The safety valve, popularly called the "return valve", performs several functions simultaneously. It comes standard with any water heater and is a must when installing a boiler.
First of all, the safety valve is designed to be able to carry out an emergency discharge of water from the water tank at the slightest increase in pressure inside the boiler. When the pressure begins to exceed the allowable rate, then the water is discharged using a valve through a special hole. Many consumers, as soon as water begins to drip from the valve spout, assume that a breakdown has occurred. In fact, in this case, there was an increase in pressure, and the descent of excess water began to occur. As soon as excess water is removed from the water heater, the pressure inside it returns to normal and the boiler will start working normally. In some cases, the discharge can occur quite often, so experts recommend connecting a drain hose to the valve tothe possibility of withdrawing water directly to the sewer. This may break the aesthetics of the room a little, but you will never have puddles on the floor.
Frequent drops in pressure may be associated with its surges in the centralized water supply system. This problem is easily solved by installing a reducer at the entrance to the house or apartment, which will lower the pressure. Due to this device, no matter what pressure drops will be in the water supply network, water will flow into the apartment at a constant fixed pressure. The pressure force can always be adjusted using a special valve.
Another important function that the safety valve performs is to cut off the possible flow of hot water into the cold water pipe. In addition, it provides a normal supply of cold water to the tank. The main task that the water heater safety valve performs in this case is to prevent hot water from flowing into the cold pipe during the shutdown of the water supply system. This will help prevent the heater from breaking due to overheating.
Because the boiler is a water heater that needs regular cleaning, there will always be a need to drain the hot water in the tank. The safety valve installed on the device allows you to do this without any problems. There are various ways to drain water from a tank. The simplest is the descent of waterdirectly through the pressure relief valve. To do this, just put a hose of a suitable diameter on it, open a hot water tap - and you can drain the water using a special lever installed on the device. This is necessary to allow air to enter the tank, which contributes to the rapid draining of water. In this case, the supply of cold water to the tank must be shut off.
