly something else building up pressure.

I am looking for possible answers, because my maintenance fees pay for water and the maintenance of common elements which are the pipes. I want to at least sound knowledgeable when I meet with maintenance on Monday. I don't want to have my insurance company pay for something I'm not responsible for.

[intaglio]

1. Hot water faucet? it is likely to be steam

Something may be wrong with your boiler and/or its thermostat

[mrmpa]

2. I'm in a high rise...............

condo & on the 4th floor. The boiler is on the 1st floor. I have no way of knowing if anything is wrong with the thermostat or the boiler itself.

[jeff47]

3. Here's a few possible reasons

Last edited Wed Aug 6, 2014, 10:03 AM - Edit history (1)

1 - just a defective faucet. The hot knob wasn't built properly and it eventually failed.

2 - High water pressure. Do your toilets make A LOT of noise when they fill? More than anyone else's? Does the water come out of the faucets much harder than other places you've been? (Or you could test the pressure - there's a cheap gauge you can find at a home center that screws onto a hose bib) Sometimes the city will upgrade the water system, and buildings that used to not need a pressure reducer suddenly need a pressure reducer.

3 - High water pressure mark 2: To protect the water system, cites are installing backflow preventer valves in the water line. What they do is keep water from flowing from your building back into the water system. The city doesn't want to have to worry about what you might have put in the water.

Where this can turn into high pressure is your hot water heater (or the building's hot water heater). Water, like most substances, expands when heated. Before backflow preventer valves, the expansion was absorbed by the water system - the extra volume just went back a little in the pipes. With backflow preventers installed, your hot water heater needs an expansion tank to absorb the extra volume.

If the backflow preventer is new, an expansion tank may not have been installed.

[Kaleva]

6. The T & P valve should have tripped off before anything else blew apart.

Fixtures such as faucets, toilet fill valves and shower assemblies usually can handle much higher pressures then what would cause a T & P valve to trip (30 psi).

[jeff47]

7. Assuming there was one. (nt)

[lululu]

4. rust?

I noticed rust in the innards of the handle of my bathroom hot water faucet and my plumbing friend said that was because the innards were not brass. I can imagine if left long enough that might loosen things.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. Can you post any pictures?

I'm curious to see what this failed faucet looks like.

You also might try :

http://www.plbg.com/forum/list.php?1

That site has a bunch of old salty plumbers. I would definitely post a picture there (and here) Though Jeff has some good ideas too.