A plumber friend once looked at my use of a T (this was in the copper supply for a bathroom) and commented he “didn’t know if the water would know which way to flow”, so, is there a reason why the flow through a T should not come in at the bottom of the tee, and flow in opposite directions out the top (figure A), or, should I have turned the T on it’s side and added another L (figure B) ..
thanks in advance, sorry about my etch-a-sketch diagram ..
wane,
this is not a step
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Replies
The water is not smart enough to know which way to go. Nor does it care.
It is forced between the point with high pressure (the supply) and the point with lower pressure (the open valve).
The only place something like this make any difference is in something like paralleling 2 water heaters. You want the tubing lenghts and the number of turns that the water makes to be the same for both units so the equal amount of water flows through each unit.
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
That's actually a good question but not an easy one to answer.
The water will obviously flow where it is needed. If one end of your pipe run has a closed tap while the other end has an open tap, the water will flow to the open tap regardless of how you orient your fittings. The orientation will affect the turbulence in the water and cause a change in drag and pressure but it will still flow where it needs to flow.
If the taps on both runs are open, then it gets more complicated. You would have to consider the entire system to see what would cause your flow to decrease along your entire run. Length of pipe, diameter of pipe, bends, size of openings, etc. will all have an effect on how much water goes to one side or to the other.
Bill, that's what I first thought ... Chucky that's what I'm starting to think the plumber meant, that turbulence would reduce flow and when both outputs were on, one would get the bigger 50% .. we'll see what else comes up .. I'm about to put in my rough plumbing supply in my own house soo .. any advise I'll take ..
I also wanted to add that any pressure difference between one orientation and the other is probably small enough to ignore. I certainly would not worry about it.
The law of the Tee.
What goes into a tee must come out of the tee.
Assuuming same type of faucet on both outlets, and most faucets are fed with a 3/8 supply, you won't see any difference.
Was this post for real or done as a joke?????????
you can get self adhesive arrows at the wholesale that you stick on the pipe to indicate to the water which way to flow
very technical explination on how they work , takes a engineer
go to a new commercial boiler room and you will see them on the pipes
RE. is this a joke
That is what I am thinking. If a plumber friend really told him that, I need to become a plumber in their area
Are you in the Northern hemisphere or the Southern??- that will affect (effect?) where the water flow goes.
That's what I first thought, but some posters gave it some real thought and detailed answers.Water follows the path of least resistances, doesn't know left or
right!!My dad was a plumber, he would kick my butt if he knew I thought this was for real!!!
I spent years and lots of money in college to get a civil engineering degree that I dont use. (I am a silly builder/contractor)
My emphasis in engineering school was open and closed channel flow so I could tell them all sorts of interesting stuff about how a liquid performs in that scenario and the amount of friction losses, noise, etc that you could get with high flows but it is 1/2" copper feeding probably 2 fixtures in the bath (probably new with flow restrictors on too) so it doesnt amount to a small plate full of beans! (chuckling)
Oh, well. Maybe someone learned something
.. there are some trades I know really well, the logic behind why we do what we do, and there are others I learned by copying what I saw others do. Every now and then I see things that I understand that completely defeat the purpose of doing them and it only makes sense if it was done this way because someone was copying something that they didn't understand. What I learned is that no one so far has agreed with what anyone else has said, that there's a little bit of truth in everything, that a sense of humour is a great companion, and that there is more to plumbing than meets the eye. All reasons why this is such a great site.
All the jokes aside, if you are doing the supply lines in your house and are starting from scratch, why not look at a manifold system with pex. way less confusing for the water when it has a straight path to each fixture on a dedicated line. Easier to run, no soldering, no meticulous sanding of joints, no messy flux. Also, with the cost of copper being what it is, it is making way more sense economically.
Flow out the top in B has approx 1 foot less equivalent pipe length, the flow to the right side is the same either way, equiv to adding about 2 feet.
Not a big deal for house plumbing.
It depends on what sort of water you have.
If you have 'straight' water, it will only work if it flows straight, or to the right. There is another type of water that will only flow to the left, not straight.
If you have 'bi' water, it will work flowing to the right or left, but not straight.
The type of water is determined at birth, it's not a choice.
There is a technique to determining which type of water you have, you need a bent piece of wire, and hold your wrists just right....
Actually, it has to do with whether the water is spin up or spin down, with one going one direction and the other the other. Odd thing is, when you open a faucet on one leg, the faucet on the other leg opens by itself.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
In fact, we also need to know whether it's Southern Hemisphere or Northern Hemisphere.
See how important it is to fill in your profile ?
Greg
What happens if it is a cross, they are made for sprinkler system and I think you can get one in copper pipe.Wallyo
If you are in the Bermuda Triangle water will come out all 4 ports at the same time..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
You can't use vampire connections on a system that uses those.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
thanks guys, I always try to keep an open mind, I'm pretty sure I've got straight water, not that there's anything wrong with bi-water ;)