About speedball1 Expertise About me: My Plumbing Expertise: I retired from plumbing after a lifetime in the trade. all phases from service and upkeep to construction, both residential and commercial. I am qualified to do anything in plumbing from fixing a leaky faucet to drafting a set of plans for a commercial shopping center and supervising the construction. My last five years were spent as a trouble shooter for a large plumbing company. I took on all my companys complaints. I have been a expert on the plumbing page at Askme.com. In a field of 200 experts my rating was number one. You may also find me at Answerway.com and AskMe Help Desk.com. This is fun for me and if I can help anybody out that`s iceing on the cake. Degrees & Certifications: As for degrees, I don`t have any. Just a Journeymans ticket, but hey! How about fifty years experience?
Experience Life Experience? Hmmmmmmm! Ran away at 15 and joined a carnival, Navy at 17 Merchant marine at 19 I've had a hellava life.
Question We have been in our first house for just under two years. The problem we're having is that when we clean our clothes, they some times come out covered in orange spots. We're not sure if this is from the washer or dryer, but it doesn't occur all the time. It's occuring enough that many of our clothes have been ruined. I should also add that we have well water which im sure almost posative is part of the problem. i have an inline water filter that must be changed every 3 weeks or so, at that time the filter is completely covered in iron and rust. it actually closely resembles a paint roller rolled in pumpkin orange paint, if you can imagine. this is the same orange color that is showing up in little spots all over our laundry. this inline fiolter i spoke of is before the the washing machine, and yet we still get the orange spots. what would your reccomendation be for solving this annoying problem. another filter right before the washing machine? replace pipes after filter that lead to the washing machine? bigger filter? by the way, this house was built in 52 and the plumbing looks to be copper, and i couldnt accurately say if it has ever been replaced or updated. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thank you in advance.
Answer Hi Morgan, Most places were piped in galvanized, back in the 50's, that will build up rust on the pipe walls. you're lucky to have copper. Having said that it sure sounds like the spots are rust that is in the water that you wash with. When was the last time you flushed out your water heater? you DO flush the heater out on a regular basis, don't you? If not the mineral that slips past your house filter can build up in the heater tank bottom and come out of the hot water supply to the washer. A good way to check in to unscrew the hose at the shut off and check the hose screen. Let me show you how to flush out the water heater. If you do not flush,(not drain) your heater on a regular basis it will build up mineral on the bottom of the tank. Attach a hose to the boiler drain at the bottom of the tank. With the pressure on, open the boiler drain and let it run untill the water runs clear. You will see a spurt of red,(rust) and some white grains,(lime or calcium carbonate). The whole thing shouldn't take more then a few minutes. Don't forget to flush it out every month. Your heater will thank you for it. You might want to consider cleaning the screens on your areators if you have a high mineral buildup. If thev problem still persists after you have flushed, you will have to drain the heater, remove the boiler drain and go up in the bottom of the tank with a wood or plastic rod, (not metal) and try to break up the mineral and flush it out. Good luck, and thank you for rating my reply. TOM
