Mythbusters Water Heater Explosion

The MythBusters set up a three-tier scaffold to simulate a two-story house. The lowest level housed the 52 US gallon (200 L) water heater, second level contained a simulated living room, and on top was a roof built to standard California building codes. The resulting explosion from the water heater did cause it to shoot through the living room floor and the roof. It was deemed plausible because, unlike the original myth, researchers did not uncover any documented events of water heater explosions in two-story houses.

[@intheshell35ify]

My neighbor was too cheap to buy a new gas valve so he rigged it open and used the shutoff valve to regulate temp. The water heater landed on his new gran prix in a detached garage.

[@thomasschwarting5108]

Good enough reason to not override safety's!!

[@xl000]

Nice story

[@steelhead750]

His first mistake was buying a grand prix.

[@kingofthepod5169]

"If you think safety is expensive, Try having an accident." -OSHA 10 guy.

[@shawbros]

@@thomasschwarting5108 "Good enough reason to not override safety's!!" safeties

[@tombraver6449]

I went to a tech school for HVAC/R and we had an extra credit math problem for a boiler. Someone turned their answer in and the instructor goes "Congratulations, everyone in the building you worked in is now dead." I was like holy shit good thing i'm not looking to be a boiler operator.

[@TheEgg185]

The boiler operator at my son's school has been working there for over 30 years. We took a long elevator ride down to see him. He's not allowed to leave because the boiler must be managed 24/7, so he lives there. He had a white beard, red flannel shirt, suspenders, and tall black boots. Sometimes he curses. It's very hot 🔥🥵 down there and I couldn't wait to leave. There were also spiders and asbestos, but the old man didn't mind. He actually did leave that miserable hell hole twice. Once to vote for TRUMP in 2016 and again to vote for him in 2020. He says he saw his ballot get tossed into the garbage but didn't know how to take a video with his basic flip phone. I believe him. There was a lot of corruption and we are still waiting for people to be brought to justice.

[@gnomsrepnay]

@@TheEgg185 I love politics

[@GhoulWorlde]

@@TheEgg185 what the fuck are you talking about youre probably one of the stupidest ppl in this comment section. adam savage would be ashamed of you.

[@kilroy2517]

@@TheEgg185 Oh good god, what a load of bullshit. It's been 2 years pal, and not single shred of evidence of fraud has come up, except for a few minor instances where the fraud was committed by Trumpers. Trump is living in your head.

[@KingJellyfishII]

@@TheEgg185 i honestly can't tell if this is satire or a very strange story

[@murilovsilva]

You can never underestimate the monstrous power of pressurized steam. Makes me think of the steam locomotive explosions from the past, where you had a boiler dozens of times bigger than your average house heater, and the crew standing inches away from the scalding, high pressure steam.

[@picollojr9009]

Ship explosions often happen when leaking water in the boiler room in the steam engines, it was devastating, and many times a boiler explosion would doom an otherwise rescuable ship

[@randymagnum6680]

My dad used to engineer steam catapults for the Navy, he enjoyed this episode cuz he knew what was coming.

[@jaredf6205]

The liquid water inside the heater is why it shot through the roof. If this was filled with air or steam even at the same pressure, it wouldn’t have launched that high. Having all that water to push out gave it a rocket effect.

[@brian8410]

@@jaredf6205 Superheated steam is what drives the pistons on a locomotive, if it was water the loco would only get a few hundred ft with little power. Superheated steam is what lifted the tank up. At those temps inside the tank, 1 gal of water would would produce a volume 7400 times it's own volume as superheated steam at 300F.

[@TitanicTom1912]

Early trains had a pile a hay bales separating the locomotive from the passenger cars because a boiler explosion in the 1830s killed several passengers

[@grim101hotmail]

Forget the roof, if all the openings are closed, you'd also shatter every window and door, and possibly even blow the walls outward, leaving no support for the roof at all.

[@PeteBrubaker]

I really wish they would have done another one of these in a room with fully built out with walls, windows and doors. That would have been impressive!

[@PeteBrubaker]

​@@stigkrogstad6780 Awesome! Also, I've been on KZbin for years and this is the first useful reply I've ever received. So, thanks a lot!

[@PeteBrubaker]

@@stigkrogstad6780 Unreal how it just blows the walls out, and that was a small one!

[@Solnoric]

Nah. The house would be standing. The windows would act like blowout panels and preserve the structure. It'd totally shag all the drywall though, that stuff is brittle AF. You'd probably blow out the moisture barriers at the gaps in the outer sheath too.

[@PeteBrubaker]

@@Solnoric You should check out the video linked above. House is standing, but it blew out the walls. Studs included.

[@caryreed1563]

Years past this episode and still amazes me. Also another tid bit, if it is enclosed in a house there would be a lot more damage due to the concussive force outwards on an inclosed area.

[@fryncyaryorvjink2140]

I was just wondering how hot that room would be if it was enclosed

[@marvindebot3264]

@@fryncyaryorvjink2140 Given the expansive qualities of steam (which is so much more powerful than compressed air) and the temp stated, 200 L of water flashing instantly to steam if you had a basement size of say, 30 x 20 feet you would be in serious trouble ANYWHERE in that basement and I mean skin hanging off in strips. In an adjoining room, it would probably blow the door in, damage your eardrums and send you to the ER but you would more than likely be spared any major harm. Are you listening, 911 Lonestar?

[@rupe53]

@@marvindebot3264 ... it boggles the mind to think of the additional damage that 30 gallons of water can do while flashing to steam, which will be about 1,700 times in volume. Put that in an enclosed area and imagine the pressure change.

[@chrishayes5755]

if you enclose it in a cage it's far safer when it explodes..

[@rupe53]

@@chrishayes5755 ... what makes you think the cage would survive?

[@Porphyrios1]

I seriously didn't expect the tank to hold 300+ psi, would never happen in reality because all your faucets and fittings would blow out way before but still pretty crazy.

[@MrHack4never]

IIRC, they are going after what would happen if the safety valve was disabled/removed, and the normal output was clogged by limescale (and the input has a one-way valve for some reason) Not a common scenario, more like "fixed and built with things from the garage" sort of thing

[@xIntoThePitx]

Wouldn't it just back feed the supply line?

[@boomchacle6717]

@@xIntoThePitx not if it has a check valve

[@xIntoThePitx]

@@boomchacle6717 True that. I guess they would have to otherwise they'd back feed all the time from the heat cycles

[@abelbabel8484]

@@MrHack4never this is what you get when your pipes were installed by uncle grandpa

[@robertdubard7959]

One of my absolute favorite episodes! Absolutely crazy amount of energy in simply really hot (pressurized) water. Also a great example of why NOT to override safety features.

[@marvindebot3264]

*potential energy, it has no energy until it flashes to steam with the pressure drop.

[@dtiydr]

But it was leaking.. come on.

[@RuralTowner]

Likewise...

[@railnut8453]

The expansive energy in super heated steam is why steam locomotives were king of the rails for almost 100 years They helped win both world wars.

[@anonymous-pr2sy]

@@marvindebot3264 incorrect, the water is energized and that's why it flashes in the first place

[@FuttBuckerByMutt]

This happened to my dad’s friend a long time ago. He had a 70 gallon water heater... My dad told me when he went over to his friends house, to help him with repairs, the water heater had shot three perfect holes through the floor, ceiling, and roof. The room that contained the water heater was absolutely demolished. The concrete floor had a huge dent in it with massive cracks. The water heater landed a BLOCK AWAY. Fucking insane what some household appliances are capable of

[@rossbrumby1957]

Water heaters don't and can't do that unless you really want them to. That means blocking pipes off and pumping pressure in or running the heating element flatout with no thermostat. Boilers like in old steam engines do blow up however because they're meant to make steam and if a relief valve jams youre fucked. A hot water heater will simply force water back into the mains pipe if it's relief valve jams, and will never, ever be higher pressure than the mains pressure that comes out your garden hose.

[@paulmac7667]

@@rossbrumby1957 Wrong, I'm sorry. All systems require a check valve on the cold inlet which prevents any backflow into the mains. Failure to do so is against regulations and risks contaminating the potable supply. 40 yrs licensed plumber. Cheers.

[@SteveB88]

@@paulmac7667 As a plumber, have you ever actually seen something like this to happen?

[@norbertfleck812]

As an additional safety feature you have a built-in temperature fuse in the heating element, which limits the maximum pressure by limiting the max. Temperature in case the thermostat fails or is manipulated.

[@starmc26]

@@paulmac7667 Weird, my hot water recirculation system would disagree with you.

[@Tasarran]

The fact that you almost never hear about this happening except in cases where someone did something dumb, just goes to show how safe they really are...

[@infernaldaedra]

There was a story about a refrigerator that exploded recently and blew out a kitchen. It doesn't happen often but it does happen

[@NoThankYouReally]

@@infernaldaedra Wonder how that happened....the compressor just went nuts and blew out the coils under high pressure? Doesn't seem like it would be catastrophic though I do imagine it would be notable if it happened.

[@kc4cvh]

This type of mishap is now known as a BLEVE, for Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion. They're interesting because in the fraction of a second while the steam is escaping the container acts as a steam rocket, propelling it with great force. In historic accidents with steam locomotives, the boiler would often rip from the chassis and fly several hundred yards, more recently a boiler ruptured at a medical clinic, driving it through a concrete roof and hundreds of feet into the air. Yes, steam can be a lot of fun.

[@lawrencelewis2592]

As a boiler inspector for the last 30 years I can only say, you don't need to be afraid of steam but you damned well better respect it!

[@spambot7110]

@@lawrencelewis2592 as a boiler inspector of absolutely zero years at all, i'm gonna stick with afraid myself. i already fuck around with electricity, no need to further tempt fate

[@lawrencelewis2592]

@@spambot7110 I see your point- I can rewire an antique car but I can't wire up a 110 volt outlet.

[@DanielTaylorOCMD]

If the water heater were full of a flammable liquid a BLEVE might be possible but not in this case. It's just steam.

[@spambot7110]

@@DanielTaylorOCMD nope! look it up, a BLEVE does not have to make a fireball to count. first paragraph of the wiki page clearly says combustibility is optional

[@majobis]

They did the research about that incident that did happen in MN in which that water heater did explode in a house. The force blew through the basement, the main level, and through the roof and landed on the neighbors dog. That force of the explosion also knocked the house of of the foundation. I did submit that story to Mythbusters and soon afterwards they did the first water heater test where it shot of like a missile in the air

[@Truffalot]

Who cares about the people, WAS THE DOG OKAY?

[@beeg8615]

@@Truffalot I can't say I am entirely confident that the dog survived

[@majobis]

The article said the dog died. And Mythbusters confirmed the story too that dog died.

[@Truffalot]

@@majobis Aaaaaw :( Thanks for letting me know

[@misst9]

@@Truffalot You would die if a water header landed on you, what makes you think a Dog would be ok?

[@dsteward85]

I remember about 10 years ago my neighbors water heater blew up. Boy was it loud and scared the piss out of me. Thankfully no one was hurt but he was set back with a lot of repairs.

[@Renville80]

When I was a kid, a neighbor’s cabin had a minor malfunction with the propane heater… only the floor, one wall, and the roof (which was at a 45 degree angle) remained.

[@rossbrumby1957]

Propane leaks igniting in a house are a seperate matter, theyll destroy a building every time. You can't overpressure a hot water heater tank because once the pressure becomes higher than mains water pressure, it just forces water backwards out the mains inlet pipe.

[@seabream]

@@rossbrumby1957 That depends. Some places mandate backflow preventers so that if a building has compromised plumbing the public system and other buildings are less likely to get contaminated. They also can be part of water softening systems. In those cases water heaters have to have something to handle the pressure increase when the water is heated. The most common is a thermal expansion tank, which essentially has a volume of air acting like a spring. As the water expands the air compresses with a much smaller required increase in pressure, absorbing the volumetric increase. Of course there's also the standard pressure relief valve that should also let out pressure within a safe threshold, though fewer people do the periodic tests to make sure that they still operate than should.

[@norbertfleck812]

@@rossbrumby1957 Nope. There must be at least one valve to prevent a backflow into the water supply on order to avoid contamination. However, modern heating elements have got a temperature fuse which limits the temperature and therefore the pressure. If the element gets too hot, the fuse melts, leaving the heating element interrupted (irreparabel).

[@darylcheshire1618]

@@seabream Yes I operate the relief valve every few months, I know they can get stuck being outside. I had a plumber visit on another matter and he offered to replace the relief valve for $450 and I replied, no mine still works because I check it.

[@blahblah9036]

The narrator's "HOLE-y cow!" really nails home how iconic the US narrator was in this show. I spent a couple days downloading all of mythbusters, only to realize it was entirely the UK narrator. And he's good, he's got his own charm. But it isn't the same.

[@fissionphoenix4995]

Yeah seeing this clip I remember how much I envied the narrator's job when I was a kid watching the show. Just reacting to all the cool crazy stuff going on.

[@TheRatedOniChannel]

Yeah, something similar happened when I was watching Takeshi's Castle, I can only listen to the UK version, it is not as good.

[@Sanzaru123]

@@TheRatedOniChannel Right you are Ken

[@blusterkong4556]

Its like listening to How It's Made with the US announcer, as opposed to the original Canadian one

[@Sanzaru123]

@@blusterkong4556 man I miss coming home from school and watching mythbusters in the evening and then falling asleep to how its made at night time.

[@maggs131]

Jamie was always so reserved but you could see him liking stuff like this. Adams maniacal laughter will always be a spirit animal of mine lol

[@AP-57]

Me: *slowly turns towards garage door* yep I have paranoia now.

[@andregon4366]

Nah, just install a camera on your garage.

[@RB01138]

Hot water heaters have safety's to prevent this sort of thing. They deliberately disabled them.

[@maggs131]

@@RB01138 thanks for clarifying that captain obvious 🦸‍♂️

[@drockjr]

​@@maggs131 you don't have to be rude

[@big0bad0brad]

@@drockjr Well, I appreciated the rudeness at least. Especially considering we're not talking about hot water heaters, we're talking about garage doors.

[@lelandlewis7207]

We had an oil stove that had a water heater coil. One day the coil exploded, blew the top off of the stove and filled the house with steam. I was 4 at the time and was sitting at a table about 8 feet away. The only injury I had was a burn behind my ear where a piece of hot soot hit me.

[@Sean_Coyne]

My mother in law was cooking spaghetti in a pressure cooker and the relief valve clogged up. When it exploded, it blew out the windows and spray painted the entire room with baked on spaghetti that stuck like concrete. Fortunately, no one was in the kitchen at the time.

[@waltermayer3425]

Could you imagine if they put walls on what would have happened?

[@jeremytung1632]

Did you go to Vegas afterwards?

[@spikespa5208]

@@jeremytung1632 Nor sure that would work. His luck tank is empty for some time to come after that.

[@waytospergtherebro]

A piece of hot soot. Right.

[@petermargie]

Had a customer with an oil fired hot water heater. The aqua stat failed and the burner kept heating the water. The temperature and pressure continued to rise. The temperature and pressure relief valve did not open to relieve the pressure. Water heat launched up from the basement floor, hit an overhead steel I beam and lifted the whole house slightly off its foundation walls. Thankfully no one injured but the house was a complete loss. Had to be torn down. 😳

[@rossbrumby1957]

Sounds like some moron put one way valves in the pipe between the mains and the tank. Normally the water would just be pushing back into the inlet pipe, therefore the pressure can't get much higher than normal mains pressure- which where I live is about 60psi.

[@petermargie]

@@rossbrumby1957 The house had a well with pump which may have contributed. I don’t recall how everything was plumbed. All I know is our HVAC Fuel Oil Company was not implicated with the failure. Phew! I did immediately upgrade my own temperature/pressure relief valve and aquastat control on my similar oil fired hot water heater at home. I actually added a second T & P relief valve to my system as well.

[@larrycurrier290]

@@rossbrumby1957 if you're on city water there's a check valve at the meter that's not allowing pressure to be released back into the main. If you have a water heater tank you'll have a potable water expansion tank on the house side of the check valve which absorbs a little bit of expansion. On an overheat situation which causes pressure under expansion your temperature and pressure relief valve should let it hit the floor. If you were on a well system it will push water back into your well tank if there is not a check valve on the outlet to the home which is not common. You may have to replace that temperature in pressure relief valve but it's not a bad idea to trip it once in awhile as some manufacturers suggest. Most servicemen do not do it because they know it's going to most likely drip afterwards. T&p valve lift at 150 psi or 210 degrees Fahrenheit

[@iambiggus]

This happened at my G-ma's house after she passed and we were selling it, except the blast went out the side of the heater and blew it out through garage door. Ripped a good portion of the plumbing out of the wall with it as well as the electric lines. Thankfully the house was empty when it happened.

[@rossbrumby1957]

Sounds like something a boiler would do, not a water heater. Houses in Australia dont have boilers as its not that cold, and coincidently hot water services (as we call them here) do not explode. Never ever seen on the news or even heard on the grapevine.

[@ItsDaKoolaidDude]

"I'm taking this water heater with me"

[@aelithmackinnon8656]

I think I'll go check my water heater's pressure relief valve today...

[@mikkelnpetersen]

I love that it hit the roof on the way down.

[@defuller1]

Yes, several seconds later! I remember seeing this episode years ago and they said how high it flew. I don't remember what the figure was, but it went way up there!

[@dynamitedingo8183]

@@defuller1 548 Feet or 167 Meters @ 234 MPH or 377 km/h

[@tsangarisjohn]

I miss the show! Still puts a smile on my face

[@josemoreno3334]

I saw this happen back in 1969 to my next door neighbor's house. He took off the pressure valve because it was leaking water and put some kind of plug in it. In the early morning hours it blew up. Went up like a rocket and landed in a empty lot. Thankfully no one was hurt. The house was damage so badly , The city of Los Angeles condemn it. Wow. Love the video.

[@jentronics3754]

I seen a regular well water tank (taller than a man) that blew through the roof. The rush of water blew out the first few courses of brick causing the pump house to drop and sit at an angle. The roof (octagon shaped) was scattered all around approx 50 feet from the building. I warned them a couple weeks before the tank bottom seam was rusted out and seeping water all over the concrete. I did the math for 40psi and a 36 diameter tank and got over 40,000 lbs of force on the bottom. I believe the sudden release of the tank bottom was all it took.

[@marvindebot3264]

And water in nothing compared to steam.

[@justayoutuber1906]

"I saw" not "I seen"

[@grundlestiltzken761]

@@justayoutuber1906 Thank you, Reddit.

[@MisterQuizstersTriviaChannel]

In 2003, I was on a cruise ship in Miami, right behind the S.S. Norway. The boiler blew and 4 people were killed. We could feel the concussion from the deck of a ship at least a couple of hundred metres away. That was the end of the Norway... she never sailed another cruise and was eventually scrapped.

[@ElJohno83]

8 people were killed, call yourself a trivia channel! ;)

[@Drackleyrva]

Years ago when I was a kid, a house down the street from us was leveled after their hot water heater exploded. I can still hear the sound of the explosion--it traumatized me and I'm still a little weary of hot water heaters.

[@veramae4098]

"wary"

[@4thquarter5]

"ary"

[@Barnaclebeard]

I knew exactly what was gonna happen. A water heater down the street went off when I was a kid and there was only half a house left standing. Terrifying.

[@whopperlover1772]

I have to admit, this was pretty freaking epic.

[@paulstewart9240]

+ByteMe The cherry on top would've been if the heater actually dropped back through the hole it made.

[@DennisMoore664]

This and the cement truck.

[@fissionphoenix4995]

It's been so long since I've heard that narrator's voice and man I suddenly remember why I want to be a voice actor / voice-over artist again. What a fun job it must have been voicing those bits of the story for the home audience to keep it all together. What a fun show.

[@Calico5string1962]

One of the best, most relatable Mythbusters segments ever! Almost every home has one of these. It shows how critical it is to have a working T&P relief valve on every unit. This is a perfect example of a BLEVE! I worked for 10 years (during the mid 1980's) as a mechanic in a industrial plant, and worked with a retired plumber ("uncle Bill") there. Part of my/our job was maintaining two 5500 mBTU (relatively small) low-pressure (15 psig) boilers, and we often discusded the awesome power of steam and the amount of energy available in it. We actually discussed this very scenario: A domestic hot-water heater going waaay over temp & pressure and failing violently, and just how dangerous and damaging it would be. And here, y'all did it! Unfortunately uncle Bill passed prior to this episode airing. But I'm sure he would have been amazed (as was I). Thank you!

[@ciaranpollard1010]

As a plumbing and heating apprentice, that scares the shit out of me knowing I’m working on these beasts 😅

[@randyblackburn9765]

Electric WH has a T and P valve it will open when pressure gets to great also has a ‘pellet ‘ that will melt out also and then there is a reserve thermostat that pops the reset button out and cuts the current below the top 2 screws . It’s hard to blow up newer WHs

[@starmc26]

@@randyblackburn9765 People in this comment section are acting like a water heater is the same as a Boiler. They are all extremely misinformed on how the water heater system actually works, and how it's capable of failing.

[@forrestgumball]

Just bleed the T&P valve bro

[@elenalohrey1971]

I agree. That would scare the crap out of me too

[@Piemanthe3rd]

This has got to be the most satisfying finale in the show. Just did absolutely what you wanted it to do.

[@18videowatcher41]

God I miss Mythbusters. I can't even watch tv anymore because everything is so shit now. Mythbusters made my childhood and teen years.

[@SouthwesternEagle]

Me too, and same here. (sigh)

[@_windows_software_wizard_2136]

I didn't know I had a make-shift space shuttle in my very own home?

[@norbertfleck812]

Ariane space (ESA) used hot water boosters on their rockets. It's cheap and very effective.

[@magni5648]

Water hammer's one hell of a thing. IIRC the US had an early nuclear reactor accident where a criticality element caused a steam detonation that lifted the whole 3-ton reactor vessel and slammed it into the reactor building's roof.

[@superluminalsquirrel9359]

Water hammer is a phenomenon that occurs in pipes to moving water right? I don’t think it’s the same phenomenon at all in this water heater, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong

[@magni5648]

@@superluminalsquirrel9359 It can happen in pipes when the flow of fast-moving water is abruptly changed, but the term is general refers to what happens when you have a large amount of fast-moving water impact into something. Water cannot be compressed, which can cause some pretty spectacular effects under the right circumstances.

[@louielouiepks]

I've seen this happen. Near Morehead City, NC. In a garage of a three story house. Heater landed in the yard next door. Late 70s.

[@knurlgnar24]

This almost happened to my grandparents back in the 1960's. My Dad said the heater was making all kinds of noises, the cold taps shot out boiling water, and the hot taps contained only steam. Luckily they caught it just on time as it didn't explode. He was too young to understand exactly what caused the problem but he sure remembered the event.

[@MountainFisher]

I live about 15 miles from Kilbourne Hole. A maar caused by magma heating up ground water and it blew an area about a square mile of rock into the sky and over 400 feet deep. A VEI 5 explosion without any magma erupting. That is Mt. St. Helens levels of Volcanic Explosivity Index=VEI. In 1789 the Kilauea's magma hit a pocket of ground water and killed 400 people.

[@lazylawnbub]

um uh okay now I know I have a bomb in my house wow

[@dunde8889]

Yes and it’s going tick tock

[@ferasdahrooge4765]

You mean a rocket

[@johnanders8861]

No you don’t, unless you (1.) Have the worst luck at fail safes ever. (2.) Block the T&P pressure relief valve, and have a non working thermostat.

[@andregon4366]

@@johnanders8861 (3) make sure you're filming it when it happens.

[@kattihatt]

You mesn a potential bomb? Just like you have a potential murder weapon, in the form of a kitchen knife.

[@Brian-uy2tj]

To me, this was one of their top tier results. It was not only dramatic, it was truly educational. Every homeowner should see this episode.

[@desertengineer1]

Called a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion. As temperature and pressure rises, the water stops boiling because of standard physics of liquids. The temperature and pressure continues to climb and climb, but the water stays liquid. When the container bursts, the water, now around 400 to 500 degrees F is instantly exposed to only atmospheric pressure, instantly releases the stored energy into steam vapor - adding exponential energy to the explosion. This is why you have several mandatory pressure relief measures in water heater designs. In some 3rd world countries with poor manufacturing, the pressure relief valves are sometimes not installed, or are of such poor quality, that these happen. I witnessed a 10 gallon water heater destroy an entire 20 ft X 40 ft building in Qatar, luckily at 2 AM due to a BLEVE incident. Shrapnel penetrated other buildings 20-30 feet away and blew out or "bowed out" all of the walls. It would have killed or maimed most in the building if in the day. This show obviously removed the protection valve to demonstrate what could happen. You can thank regulatory agencies for enforcing codes!

[@rossbrumby1957]

The only way that could happen is if a one way valve is fitted to the mains water supply pipe. And it's why nobody but an idiot would fit one. Normally water will just be forced out the inlet pipe, barely going over mains pressure. It takes a pretty stupid person to make a water heater tank explode.

[@desertengineer1]

@@rossbrumby1957 You wouldn't believe some of the crap I saw during my Middle East tours. I still have photos of the aftermath somewhere. Totally destroyed the building. Wires, cables, ceiling lights hanging everywhere. All walls pushed out. Huge hole blown open where the tank once stood. Nearby tents and buildings swiss cheesed with shrapnel.

[@jamesthemotormaniac2807]

Turns and looks at the water heater: Don’t. You. DARE. DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

[@movezig5]

Easily one of the best explosions I've seen in Mythbusters.

[@7thsealord888]

Mythbusters And Water Heaters. A truly blessed combo. :)

[@lekanraposte6732]

This "myth" was believable from the very start. Water and steam used to move giant engines back then. So a water rocket was more than likely. And it's beautiful to see it happen.

[@jackson5116]

unrealistic though, because you'd have to boil the water to such high temps inside the heater.

[@lekanraposte6732]

@@jackson5116 To be fair, it is about a heater that had all it's security features removed, not a normal one.

[@joseph1150]

My dad worked at a factory in the early 70s where someone had placed one of those older style fire extinguishers too close to a kiln. It eventually got too hot and blew up through the roof. The plant made things using asbestos (well before the ban), and it snowed down on all the workers from the rafters, like 2 inches deep in some areas. Plant was shut down for 4 shifts to clean up the mess and get the roof patched.

[@lekanraposte6732]

@@joseph1150 Holy smokes.... Or rather, _cursed_ smokes!

[@jman0870]

@@jackson5116 the water wasn’t boiling. It was under pressure. It didn’t boil until it exploded. 🙄

[@bridgecross]

I'm just impressed that the heater's trajectory was so cleanly vertical that it practically came down on the house. I would have expected it to arc in one direction or another, especially after passing through a floor and a roof.

[@derfunkhaus]

I'm impressed that after shooting up through all those layers of flooring, rafters, shingles and whatnot, the tank still shot pretty much straight up and came right back down pretty close to vertical. Unfortunately the footage didn't let us really appreciate just how much air it got.

[@HobbyOrganist]

went up like a rocket on a launch pad!

[@ryanmanley389]

I remember reading somewhere that back in the days of steam powered ships, a boiler exploded on a vessel traveling on the mississippi river and the explosion was so powerful they found some of the crews remains literally in the next county over.

[@ijunkie]

42 tons of pressure on the bottom "you would fail too" LOL

[@RattlerSSBN]

Oh, how I miss these guys and that whole Mythbuster team....true entertainment with some education of real life possibilities.

[@FallLineJP]

"This would pretty much ruin your house" Also, your ear drums, and maybe your internal organs. Wow Launch contract from NASA incoming 😎

[@jacthing1]

And your skin

[@maskedmarvyl4774]

Adam: "WHOA!!! That's fantastic!!!" Jamie: Smiles slightly.

[@jaydenjohner6901]

My uncles hot water heater wasn't working properly so he turned off the circuit breaker until it could be fixed. His girlfriend came over, wanted to take a shower and turned it back on without him knowing. They woke up in the middle of the night with half his roof and a bookcase on top on them. The water tank relief valve failed, pressure built up and it rocketed through his roof an landed on his neighbours yard... He lives on an acreage. The house was a complete loss and he didn't have insurance. The floor under the heater collapsed due to the force of the explosion. Made the local papers though so that was pretty cool

[@mysterymayhem7020]

this one and the explosion of the cement truck were two of my favorites.

[@jeremytung1632]

One of the most impressive explosions I’ve seen on the show.

[@user-yq6ov6ow7l]

After watching this video I started thinking about how much time my family spends directly above the water heater. Then I realized I sleep directly above it 2 floors up. All it would take is a faulty shutoff and for the flame to stay lit. Needless to say I just moved my bed.

[@michaelanderson2166]

I’m a boiler inspector and this episode was perfect for showing clients why tampering with their heater is a bad idea.

[@petertoft70]

didn't they also do one where they just measured how high a water heater would go unhindered? It went several hundred feet up if I remember correctly.

[@sergeantassassin3425]

Even IF it's hindered, that sucker can still punch through an entire house and fly another hundred or so feet before gravity finally gets ahold of it. Physics is wild, man.

[@labla8940]

That roof system is way over engineered. The lumber is 2x12 much bigger width than should have to be for the ceiling joists (the horizontal boards for ceiling where drywall is secured), also the rafters are also much stronger than needed. These guys actually over built making results even more impressive

[@DiabloOutdoors]

They built it according to the CA code. Woops!....

[@VoltisArt]

Earthquakes make a fair difference in requirements, and there's little penalty beyond cost, if you exceed requirements. I remember when many old buildings in Los Angeles had to be retrofitted to meet new req's in the 80's and early 90's, lest they be torn down by government or nature. The Whittier Narrows and Loma Prieta quakes did a lot of damage. The Hollywood Guitar Center has (at least had when I went years ago, in my memory,) steel reinforcements going through the upper area of the sales room. Basically very long screws with turnbuckles, attached to anchors in the walls. Pictures of the recent Van Halen mural show the stems of these sticking out of the wall at regular intervals. The MB structure was also underbuilt, as it contains no ceilings, insulation, HVAC tubes, upper floor pipes or wiring. Not even a box of old junk in the attic. ;)

[@labla8940]

@@VoltisArt Ya I have seen California homes being built, I also remember seeing older homes in San Jose area and how simple they were. Coming from New England CT. seeing homes built like no other the Italian and Portuguese builders. Here we have 2x6 maybe 2x8 rafters with a minimum of 6 pitch. To see 2x12 ceiling joist and rafters is crazy

[@SouthwesternEagle]

This was built to California building code, and their requirements are strict.

[@labla8940]

@@SouthwesternEagle I dont know CA code but I can say its quite a feat to go through ..2/ 2x12s on edge. No argument from me if it was code just dam impressive. Why 2x12 rafter and especially 2x12 ceiling joists? I get earthquakes but that seems excessive. I am confused 2x12 is code? Doesn't the engineer/architect dictate the rafter dimensions/ So a tiny bungalow home in a climate with less than1 snow day less than 3: per year average would still require a 2x12. I get earthquakes but how do 2x12 make it more earthquake resistant, when a rafter is a load issue not really a a shear force issue

[@janeilnold5863]

It may not be the dramatic fiery explosions we saw in other episodes, but this remains one of my favorite MB explosions ever! It’s amazing how much pressure that thing was under when it finally blew and it tore through the house like it was made of paper AND fell straight back down, nearly on top of the hole in the roof it just made. It’s one of those experiments that couldn’t have gone any better and it perfectly demonstrated how dangerous these could be if you screwed around with them. Lesson learned: Don’t mess with pressure vessels!

[@johnadams2313]

"Houston we have Liftoff!" I remember that episode vividly WOW!

[@nathanielturner2577]

Once I get my own house , I’m getting my water heater serviced every year so this doesn’t happen.

[@ANDROLOMA]

Don't bother. Just replace the thing every decade or so.

[@larrycurrier290]

Truly all you need to do is trip the relief valve once a year if it drips afterwards replace it temperature and pressure relief valve is a whole lot cheaper than repairs to your house

[@brentfisher902]

@@larrycurrier290 Or water damage causing data loss, such as film, tape, computer memory.....

[@csnide6702]

"serviced."....... tell me just what exactly do you have to do with them every year...? Just make sure there are no leaks or stress cracks anywhere and leave it alone !

[@jaws1754]

This episode traumatized me when I was a kid, and still to this day I'm so scared of water heaters I feel that even touching them will make them blow up

[@eltonyancey6426]

I always watched this show and really miss it. Hope they bring it back one day.

[@hoodoo2001]

My father was badly burned in a water heater explosion in the 1950's.

[@tengen3613]

We had the hot water heater explode when I was young. Left quite the impression against the concrete wall across the room

[@grlt23]

Scott Manley brought me here - fly safe!

[@TheTrueNehme]

Adam (With a big smile): "It's great, watch it again!" KZbin's new play slider feature: ✨Most replayed

[@NorthForkFisherman]

AKA: "The Money Shot".

[@DereC519]

Your video will make a fine addition to my "KZbin algorithm strikes again" collection

[@buitlbybear1580]

A few years back there was a 30 gallon under counter hot waters that exploded in a block building. It not only destroyed the building it was in it blew the windows out on a building almost a block away and the tank laned 3 blocks away and rattled the windows in my house 5 blocks away and around the corner. A lot of things had to go wrong for the tank to explode and they did.

[@rossbrumby1957]

Sounds like a boiler, not a water heater.

[@buitlbybear1580]

@@rossbrumby1957 It was a hot water tank ...

[@vxy357]

This is why I would NEVER attempt to work on or install a water heater. Leave that job to the professionals.

[@FuttBuckerByMutt]

It’s pretty hard to fuck it up. You have to be a real dumbass to have a water heater do this to you. This can happen to old water heaters too even if a professional installed it

[@hellsson1996]

You have to disable two safety features or have them fail in order for this to happen. They said what usually happens in theses cases is people see the pressure relief tube coming out of the side and think it's there in error and plug it. Then the other relief fails and this happens. It's very rare.

[@pierrearonnax3100]

Nah, as others have said, they have safety devices, and installing a new one is something a reasonably handy person can do.

[@PavelLGUA]

installation is easy, but never use it w/o safety valve

[@SuqMadiq]

It's actually fairly easy, as far as plumbing goes.

[@rangerstl07]

Quite a dramatic test for the first season. Such a great show.

[@fall22123]

Always my favorite episode. They showed the danger of bypassing the safety valve. Good rule in any situation. Don't bypass safety features and call a pro if you don't know what you're doing.

[@metube9541]

Now, if I can just get into my neighbours house and rig the safety valve. That’ll teach him.

[@larrycurrier290]

You'll have to go further than the relief valve. I won't School you on the rest

[@metube9541]

@@larrycurrier290 🤜

[@krumplethemal8831]

Jamie: "This would pretty much ruin your house." Me: "It would more like ruin your day if you were home at the time."

[@phild8095]

At least ruin your underwear.

[@jacthing1]

@@phild8095 and depends on where you are. Probably most of your skin too. Steamed like a vegetable

[@Vaportiple]

You never fail me KZbin recommendations

[@wizardsuth]

I'm impressed that it hit a joist edge on and just kept going. That's a lot of force.

[@labla8940]

2x12 no less and 2x12 rafter

[@MegaKencam]

In my youth I worked at a company that had 2 very large boilers. I had no experience at all but they put me in charge of them. I guess that 5 minutes of training was enough because everyone survived...

[@LouisEmery]

That hot water tank had good aim. The dummy didn't suffer much it seems. No mention of the dummy.

[@MrLeDERP]

Louis Emery chock may cause hearth attack

[@aldonapolitano5979]

One thing for sure; a human would have been scalded at the very least, and yes! They never mentioned the dummy!?!?

[@cielopachirisu929]

I'm sure the heat and the shock of the explosion was probably not kind to their soft tissue.

[@GomerfromIsaan]

He has permanent hearing loss. As for worrying about the house damage, he didn't care. He's just a dummy.

[@davidbwn]

Like the moment in slow motion where you see the electrical disconnect

[@olduhfguy]

I witnessed a 500 gal potable water tank mounted on a concrete pad go airborne when the pressure relief valve failed to open. The positive displacement (piston) pressure well pump just kept running, so the high pressure cut-off apparently failed also. I was just a kid but still remember seeing it go up over the trees before landing about 25 yards away.

[@SSUnitedStates52]

I like how it landed back onto the roof. Would have been better if it went back into the basement lol.

[@seanpirwin]

I can imagine how painfull getting sprayed w/ super heated steam would be I took a solar shower with 130 degree water and it was horible

[@jacthing1]

How did you stand that? I'm pretty sure that would scald your entire body?

[@larrycurrier290]

Superheated steam through pinhole cut your arm off. The ship that I was on had a 440 lb Steam Plant. that steam will cut steel

[@VoltisArt]

@@jacthing1 that depends on time of exposure and actual temperature where the water contacts. Shower water will quickly lose heat to the environment as it falls through the air, and moreso when the water is farther from the air temperature. An experiment I found online came up with around 18 degrees F (10C) difference from shower head to floor, and most of the heat would be lost near the top, since the hotter water cools faster. Even the pipes would lose some heat unless unusually insulated. 130F at the source might be 125 exiting the shower head, 115 on your head and 100 at your feet. (Hair will also slow down heat transfer to the head, dampening that 115 somewhat.) Really and unnecessarily uncomfortable, but as long as you're moving around and not submerged, not a medical danger to most people. YMMV.

[@erdmannelchen8829]

I need to see another one of those water heater explosions, but I need a pointy come attached to the top and guidance wings attached to the side.

[@stevemenegaz9824]

On March 20, 1905,the Grover Shoe Factory boiler in Brockton exploded, tkilling 58 people and injured 150. Following a boiler explosion, the four-story wooden building collapsed and the ruins burst into flames, incinerating workers trapped in the wreckage. The Grover disaster led to the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code governing the safe operation of steam boilers.

[@bmader2065]

That's why there are pressure and temperature relief valves on every water heater sold in the U.S. Don't seal them off or plug them or else this will happen. If the T&P leaks, have a licensed plumber look at it. It may be a symptom of a different problem.

[@norbertfleck812]

As far as I know, modern heating elements also have got a temperature fuse which limits the maximum temperature and therefore the pressure by interrupting the heater irreversible if it gets too hot

[@starmc26]

There's also your inlet and outlet piping system which lets most pressure escape.

[@cellogirl11rw55]

Damn! That thing took off like a rocket!

[@vjm3]

At my work we do routine heat treatments that heat up an argon environment up to 27 psig max. The thickness of the retort holding this argon within the furnace is only 1/8" thick of stainless steel. I did the math out, and figured out it'd take a huge amount of psi before it would explode (and luckily our temperatures NEVER reach anything close to it), but while designing the system I just kept imagining something like this happening. Glad all of our components and the tank itself can handle these temperatures.

[@johndododoe1411]

27 psi is handled by cheap vehicle tires all the time .

[@Theantininja]

for those of you not aware, a steam explosion is an incredibly horrifying thing to experience, mostly because in addition to being hit by a massive pressure wave similar to that of a regular explosion(which is the most fatal part of an explosion), your chances of survival are phenomenally worse in proximity because it's a super-heated pressure wave that scalds the entire surface of your skin while also wreaking havoc on your organs. If there's such a thing as flash-boiled, that's essentially the experience.

[@TheHopson]

I find it hard to believe that the plumbing and faucets would hold up to that kind of pressure! Path of least resistance would find a weak link in the system causing a copper line joint or faucet o ring to let go first!

[@coyote5735]

Wrong they would.

[@DarkAvenga]

Have you tried looking up instances of this happening ? It might answer your query .. :/ hmm

[@allangibson2408]

Household plumbing is designed for 150psi in normal operations. Surviving 330psi wouldn’t be surprising.

[@rupe53]

@@allangibson2408 ... 150 psi is normal, although high. Burst pressure on domestic copper pipe is 300 psi.

[@reuvenreich5927]

An old boiler in a building I took care of had a stuck gas valve. Boiler stayed where it was but blew out every fitting in a 4 foot radius.

[@razony]

Note to self: Put water heater under ex-wife's bedroom.

[@akakico]

First episode I ever watched! So good.

[@RedfishCarolina]

I still think this episode was the most entertaining single hour of television ever filmed.

[@johnjarvis8185]

Had this been a real house with fully enclosed walls and ceiling the windows and I'm sure some walls would have been blown out too.

[@1958indyfan]

This is for all of the geniuses out there that replace their leaking pressure relief valve with an iron plug.

[@knurlgnar24]

No kidding. Those iron plugs can corrode and fail. Best use a stainless steel plug for safety.

[@dougs867]

Keep in mind it can also happen with electric water heaters too. Not as easily. But bypass the eco and t&p valve , it’s possible. Had a training film from Rheem in the early 70’s. Been a master plumber from just about then on. Still working

[@mattleitch7265]

Loved this episode... over and over

[@GalacticalAmbassador]

I rigged my hot water tank like the mythbusters and it launched my bed so high that I landed on Pluto.

[@GalacticalAmbassador]

***** We got the most high-tech wifi here on Pluto because aliens have inhabited this planet

[@mediocreman6323]

Poor dog :-(

[@LiberalsGettheBulletToo]

Seeing as Pluto was originally the realm of the dead...

[@peterk2455]

Could have been worse, think what would have been if it landed on Uranus.

[@Fargyy]

this is why you never plug the relief valve

[@phonzy]

Omg

[@helmuri2218]

I never knew that an explosion could ruin my house Thanks for the warning mythbusters, very cool!

[@climbslc2281]

All time favorite MB episode for sure!!