WD40 In Water System

mimi1234

Hi all,

Asking on behalf of my Mom.

The other day, the hot water stopped working at her house so we called a plumber who came and sorted it out. He did something with the hot water tank (that big cylindrical thing with a jacket like thing on it) and it started working again. At the end, he put some WD40 on the hot water tank gutter like thing.

Since then, the hot water seems to smell (and taste) like WD40. We called the plumber again who said drain the tank and it should be OK after that. We've drained it 3 times since but the smell / taste still remains.

I know the WD40 is diluted down with the amount of water but is it going to be dangerous for her?

Has anyone encountered a problem like this? How do we get around it? I'm not quite sure why he put WD40 in seen as the hot water had started working again.

Please can someone advise?

Debbie_Savard

Reckon your mum's taken a shine to the plumber and hopes he'll pop-around again!

AndyMc.....

She shouldn!!!8217;t be drinking from the hot tap.

VfM4meplse

As an interesting aside, yesterday I saw an article extolling the virtues of WD40 in keeping the toilet bowl cleaner for longer. I personally think it's a bad idea to stick anything with oil into the drainage system.

How the WD40 got into the tank is anyone's guess, but your plumber should fix his mistake without any additional charge.

maninthestreet

What is this 'gutter' you refer to on the hot water tank??

Pdbaggett

It's hot water don't drink from it problem resolved.

Eventually it will go he can't have put that much that after emptying 300 odd litres it's still their.

Perhaps it's the mind playing tricks on the senses not to sound condescending.

J_B

AndyMc..... wrote: »

She shouldn't be drinking from the hot tap.

Pdbaggett wrote: »

It's hot water don't drink from it problem resolved.

Don't drink from the hot tap

onomatopoeia99

mimi1234 wrote: »

Since then, the hot water seems to smell (and taste) like WD40.

In case you missed other people saying it, don't drink hot water from a CH tank. It's not fresh as it's been sat in a tank for some time (perhaps many hours) and so less fresh and safe, even without the addition of a water dispersant (!) Stuff e.g. anything on the inside of the tank, disolves more quickly in hot water than cold. Don't drink it (in case that wasn't clear).

mimi1234

No, no, she is not drinking from it. It was me that had a quick taste because the water smelt chemical like.

We are trying to get the plumber to come back but he keeps saying drain the tank.

By gutter, I meant the little pipe overhang bit, oh I don't know what it is called. It smells quite strong near there in the tank of WD40.

Thanks for your help.

Jonesya

What do you think the plumber is going to do?

If WD40 has got into the system, then the only way to get rid of it is to flush it out, realistically it's not possible to wash the system like a saucepan, all you can do is use it to draw water through it, taking away what's left of the WD40.

Lorian

My guess is the 3 port valve stuck and he's used WD40 on it. But that shouldn't affect the taste of the hot water.