MythBusters - Exploding Water Heater
Vložit
- čas přidán 22. 07. 2008
- New episodes return Wednesday, Oct. 7th @ 9pm E/P on Discovery! Check out exclusive footage straight from the MythBusters' own video cameras: dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythb...
Adam and Jamie learn just how much power a water heater under pressure really has.
Connect with us on Facebook: / mythbusters - Zábava
Loved watching this, but just want to say, as a former plumber who used to work on these things daily, don't be nervous about this happening in your house with your heater. Three seperate failures would have to happen at once. All water heaters have a temperature and pressure sensitive relief valve that will open for either and relieve the pressure. Both parts of it would have to fail, then there is also an electric switch built in that kicks out if the heater exceeds 190 ish degrees. Also on top of that your plumbing would need to hold in that much pressure without something failing. Electric water heaters are not anything to be nervous about.
Indeed, they had to go to quite some lengths to actually get them to fail like this.
We all know gas water heaters are the ones to be worried about exploding.
Thanks for the reassurance! I just bought my first house and it’s a new build and the water heater is in the attic above the master bedroom and every night after shower I hear it heating up the water and I’m like I know you’re new but please don’t explode lol
Indeed. Just don’t screw with the safety systems.
What about gas water heaters? Mines right next to where i sleep so it makes me nervous
Note to self : Make sure that, hot water heater has a functioning, pressure release valve.
Also make sure to have the pressure release valve go outside onto concrete or if its in the garage just pointing down, cause if that thing ever goes off it will flood and ruin wood or carpet
@@retrobat153 I had this one customer request that I routed the drain into her flower garden lol
@@forrestgumball That sounds like a good idea, but wouldn't the water be hot? Pretty sure those flowers won't appreciate hot water... Did you do it? :P
I had mine replaced recently.
Is truly amazing learning after all these years, that Jamie and Adam’s friendship and camaraderie was all just acting and professional courtesy. Massive respect for the both of them for acting so professional about it and keeping the illusion alive for the fans for ask these years.
LessCommonKnowledge to be fair you don't have to be friends with coworkers. You come in, get work done, and head home for the day
I met Adam while he was on a short day shoot in Northern California, and he was friendly, warm and sincere towards me. He had no reason to be any of those things, as I was just a contract vendor on the perimeter of the days events. I spent a good four to six hours in close proximity and he seemed to be an even tempered nice guy.
I don't really think they were trying to keep the "illusion" alive. They never claimed to be anything besides coworkers on the show and in interviews they frequently pointed out that they were not friends. I think it says more about all the rest of us, that we immediately assume that they are besties because they have a good working relationship and are on TV together.
That is what makes Mythbusters work. Because their is sometimes friction and their personalities are so polar opposites yet they get along enough to have a show for 12 seasons.
While they weren't friends personally, you can be darn sure there was a good amount of mutual respect and they enjoyed doing a lot of these experiments together. I also think it's funny how a lot of times they made builds a competition where they would each make their own design separately. I think along with the mutual respect there was also a bit of competitiveness involved, and it all made for good entertainment. 👍
Adam said on the "Mythbusters Unleashed" tour that this water heater or one like it flew to about 850 feet off the ground. Whatever the height it reached, it was more than 500 feet, because the FAA was NOT happy when they heard about the stunt.
They also kept the big water heater that launched, too, because they've been parading it out in their shows.
did the FAA get over it yet
@Sammy N The FAA gets annoyed when you put uncontrolled things over 500 feet in the air without telling them. They want to keep airplanes away from the area when that happens.
@empbac Nonesense! A water heater will just help warm up the aircraft!
As a result, the FAA is now starting to launch water heaters!
weewwe we eweweeewweeeeeeeeeeeeeewe
f see
@Sammy N Aircraft (think helicopters) legally fly as low as 500" AGL (above ground level). Now imagine you're a helicopter pilot, out doing your job, and these asshats are launching water tanks to 850 feet. Make sense now? If I was the FAA chief for this area, I'd have lighted the full weight of the US govt on these idiots shoulders, for whatever fine that may entail.
"So, why do you think you have a problem with your heater?"
1:35
"...Oh."
Imagine this happening in your house
It happened to mine around 2010. Not too destructive but caused nearly irreparable mold damage afterwards.
@@dysfunctional3837 damn
Ours just leaked so it might
Impossible if you have a pressure relief valve. All heaters come with them.
It happens when a handyman plugs the relief valve because of a drip. Will work fine until the heaters thermostat decides to fail. 23 years as a plumber, I’ve seen it many times. Even saw the aftermath of one that went through the roof and rocked the house from the foundation. House had to be demo’d.
it stayed 13 second in the air. it makes 6.5 second of free fall, means that it climbs at 207 meters (660 ft) and his initial speed was 64 m/s - 230 kph - 143 mph.
this is damn quick.
I know this is 9 years ago. But your calculations don’t seem right. I don’t have the number to give the core to answer, but it wouldn’t have been falling for 6.5 seconds, that would be mean it fell as fast as it went up. It’s not a constant speed the whole time.
It may have accelerated to peak hight 3 or 4 seconds in and free fell the for the remainder.
Anyway that’s just my take.
@@andrewwilliams5337 All velocity is not created equally. Terminal velocity is way slower than the detonation velocity that got it up there.
@@FrankBenlin I'm pretty sure the terminal velocity of this tank (which is made of steel) is more than 64m/s
To all people wondering why water tank explodes and not just burst or leaks out.
The explosion mechanism is BLEVE, which is due to additional energy stored in overheated water.
As the pressure rises the water boiling temperature also rises. You could have very little steam in the container (say one cubic inch) but the pressure could be very high (it must be to burst the container). To reach that pressure, the water in tank must have overheated and for that it must have accepted huge amount of energy.
The boiler reached 300PSI which means the water must have reached about 210C (boiling temperature at 300psi).
Imagine the water in the tank is at 210C and now there is a hole in the tank and the pressure suddenly dropped to 1atm.
All that water no longer wants to be liquid and wants to turn to gas.
As the steam is at the top, and all water at the bottom, the water expanding has nowhere to go but up. This causes top of the container to be hit with rushing water. This typically causes the container to fail catastrophically and also is the reason why those damn containers go always up.
The moment the container bursts all the energy that was needed to heat up water from 100C to 210C now is released in an instant causing a violent explosion.
When I worked at a Boy Scout camp kitchen one summer (1975) we had a water heater that the safety valve kept leaking. The camp director replaced the valve with a "replacement" that someone donated to the camp. He failed to actually look at the pressure rating on the valve. It turns out that the valve was for a high pressure dry steam boiler and not for a water heater. It turns out that the problem with the water heater was that the thermostat was broken, not the safety valve, and the night that the camp director changed out the safety valve, at about 1am we heard a big KABOOM, and a minute later heard a THUD. The water heater "rocket" went through the roof, blew out almost all of the windows in the kitchen and the dining hall, and made about a one foot divot in the parade field when it landed there. When I saw this episode, I already knew what the outcome would be, but I still laughed along with Adam and Jamie when their "rocket" took off.
Too bad the camp didn't hire you as the maintenance director. Trying to defeat a safety feature is playing Russian roulette. While there's always the chance the valve is old or contaminated, in most cases, it is leaking because you have a pressure issue or a temperature issue, and the proper repair is to investigate why the valve is leaking
@@Sparky-ww5re By the way, this was a propane fired 400 gallon water heater. We were very lucky this happened at night and not during a meal service, otherwise neither I or about 400 boy scouts and staff would not be around to talk about it.
Dare I even imagine what happened to the camp director after this? At the very least, I hope he learned something from the experience and is grateful to be alive.
Bullshit
@@markemanuele1929 Didn't you say that it failed to even blow all the windows out? How is that going to kill 400+ people??
You had a cool story going until you overplayed your hand...which immediately puts the rest of the story in doubt...
A water heater explosion happened in Madrid yesterday and blew away like 3 floors. Shit's gotta be taken seriously with these heaters, folks.
WOW was that in an apartment building? Makes me nervous to rent any unit over the boiler room, no matter what floor.
Easily the most impressive thing mythbusters ever did.I still struggle to believe the height it reached.Incredible😳
How much bigger before the heater leaves Earth alltogether?
Sam Carlson A man of culture
I died because my father did believe my uncle about it needing to be replaced.
A rocket is just a huge hot water heater with rocket fuel and an oxidizer inside of it instead of water.
Not possible in a meaningful sense, air resistance is too great at escape speed
Bring this show back Discovery!
The hot water heater episode made some of the most beautiful explosions ever on Mythbusters...
and this is why as an apprentice, I feel they should show this in plumbing courses to really show the true damage of what a water heater could do like imagine this happening in a basement
Every time I watch one of their shows it makes me want to go and try to recreate what they do even though they say not to most of the time.
Ok
well definitely don't do this one
Me to! never mind those others guys. ;)
It goes up so fast! I love it
this just might be the coolest myth they've ever done
love how it sounded just like a clap of thunder when it took off for the grate blue yonder
Just dawned on me how the water heater takes off all of a sudden and why it goes straight up. The concave base panel is designed to intrude on the tank in a way that strengthens the container. But, when it finally buckles it "oil cans" to it's inside out shape with enough speed to rip the welds all around it's circumference. This suddenly releases the entire contents boosting it into orbit. If there were a "tear" panel in a safe spot on the tank the pressure might release in a more controlled and gradual rate.
You need to reupload these golden clips, Discovery. It's like watching a rip of a VHS.
There’s no way these looked this bad when we watched them on tv, right?
i like how the mythbusters show takes 30 min for us to find out the myth. we search in youtube and find watch the entire episode in 3 min!
Adam mentioned that this was his favourite explosion. Well, he was more convinced it was a conflagration rather than an explosion. Apparently, the sound and visual effect is just satisfying.
Adam, I have to agree. I just love watching stuff blow up, and this was very cool. :D
This was such an awsome spisode.
my favorite episode.
Way cool dude!!! Puts me in mind of the air-pumped water rockets I had as a kid.
This is like my favorite explosion they did, cement truck was cool but this is so strange and crazy it just makes cooler.
It was a Walmart store that had a water heater explode and they found it in the far parking lot of the next store over.
Plumber friend of mine said that it blew a perfect round hole right through the ceiling.
seeing this and being informed the boiler in my apt almost exploded is scary.
this is my favorite :D
by the way, about 2 weeks ago I saw on the news what happens to a house when the heater explodes... they found it 200 yards away... after it went through 2 floors and the roof!
I love these guys
Damn, I miss that show 😿
Great tutorial! gonna try rn
that's amazing! alot of force in that
THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN! I saw this today and have been Dying to re see it lol
Always loved this episode, this happened to us when I was a kid with one of the smaller water heater tanks (About the size of a 5 gallon bucket).
The dipshit who installed it capped off the release valve.
Did you sue?
Just loved this myth
IT IS THE BEST TV REALITY
this is adam's most favourite explosion of all time
i love that episode.
I love this show...
Thats always cool to watch
When you subscribe, whenever the user uploads a video, you get it in your subscription box.
I lov this show verrrrrrrrrrry much
I heard that thud when it landed lol!
mythbusters rock!
The fact that one of these is in my tiny house...
Awesome vid!!
*Who's here because of the "Hot Water Heater Explosion" that happened in that Plum, Pennsylvania neighborhood?*
Good job!!!
Holy crap! That was a loud kaboom! I allmost blasted my speakers with it.
One time long ago and in the middle of the night our local fire dept responded to a strange call at a mobile home. Somehow the 40 gallon H2O heater blew up. The owners were in the bed just 3 feet from the H2O htr closet on the opposite side of the wall. Suddenly they were launched sideways bed and all and came to rest about 30' away on the slope below the home, shocked but unhurt. HALF of the mobile was stripped to the bare floor, completely GONE.
small: no boom
medium: boom
large: KAboom
Holy crap, that went high !
Always make sure the tank is full of water bleed the lines even before you light it up
It’s like a mini version of SN9, except faster! Metal tank blasts off, free falls, and then comes crashing down!
This actually is the footage of Starlink SN1 preassure test
I didn't realize that this was three years ago. Wow. I haven't missed an episode in over 3 years. o.o
Now it’s 15 years ago.
two words: straight up!
Awesome! Water-heater-o-doom... Went up just like a bullet... and I have one of those in my house. Thank goodness for safety technology.
This is my favorite explosion :D
came here after the Pennsylvania Home explosion
that was badass
The most energy efficient rocket launch ever. lol
That was awesome!!!!!
Adam's favorite explosion! :)
That was a satisfying sound, wouldn't want to be near it, of course.
Guess I won't be converting an old hot water tank into extra volume for my air compressor then
Holy crap! 300 psi? that tank was kind of sturdy.
Confederate rocket used to be my favourite myth. Then they did this... This is my favourite myth and explosion they ever did.
I wonder what would have happened if they had put stabilizing fins on it.
I love Mythbusters...they never disappoint with their Ka-Booms.
That was F'ing awesome!!!
Yeah, Jamie, that was just a *little* more energetic. ;-)
In a home inspection class I took the instructor had told us of a homeowner who capped off the pressure release valve on his water heater. I think it was dripping. Which, unknown to him at the time, is an indicator of regulator failure. So when the completely regulator failed his water heater over-pressurized and blasted from his basement clear through his roof. It was found severy blocks away.
Hows that for an air-pumped water rocket!? :)
Best Mythbusters explosion EVER.
the concrete one was better
Imagine if they'd put a set of wings and a tail on it like the Space Shuttle
I had water rockets as a kid that was partially filled with water and pumped up with air as propellent. Those were fun to watch take off.
Yes, Rico. Kaboom!
Had to relight the pilot light on my 75 gallon water heater this AM so I thought I do a refresher course.
If Mythbusters was still running, they should (have) redo(ne) it with a drone or drones to try to capture the tank in flight.
I remember when a water heater exploded at a mexican resturant here in Burien, It flew up into the air and landed in the pizza hut parking lot on 1st AVE and 152nd
yay im gunna do this tommorro!
This actually did happen in my area, at a mexican restaurant on the south side of 152nd, west of 1st ave. The water heater went up in the air, moved in a north east direction across 152nd, across 1st ave, landed in a pizza hut parking lot which resides on the east side of first avenue, and on the north side of 152nd street. Yet no one was hurt at the restaurant or out on the streets :O!
did it go thump when it landed?
WO- this is really badass -OT!
these guy's are awsome :D
what prevents the excess pressure from just pushing back the cold water pipe?
14 years! thats a long time! i wasnt even alive then!
amazing what heated water can do
NASA called; they'd like to call you guys in for a job interview.
Trident home inspections group can make sure that your water heater doesn’t do that hahaha
make it double
I want to see that with fins on the heater and a cone on top.
Evan in slow motion with the MySpeed plug-in, the heater still just disappears off the ground.
@Rand0mManic
Unvented Cylinders are usually equipped with three stages of protection;
1. A normal temperature thermostat, normally set between 55-65 Degrees Celsius.
2. A high temperature cut out, set at about 90 Degrees Celsius.
3 A temperature and pressure relief valve which will activate at 90-95 Degrees Celsius.
As you can see, they went out of their way to disable the safety features of the cylinder. It is unlikely but nonetheless, possible. Always use a qualified and competent engineer.
Im still waiting for them to find out if Television really rots your brain.
Remember to check your PRV's, everyone!
i would be delighted to ;)
damn now i know what to do when somebody pisses me off
Yups
i used to sit on a large water heater that was bulging on one side. Was told it was close to exploding. I used to sit on it and watch movies outside. I had to sleep with it on the other side of the wall from my bed knowing it could explode.
now im afraid of my water heater
Don't be! Especially if you live in a house, there are three separate safeties that would all need to fail for anything close like this to happen, plus your heater is probably significantly more sturdy than your water pipes, which blow first.