What is your house side vs city side water shut off?

Well, they’re both your responsibility, one involves working with the city and the other does not. It’s extremely important to know what they do, how they operate, and why you should make sure they work.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Difference Between House Side & City Side Water Shut Off
• Why Do You Have To Choose Between These Two
• Reason Why You Need To Choose Between These Two Carefully.

The Best Plumbers & Technicians In Town

Tuesday morning, at Champion Plumbing! Who’s Your Plumber?! We do it all!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Who To Call When Plumbing Service Is In Need.
• How Our Tuesday Morning Looks Like Here At Champion Plumbing.
• Why We Are The Best Plumbing Service Provider in Town.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Happy end of May Tuesday. This is Troy, Champion Plumbing out of Eagan, Minnesota. If you need a plumber, we’re here. We’re loading up it’s Tuesday morning, which is a meeting morning. So we run a little behind or a little slower than our normal get-out. But if you need a plumber, give us a call 651 365-1340. Look us up on the web, www.championplumbing.net. And please click that subscribe button.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey, you all, Troy, Champion Plumbing out of Eagan, Minnesota. Today, I’m in Eagan up at our shop. I want to show you where to find your main water valve. It’s important in case of emergency if you have water spraying or leaking to be able to shut the whole house off and curve the bleeding if you will, and slow things down. What you’re looking for is go to your utility room. Generally, it’s going to be in the utility room where you got a laundry tub, water heater, water softener. Coming up from the floor, in Minnesota anyway, you’ll find a three-quarter inch or a one-inch copper line. You’ll see a valve, and hopefully, it looks like this one, a ball valve. Then you have your meter. Some of the older meters still have the spinner on it. Then above that, some people will see that. That’s a pressure-reducing valve. Then you have another ball valve, hopefully. Ball valves are better. They’re more reliable. It’s a quarter-turn valve. When it’s in this position, it’s off. When it’s running with the pipe, it’s on. All you’d have to do to shut your main water off, slowly turn that to the horizontal position and you’re good. Some of the older homes are still going to have a gate valve, which I don’t think we have. This is the closest thing to a gate that we have. Good, it is off. Okay. It would be in the on position, which would be counterclockwise, and you want to turn it clockwise until it stops. That would turn it off. A lot of houses still have gate valves below and above their meter, but try what we call the house side valve first. If that works, great. If it doesn’t, go down and try the city side valve is what we call it. It’s still the homeowner’s responsibility, but we call it a city-side valve. Main water valves, knowing how to shut off your water. It’s important. If you’re a homeowner, you should know-how. If you are in need of some new main valves or would like a consultation just so we can show you how to shut off the water and the gas to your home, give us a call, (651) 365-1340. Look us up on the web, www.championplumbing.net. Please click that subscribe button.

Things To Remember Before Doing A Gas Water Heater Installation

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Things To Avoid When Installing Water Heaters.
• How To Install A Gas Water Heater.
• How To Properly Install A Gas Water Heater.

Navien Tankless Water Heater Installation in Eagan, MN

Watch as Journeyman Plumber Billy from Champion Plumbing installs a high-efficiency Navien tankless water heater for a homeowner in Eagan, Minnesota. This upgrade provides endless hot water, improved energy efficiency, and valuable space savings. Whether you’re considering a tankless system or need a professional installation, see how our expert team gets the job done right.

📍 Serving the Twin Cities Metro
🔧 Licensed & Insured Plumbers
📞 Call Champion Plumbing today for your tankless water heater needs!

#TanklessWaterHeater #Navien #EaganMN #ChampionPlumbing #PlumbingInstall #MinnesotaPlumber

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How To Install A Navien Tankless Water Heater Properly.
• Right Sizes Of Water Pipes For This Tankless Water Heater.
• What To Avoid When Installing A Tankless Water Heater.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey there, Troy, Champion Plumbing, out of Eagan, Minnesota. We were out doing another water heater. I just wanted to show, I mean, this is a good old Bradford White, it lasted a long time, did its job, but they fail.

So I want to show you at the bottom. If you guys aren’t draining your water heaters, I want to show you what the water at the very bottom of your water heater looks like.

Now, we are in Brooklyn Park, but that’s what’s at the bottom of your water heater, is why I say make sure you drain your water heaters annually, get rid of all that junk, so you have nice clean water.

And your water heater will be more efficient. It’ll just be happier. If you drain it, it’ll work like it’s supposed to, last longer. All good things come from draining your water heater.

Now, some people say, “Well, yeah,” but I think the one comment was, “you have to have a plumber on speed dial because the seals aren’t going to seal up.” Well, if you’re doing it annually, they will. I mean, that’s just that. So nice, nasty, really, water, just chilling at the bottom of the water heater.

Think about that when you’re taking a shower. Drain those water heaters. Thanks, guys. Click that subscribe button.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey everybody, Troy and Cole, Champion Plumbing out of Eagan. We’re going to show you how to flush a tankless water heater. Obviously, we’ll do it for you, but if you want to save some money, it’s not that hard of a task. We’ve got our Navien it’s been installed up in the shop, Navien tankless water heater. This time we’re going to use, it’s called Haymaker. There are so many different kinds.

You can also just use white vinegar and flush it through. So what Cole is doing is he’s getting set up on the valves. They have the washer machine hooked up on him, the hoses hook up. So he just turned off both the hot and the cold going into it.

So now it’s completely isolated. He hooked the line in up to this, the line out up to this, got a little pump in the bucket. This stuff, always read the directions if you’re getting stuff. If you’re using vinegar, I’d go what? Two gallons of vinegar probably.

Cole: Yeah. It’s more diluted than they actually be scaling.

Troy: We’re going to mix up the solution. This is a one-to-one solution. You put this in with a gallon of water, and it’s going to be easy. How often should they flush their tankless, Cole?

Cole: I recommend once a year.

Troy: Okay.

Cole: Regardless of the status of, “Oh, I have great water. Mines marginal water.” Just do it once a year, it’s the maintenance part. This is your heat exchanger that heats up and heats your water. When we flush it, it’s going to cruise through all of those fins and back down and just clean all that out so that burner stays good. And maintenance for warranty purposes.

If this never gets maintenance, 10 years down the road, it needs a new heat exchanger. They could potentially say, “We’re not going to warranty it because you didn’t do the maintenance call on it.”

Troy: Yeah, that’s a great call. We warranty. If we put a new softener in like that brass master we did with this one, we will absorb the 15-year labor warranty with the manufacturer warranty. So they have a 15-year manufacturer warranty on the heat exchanger. If we install a water softener with the install of a tankless, we will warranty that tankless parts and labor for 15 years.

So you have nothing to worry about. Bumper to bumper. So he’s got the solution mixed up, one gallon of water, one jug of that. He’s got both his hoses. We’re going to make sure we unplug the machine or turn it off and open up those valves. Did you get her turned off already?

Cole: Yep.

Troy: The power.

Cole: Power’s not plugged in.

Troy: To the tankless so we don’t heat up our solution.

Cole: Nope.

Troy: There we go. So just pull the cord out quick. He’s got both things on and just dumping it right into the same bucket, pumping it through into the heat exchanger. It’s dumping it back out into the bucket. And how long do we need to do this for?

Cole: 30 to 45 minutes. If you really see a lot of crud coming out and discoloring, I’d probably go a little longer, but if you’re going to do your maintenance once a year, that’s how long you really need to do it.

Troy: All right. Well, I’m going to chime off now and then we’ll get back on when we turn the pump off because it’s literally, you just let it run. Let it run for 30, 45 minutes and we’ll show you how to shut it back down and fire it back up.
All right. So we’re back on. Been flushing her out. Now he’s going to turn the pump off by unplugging it.

You can see the solution, there is some crud in there, not too bad though. We don’t use this for showering or anything. It’s just for training. So what’s the next step?

Cole: Well, I usually like to take the hoses off, turn the cold and hot on, run the faucet without the tankless on for about five minutes. Just so if there’s any residual in here, we can kick it out of here.

Troy: Oh, so you’re kind of flushing out the solution.

Cole: Yeah, you could too leave this one on, open the cold up, and then let it shoot out of the hot side for a little bit if you wanted to. Same difference if you just leave your faucet run. Don’t go around, open up all your faucets. Just go to your main one.

Troy: We always like to use a laundry tub faucet if you ever have one because it doesn’t have flow restrictors and stuff like that, less of a problem. So you can see he’s closed the valve there, got that valve closed. Both hoses are being disconnected. So you’re not going to flush that through?

Cole: No, I’ll just go through the faucet. If you don’t have a drain or something by you, just got to let it run a little longer.

Troy: Notice he still hasn’t plugged the machine in. You want to give it a good flush before we turn it back on.

Cole: We’re going to pop this filter out quick too.

Troy: Yeah, this is important. This is a once-a-year gig with the Navien. It was just a quick pin you saw him pull.

Cole: If there’s any debris, it will get caught in there. There’s nothing in there right now.

Troy: Let’s show them that clip. That was just a simple pull and popped out. So here, put it back in.

Cole: When you put it back in, you got to be careful you don’t get that O ring off because it will start to drip a little bit on you.

Troy: Just go in straight and smooth.

Cole: Yeah. You kind of might have to turn it a little bit.

Troy: Okay. Then you can see the two little holes, put the pin back in. That’s the filter. You want to make sure you clean that every time you’re doing the flush of the tankless water heater.

Cole: And then we got one more that’s our incoming filter right here. This is any cold water coming into the unit, this is the screen filter for anything coming in.

Troy: Explain what the other one was. I thought this was the other one.

Cole: This is where the heat exchanger, any debris in here, it’ll fall down and collect into here.

Troy: Okay.

Cole: This one is your cold water coming in the screen so it protects any debris going into your unit.

Troy: Got it. And that one we can just do a backward flush in the sink.

Cole: Yep. You can just take it off, rinse it out. This one looks pretty clean. Obviously, this is a training purpose tankless so it doesn’t get used like a home.

Troy: And that was just hand tight. No wrenches.

Cole: There’s just the O ring in there. So you just get it snug and done.

Troy: This entire process takes, the only tool is the pump and two garden hoses, two small garden hoses.

Cole: Going to turn the cold and hot on. Keep it unplugged still.

Troy: Come over to the, again, the laundry tub is our favorite use.

Cole: Obviously open up the hot side. Just let it run for a few minutes.

Troy: All right. So flushing a tankless water heater, less than three minutes to do the steps, 30 to 45 minutes to complete the flush. How long should they flush this through now?

Cole: I’d probably go like five minutes.

Troy: Just a quick five minutes.

Cole: Because then you know you’re getting all that fresh water in the system and kickback out of it through the lines down on here. Then you can shut it off, plug it back there.

Troy: There we go. So once you plug it in and it will fire up all by itself. If you have a tankless water heater, you need it flushed, you can obviously follow the steps on this video or give us a call (651) 365-1340. Look us up on the web www.championplumbing.net. And as always, please click the like and the subscribe button. Anything else?

Cole: That should be it. Thanks for watching.

Troy: Thanks for watching.

This Is Why You Need To Replace Galvanized Water Piping

Inside galvanized water piping. The rust, sediment, dirt, grime, this is why the form of water piping is no longer allowed. Not just all the dirt, but the flow reduction to your fixtures. If you have this form of water piping, it’s highly suggested you have it changed to either Pex or Copper. Give us a call if you’d like us to come out and give you a quote!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Why You Need To Replace Them.
• What This Kind Of Water Piping Brings To Your Water Supply.
• Reasons Why You Need To Get Rid Of Galvanized Water Piping.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey there. Troy at Champion Plumbing out of Eagan, Minnesota. I want to show you real quick galvanized water piping. A lot of our houses, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington Richfield, a lot of the older areas will still have galvanized water pipes.

If you do, please get that replaced before it starts springing leaks on you.

The inside of these pipes is really what I wanted to show you. They are gross. That’s just full of sediment and calcium and just junk, and that’s going through your whole house. So that’s not good, obviously.

If you need a quote on replacing your water piping, getting rid of the galvanized, putting in either open or PEX is what we like to use and or copper, give us call 651-365-1340. Thank you.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Why These People Need A Temporary Water Connection Installed.
• We Not Only Do Service For Homeowners, We Also Help Cities.
• How We Install A Temporary Water Connection.

Helping The Good People In Apple Valley, MN With Their Water Supply

Temporary water connection in the city of Apple Valley, MN. We are onsite with Sebastian and Adam, however, Adam chose to stay off-camera this time. These homeowners are having their roads torn up and redone. Since their water main is connected on the roadside, they will need a temporary water connection. In this video, Sebastian will show us what we look for, and exactly how water will be tied to the home. In a situation like this, we are working with the city of Apple Valley, MN, as they are our customers. It’s a multi-home project, with multiple stages. If you needed something like this, likely your city will have already contracted a plumbing company. However, if you have any other plumbing needs, please reach out to us!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Why These People Need A Temporary Water Connection Installed.
• We Not Only Do Service For Homeowners, We Also Help Cities.
• How We Install A Temporary Water Connection.

These Answers Will Help Decide To Get One

So many people wonder why they need a Water Softener? Here’s a short clip of what where and why! Please contact us if you’d like one, or see the video https://youtu.be/1QsYaT93ZFc for pricing!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Reasons Why You Need A Water Softener.
• Answers That Can Help You Decided On Getting One.
• Why You Need To Get A Water Softener.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey there, Troy at Champion Plumbing, out of Eagan, Minnesota. We’re going to talk about the water softener real quick. We recommend the BrassMaster, it’s made from Water Control Company up in Ramsey, Minnesota. So they’re a local, we love that.

I’ll show you their manual. We need to have water softeners in our market to get rid of the calcium and magnesium in the water, which are good for us as humans, but they’re not good for our faucets and our toilets and our dishwashers and our water heaters. So if you don’t have a water softener system, you can get it checked.

You can call your city and see what your hardness level is. Anything over five, please get a water softener. And I’d advise you to call us.

We do have a video, we’ll put a link up, that goes over the good, better, best options and the pricing for you, so you know what you’re up against.

And as always, please click that subscribe button.

Learn how to properly flush and maintain your Navien tankless water heater to keep it running efficiently and extend its lifespan. In this video, we walk you through the tools you’ll need, how to safely perform the descaling process, and tips to avoid common mistakes. Regular maintenance helps prevent mineral buildup and ensures optimal performance.

🛠️ Tools & Supplies
📆 How often to flush
⚠️ Safety tips included

Not comfortable doing it yourself? Call Champion Plumbing — we’ll handle it for you!

Subscribe for more plumbing tips from the pros at Champion Plumbing!

#Navien #TanklessWaterHeater #WaterHeaterMaintenance #FlushNavien #ChampionPlumbing #DIYPlumbing

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How Often You Flush Your Navien Tankless Water Heater.
• How To Flush Navien Tankless Water Heaters Properly.
• Find Out If It’s Okay To Use Detergent For Flushing A Navien Tankless Water Heaters.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Difference Between House Side & City Side Water Shut Off
• Why Do You Have To Choose Between These Two
• Reason Why You Need To Choose Between These Two Carefully.

We Really Love Installing Water Heaters

Water heater installation in Bloomington MN. Great job Adam!! If you have a water heater that you need installed, or have any questions, please let us know!!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Difference Between House Side & City Side Water Shut Off
• Why Do You Have To Choose Between These Two
• Reason Why You Need To Choose Between These Two Carefully.

You Can Never Go Wrong With This Water Heater

Recognize this dinosaur tankless water heater? We strongly suggest changing it out with a Navien tankless water heater! Unfortunately, in older units like this technicians can no longer get parts to repair. It’s always a good idea to change it out before you run into cold water. Give us a call if you have questions about our tankless water heater units!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How Awesome Navien Tankless Water Heater Is.
• Why This Tankless Water Heater Is The Best Replacement For Your Water Heater.
• Who You Gonna Call When Want These Installed.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey, you all. Troy, Champion Plumbing out of Egan. Plumbers near me, we are, if you’re anywhere near here, we are all across the Metro every day, the entire Metro.

So if you need a plumber, give us a call, but I wanted to point out the

Eternal tankless water heater. If you have one of these, first of all, I highly recommend call us not them, but I’ll digress. If you have an Eternal tankless water heater, you’re one of the few.

They’re slowly becoming like a dinosaur. The company went under years ago and there’s no parts available. They’re just gone.

So if you have one, I would highly recommend you replace it with, I’ll run upstairs and show you the Navien. So this is the Navien tankless water heater.

This is what the front of it, the cover looks like. This is what the inside of it looks like, stainless steel heat exchanger. These things are bulletproof.

We’ve been putting them in for about six years now and haven’t had literally, haven’t had one issue, not one call back.

They’re just, they’re solid. So if you need a tankless water heater, or you need to get rid of your Eternal tankless water heater, give us a call at Champion Plumbing at (651) 365-1340.

Look us up on the web www.championplumbing.net. And please click that subscribe button. Thank you.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How Serious We Are With Our Business.
• Putting Up Billboard Out In Eagan, MN.
• We’d Like To Let You Know That We Are Here To Help You With Your Plumbing Needs.

Check Out Our New Billboard

Come check out our new Billboard in Eagan, intersection Dodd & Hwy 3. Give us a call for a quick same-day service!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How Serious We Are With Our Business.
• Putting Up Billboard Out In Eagan, MN.
• We’d Like To Let You Know That We Are Here To Help You With Your Plumbing Needs.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How We Replace A Power Vent Water Heater.
• Replacing Power Vent Water Heater The Perfect Way.
• Why You Should Need A Professional To Do Your Plumbings.

Replacing Power Vent Water Heater Like A Boss

Power vent water heater replacement in Shakopee! Tanner shows us what happens when the cellular core venting needs to be replaced with a solid core. Code requires us to change this venting to a solid core, and in most cases, it’s a fairly simple process. Some signs to consider with a failing water heater include discolored water, water buildup around the unit, lukewarm water temperature, strange noises, length of time since repair/replacement.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How We Replace A Power Vent Water Heater.
• Replacing Power Vent Water Heater The Perfect Way.
• Why You Should Need A Professional To Do Your Plumbings.

Steps On How We Remodel Toilets

Basement Remodel by Billy at Champion Plumbing. This customer reached out to us, as they need some new plumbing fixtures installed in their basement. This required cutting and removing existing concrete….well, I’ll let Billy explain. If you have any plumbing remodeling or any plumbing needs for that matter, please reach out to us!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How We Do A Perfect Toilet/Bathroom Basement Remodel.
• How Our Flexible Our Plumbers Are.
• We Do Toilet/Bathroom Remodelling As Well.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Billy: Good stuff.

Troy: Hey there, Troy, Champion Plumbing, out of Eagan, plumbers near me. Best known for our water heaters, but we do it all. And Billy’s going to explain what this project is all about.

Billy: This project right now, the customer wanted a bathroom put in, in his downstairs basement. Right now we’re going to his main stack down there. We’re going to bring up a three-inch main. We’re going to take out this two-inch right here. We’re going to switch this over to a three-inch for enough pipe space for the toilet and everything down there.

We’re also going to move this pipe right here, down into the ground, so that way it just gets it off his wall, makes everything a little cleaner, and then we’re going to tie that to the same line. Going to bring it up, up here.

And then we got right now, we’re going to have a lav for the kitchen sink. We’re going to have the toilet right here and we’re going to lay off, we got a shower going right where I’m standing right now. And that’s all going to come up. There’s going to be a two-by-four wall here for the venting and everything.

And then we’re going to have a cleanout on the backside and we’re going to bring this pipe back up right here, so that way everything’s good. Give them all the room he needs for a bathroom.

Troy: I can see how getting that pipe out of the way, there must have been an addition or something that they added at some point.

Billy: Yep. There’s a washing machine and dryer over there. Also, they added a floor sink to their garage.

Troy: At the time this was a pretty clever way of just kind of keeping the plumbing on the outside of the wall. Sounds like they moved their washer and dryer to an upstairs level, which a lot of people are doing. Why climb all the stairs if you don’t have to? And now they’re going to benefit adding a bathroom down here for obvious reasons.

The housing market’s crazy. Everything’s crazy right now. Add the bathroom, the price will increase and you can use. Now, I don’t know if they’re going from two to three or from one to two, but adding a bathroom is always pretty awesome.

What do you think of this job, Jayden?

Jayden: It’s different than what I’m used to, but I’m here learning with Billy and it’s something that I’ll benefit from later.

Troy: We are proud to have Jayden, any young guys coming into the trades. If you know anybody who wants a good, solid career, this one we’re actually playing in the dirt. But at Champion, we don’t do a whole lot of playing in the dirt, probably a couple a month of these remodel-type jobs.

Otherwise, we are usually dressed, clean and crisp, and doing the service work in and out of houses, doing water heaters, sinks, faucets, garbage disposals, replacing stuff for the most part.

Like I was saying, if you know anybody who is looking for a good career, I would much appreciate you sending them to us at Champion Plumbing. If they have any questions or you have any plumbing needs, look us up on the web www.championplumbing.net and please click that subscribe button. Thank you.

A Reason For You To Call Us For Any Plumbing Needs

At Champion Plumbing Eagan, MN, we don’t have those Monday blues. Our guys are actually pumped to get going and hit the road!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Why You Need To Call Us For Plumbing Needs.
• What Champion Plumbing Eagan, MN Mondays Look Like.
• We At Champion Plumbing Doesn’t Have Monday Blues At All.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Morning. Troy, Champion Plumbing out of Eagan. Again, we are a full-service plumbing shop in the metro area. We are getting everything loaded up and ready to go. As you can see, some of the guys are peeling out of here.

Everybody else is probably getting their coffee and getting ready to go service customers all across the metro area.

If you need a plumber, if you unfortunately maybe woke up with cold water, give us a call (651) 365-1340. Look us up on the web www.championpluming.net. We do give over-the-phone estimates for water heater replacements, as well as water softeners.

You can watch our video on water softeners. That’s all I got for a happy Monday.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How To Replace A Broken Pipe.
• How We Fix A Broken Commercial Plumbing Drain.
• Things To Remember When Fixing Broken Commercial Plumbing Drain.

Quickest Way Of Fixing A Broken Plumbing Drain

Nick is on-site in St Paul, repairing a commercial plumbing drain break. The customer had already chipped up the concrete. As you can see, generally it’s a dirty job, but it needs to get done. Nick dug out the pipe more, cut, and reinstalled it. Another happy customer! Much of our work is in residential homes, but we do it all, including commercial. If you have a drain break or need any plumbing work done, please reach out to us!.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How To Replace A Broken Pipe.
• How We Fix A Broken Commercial Plumbing Drain.
• Things To Remember When Fixing Broken Commercial Plumbing Drain.

Champion Plumbing MN Means Family

Another busy day Champion Plumbing MN. Just like Troy said, we are a family business and take care of our employees like family.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• What A Busy Day in Champion Plumbing MN looks like.
• Reason Why We Treat Our Employees Like Family.
• What We Usually Do In One Of Our Busy Days.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: One of the perks of having a shop like this is when the employees have something they need to have worked on when it’s negative temperature outside, pull it in, we’ll give you a hand, fix it up, do what we can to help, kind of the way we operate, family-style business.

Always trying to help our customers, our employees.

Together, it’s a win/win. If you have any plumbing needs, don’t hesitate to call us, (651)346-1340, or look us up on the web, www.championplumbing.net, and please click that Subscribe button.

Things To Avoid When Installing Rheem Water Heater

In this video, we discuss the auto shut-off feature with Rheem water heater. This safety switch is designed to protect the homeowner by shutting off the water to the unit if it senses a water leak at the base. For this customer, water was making its way to the bottom of the unit, when there was not a leak with the heater. Water heaters are what we do, but not just all we do. If you have any plumbing needs, please feel free to contact us!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• What Is Rheem Water Heater?
• How To Install Rheem Water Heater Like A Boss.
• What To Avoid When Installing This Type Of Water Heater.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How Expansion Tank Works.
• Complete Guide About Thermal Expansion Tank And Why You Need It.
• How Beneficial Expansion Tank Is.

Why We Do & Don’t Them

What is an expansion tank? Many customers ask what they are and if they need them. An expansion tank may be beneficial for some customers, whereas they are not necessary for others. 

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How Expansion Tank Works.
• Complete Guide About Thermal Expansion Tank And Why You Need It.
• How Beneficial Expansion Tank Is.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: And Cole with Champion Plumbing. We’re going to talk about expansion tanks. We’ve been seeing a little bit more about it. Cole’s got one cut out and he will fill you in.

Cole: All right. So this is a thermo expansion tank. Typically, they hang up on the water heater, cold side, right up here. What they do, so you always have pressure in your home, heated tank heats up. You get more pressure for it. So there’s a diaphragm in here, where this has PSI of air in it, equal to the pressure of your home.

And then, this bladder will move up and down with the rise in temperature of the water, and wants to expand your water pressure. If you don’t have one of these, some people have to have them, we usually don’t put many in on water heaters. We never have an issue.

Troy: Why is that?

Cole: It’s a good question. A lot of houses don’t have a pressure-reducing valve right here. If you have too high a pressure coming into your house, this will limit the pressure into your home. With one of these, your water can’t flow back to the city water. If you’re running the water, you’re pulling it from the city. When you shut it off, it could bounce back into the city. If you have one of those, it’s going to lock it up, so it’s stuck in your home.

So you’re making a big loop where, if no fixtures are running, you have no place for water to go. And then you’re heating water and it wants to expand, and it needs to go somewhere, so therefore you have one of these.

We have homes with pressure-reducing valves that don’t need one of these. And we have homes that don’t have pressure-reducing valves or a thermo expansion tank. This one was in a home. It was leaking. We needed to order one so we capped it off. Within a few hours, it was leaking out of their T&P pipe right here. This is a safety relief valve on your water heater.

Troy: Temperature and pressure relief valve.

Cole: If that gets too high a pressure, it’s going to bounce out here down to the floor. It’s just a safety device. So we had to go back and put a new one of these ones on. Some of them come pre-charged to a certain PSI. But always get a gauge, put it on your water heater, or on your laundry tub faucet, or your outside spigot.

Troy: Find the PSI.

Cole: Get your PSI reading of your home. And most of these either have a cap or they don’t. You just use a bike tire filler upper, check your pressure, equal to your home.

Troy: That’s important. So you want to check your pressure at your home. Say you have 60 PSI in your home, you want to pump that up to 60 PSI?

Cole: Yes, absolutely. Now, I have heard some people go two PSI below what the normal house is. Most of these are going to have instructions. Just follow the specs of what the tank that you buy tells you to do, is going to be your best option.

Troy: Always your best option. Good advice.

Cole: Always.

Troy: And I do know that some of these pressure-reducing valves do allow pushback onto the city. So check the manufacturer’s recommendations on them as well. But in a closed-loop system, like in a boiler system, that’s usually where we see these, isn’t it?

Cole: Yeah, usually, always boilers we have these, closed-loop. In your home, your closed-loop, but you do have faucets you’re constantly turning on and off, flushing toilets. Water’s always moving. I’d say more phone calls we get of this leaking out, or something like that is at nighttime. No one’s using the water. It’s all done for the day. That’s when the pressure is starting to build up in your home.

Troy: Right. So thermo expansion, when the water heater or the boilers start to fire up, that’s when the thermo expansion will happen. And it creates pressure inside. If you have one of these, the bladder will just absorb that pressure and you won’t have any problems. If you don’t, you could potentially get the T&P to spit and sputter, just to relieve the pressure. And then it’ll close back up if it’s operating properly.

Cole: And then, if you do have one of these in, everything’s fine with it, and we’re out to replace a water heater, we’re going to replace this. The customer that this one came out of, they had a different company replace their heater. They never replaced this. And it shot pinholes of water all over their basement, wrecked a bunch of old pictures and photos and stuff they had. So they’re pretty beat up about it.

Troy: Something simple.

Cole: You can see the rubber bladder and the thermo expansion tank itself, it’s not very thick metal. And water, air, is bouncing around in there. Over time, it’s going to wear out.

Troy: Well, there you go. Thermo expansion, expansion tanks, why we do and don’t need them. In our Metro Area up here in Minnesota, we don’t see a lot of them. We have been seeing some cities… I don’t know if it’s the building or what they’re doing. But some cities, including our operations manager in Farmington, we had to put one in because his T&P kept sputtering and sputtering. And what was the other city you saw it more recently in, Cole?

Cole: It was in Lilydale.

Troy: Lilydale, is that somewhere by St. Paul?

Cole: Yeah, between, basically, Eagan and St. Paul, is the little town of Lilydale, through that stretch there by the river.

Troy: There you go. I think I’ve seen the sign. So again, Champion Plumbing out of Eagan. We do service the entire Metro Area. If you’re having water pressure issues, you need a water heater, or any plumbing needs, who do they call?

Cole: Call us, Champion Plumbing, 651-365-1340. Up on the web: www.championplumbing.net. Check out YouTube, got a lot of videos on there.

Troy: And click that subscribe button. Thanks, y’all.

Installing A One-Piece Toilet In A New Remodeled Bathroom

Bathroom Remodel in Eagan! Customer remodeled their whole bathroom and called us up to install their one-piece toilet. Nick walks us through how to install a toilet when the new floor has been installed. Some people double up their wax ring to accommodate for the floor being uneven. While that may be okay in some applications, we prefer to ensure a tight seal. Especially when there is a finished basement below. If you have any plumbing needs or would like us to install a toilet for you, please give us a call! We can provide toilets, or install one already at your home.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Difference Between House Side & City Side Water Shut Off
• Why Do You Have To Choose Between These Two
• Reason Why You Need To Choose Between These Two Carefully.

Why Having A Recirculating Pump Is Essential

Adding a recirculating pump to your water heater can prevent wasted water! Imagine turning on the hot water, and getting almost instant access to hot water, rather than wasting all that water down the drain until it gets to your desired temperature. Recirculating pumps have many benefits. This device can be programmed to operate at specific times of the day, as many times as you’d like. Recirculating pumps simply attach to your water heater through the hot supply line. From the furthest fixture in your home, the water is being constantly recirculated, keeping the temperature consistent. If you’d like one of these in your home, we can supply and install it for you! Or if you have any questions, please reach out to us!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How To Properly Install A Water Heater Recirculating Pump.
• Why Having A Water Heater Recirculating Pump Is Important.
• What A Water Heater Recirculating Pump Does.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey everybody, Troy, Champion Plumbing, here with Cole. Today we’re going to talk about a recirculating pump, they’ve come a long way. It used to have a line running all the way from your water heater through your entire house, you don’t have to do that anymore, and they can save you a ton of water, which is important.

Cole: So this is water circulating pump from one of our suppliers, they do make different brands out there. Basically, a lot of people have hot water at their home and they’re running their master bathroom faucet or shower and they’re not getting hot enough water, so what do you do? You turn the water on, you let it run. Where’s all that water going? Down the drain, and you’re paying for all that, and you’re wasting water.

One option we can do is if you have a tank-type heater at your home, we have this pump right here and we have these supply lines with a bypass. Basically what happens is the pump goes on top of your water heater, on the hot side, this bypass gets hooked to your furthest bathroom faucet, usually in the masters where people are having a hard time getting hot water effectively there.

You’ll hook these into your shutoffs hot and cold, back to your faucet, and that pump is going to pump that hot water continuously all day if you want, or this model does have a timer on it where you can set the timer for in the morning when you’re in the bathroom and at night, and then it won’t run all day.

Troy: So you could set it to say 6:30 to 8:30 30 in the morning and 4:30 to 5:30 at night?

Cole: Yes.

Troy: That’s pretty awesome. Where’s that go? You said on top of the water here, do you want to show them?

Cole: Yes, we will show you where that goes.

Tank type water heater, this is a power vent, you can have a gravity vent, you can have electric, it doesn’t really matter. Hot side, colds coming into the tank, hot is coming out right here. This mounts right on top of the water heater and we make the connection back to the hotline.

And the main thing is you need an outlet, I think they come with about eight-foot cord on there. Plug that in and then we’ll go take that bypass that we talked about, hook it up underneath that is the furthest, whatever you want water quicker too. Then you go ahead and you can turn your timer on, or you can have it just on all the time. Or if the timer’s on you can pull these notches out and you can set your time on it. And that’s all there is to these.

Troy: So it’s going to save time, it’s going to save water, which is money, and time is money as well right, so it’s going to save you?

Cole: Correct.

Troy: And get you the hot water you want right away.

Cole: And you’ll get ready in the morning quicker too because you’ll have hot water right away.

Troy: Now this is for the tank-style heater, but we have something very similar for our heater of choice.

Cole: So Navien tankless is what we install, these do have their own buffer tank built into them, so if you wanted quicker water where you’re having that spell-like that pump we talked about, with the buffer tank there’s a switch, we can turn it internal pump on that recirculates, we don’t have to have our own individual recirculation line.

We can go ahead and hit that switch, and it has the same setup underneath the faucet where you hook the bypass into the hot and cold and it will allow the same effect. This pump will come on. On the tankless it gets to a certain temperature, we have it set at 120, when it gets below that the pump is going to kick on automatically and run its cycle, and then it’s going to shut off. So it doesn’t continuously run, it’s just when the temperature changes on it.

Troy: Again, keeping hot water right at the faucet all the time for you?

Cole: Yes, absolutely.

Troy: Where do they go to learn more?

Cole: Well if you want to learn more go to www.championplumbing.net. You can look us up on YouTube, and that’s about it.

Troy: Click that subscribe button.

Cole: Yes, click it.

Troy: And remember cheap labor.

Cole: Oh, I don’t know.

Troy: How does that go?

Cole: Skill labor isn’t cheap.

Troy: And cheap labor isn’t skill.

Cole: Yep, what he said.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How To Properly Install A Water Purifier At Home.
• How To Have Purified Drinking Water At Home.
• The Right System You Need To Have Purified Drinking Water.

Easily Installed Water Purifier At Home

We all love purified drinking water! Why not have this in your home? We can provide a system for you, or we can install one purchased by you, the homeowner. Maybe you have one in your home that needs servicing? We do that too! You can never go wrong with clean drinking water. If you have any plumbing-related concerns or upgrades, we’re a phone call away!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How To Properly Install A Water Purifier At Home.
• How To Have Purified Drinking Water At Home.
• The Right System You Need To Have Purified Drinking Water.

What Is An Anode Rod, And Why Do You Need It Changed?

This customer needed their anode rod replaced. What is an anode rod you ask? Cole explains why you should always have yours changed in order to maintain the life of your water heater. Also, the same customer had a leaking pressure-reducing valve. Many homes have high water pressure, which can lead to long-term damage. The pressure-reducing valve maintains a healthy level of water pressure in your home. Proper pressure can help with water usage, prevent pipe damage, and easier on your appliances. If you have any questions on either of these or would like us out to help with your anode rod or pressure reducing valve, reach out to us!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How To Maintain The Life Of Your Water Heater.
• Reason Why You Need Change Your Anode Rod Always.
• Proper Way Of Replacing An Anode Rod.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Cole: Hey everyone. Cole with Cole’s Corner, out of Champion Plumbing here in Eagan, Minnesota. We are actually on an install today. Few things we replaced this pressure-reducing valve on the water line coming into the home. The old one was leaking. Basically, what this does, it regulates the pressure down to a factory setting on these is 60 PSI. City water coming in’s a lot higher than that. So we need to reduce the pressure down into the home. So we got that replaced.

Cole: We also installed the boiler drain valve up here to get some hard water to water plants. They have a softener in the home, so everything is softened. So this will be a hard line to do all that. Also, if you could see the water heater tank back there we replaced about six years ago, we’re going to change the anode rod out to that also while we’re on site.

Cole: And as you can see down here is the old one, that little thin wire. And then here’s the new one. This new one’s got a little cable system in it where it’s flexible to pull out. Sometimes your ceilings aren’t high enough to pull out so that you can get a different setup like this one. So that thin rod next to it, that’s your anode rod. All your hard water eats at that before it eats at your tank. So six-year-old tank, it’s gone, nothing left of it. So we’ll put a new one in and let the water attack the new one before it eats away at that tank and we have to replace that.

Cole: So just a few little service parts we’re installing at this customer’s house today. If you’d like any of this done at your own home, give us a call at 651-365-1340. Check us up on the web, championplumbing.net. YouTube, subscribe to our channel. There’s a few of these on there. Other than that, thanks for watching.

Washer Drain Plumbing: Why A Proper Washer Drain Stack Installation Is Essential

The washer drain stack is in everyone’s home, and proper installation is essential. Cole shows us his plan on moving this customer’s existing washing machine location to a different section of the home, with the proper washing machine washer drain stack. At Champion Plumbing, everything is possible! We can move existing plumbing equipment around the house if you’d like. Give us a call, and we’ll have someone on their way!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How To Make Sure You Install A Washer Drain Stack Properly.
• Reason Why You Need To Setup Your Washer Drain Stack The Right Way.
• Why A Proper Washer Drain Stack Installation Is Essential.
• How to Plumb a Washing Machine Drain

Why a Power Vent Water Heater Might Fail

This power vent water heater has too many bends! In this video, Troy goes over what that really means. Also, those flashing lights on the heater are actually telling us something. Some signs to consider with a failing water heater include discolored water, water buildup around the unit, lukewarm water temperature, strange noises, length of time since repair/replacement. If you have a power vent water heater that needs repair or has an interest in converting to a tankless water heater, give us a call!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How To Make Sure Your Power Vent Water Heater Doesn’t Fail.
• Reason Why Power Vent Water Heater May Fail.
• Things To Do To Avoid Power Vent Water Heater Failure.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey everybody, Troy. Champion Plumbing out of Eagan, Minnesota. I’m up at the shop today where we install a power vent water heater as you can see right there. We installed the power water heater. The manual on these now says that it doesn’t have a maximum turn for the venting. The old manual said you could have three turns on two inch and five turns on three inch. The new manual just gives you a set foot amount, 55 feet, take off five feet for each turn. Well, we did that. We maxed it out. We went 30 feet because the manual says it gives you 55 feet with five feet for each turn so if you put three turns on you’d take away 15 feet.

In this case, we maxed out what the manual said we could do, which is 30 feet. Here it is in the background, 30 feet with five turns on two inch venting. We did that. We fired it up, it lasted two weeks and now it’s throwing an error code. I’m going to flip this around and show you the error code. We’re getting a three flash and a five flash … Or six, so it’s flashing six and it’s flashing three, which tells us that basically the venting, it’s overloading the venting, long story short, so we’re going back what we’ve always stuck with, but we’ve had some pushback on the turns.

If you have more than three turns on two inch venting, not counting your termination, so what it says in the manual, you do not count the termination, then you’re going to run into problems, you just are. We did once at a customer’s house, and so we rebuilt it up in our shop, again, Champion Plumbing out of Eagan, talking about power vent water heaters, which you’ve heard me go on a rant before I don’t like, they cost too much. They cost more to install. They don’t last as long, so if you can stick with a gravity vent you’re going to be money ahead.

These are a little bit more efficient but it doesn’t pay itself off ever.

Again, the heaters cost almost double, the installation costs more, and they don’t last as long. If your house was built with one you’re stuck with that or you could switch to a tankless water heater, that is highly recommended. Yeah, it costs more to get it installed but it’s going to last twice as long and it’s a lot more efficient. Talking water heaters, power vent water heater.

Again, our niche in the plumbing world is water heaters so we’re speaking from education. We do a lot of water heaters so if you have the need for a water heater, have questions about a water heater, give us a call, 651-365-1340 or look us up on the web, www.championplumbing.net.

How & Why You Need To Bypass Your Water Softener

What is the water softener bypass? In this video, we talk about how to change it and why you should consider it. Just like any other valve in the home, it’s important to know the standard operation of the bypass valve. A well-functioning water softener can have many benefits, including softer skin & hair, less soap used, less scale & scum buildup, fewer stains on dishes, protected pipes & appliances, and better-tasting water. Don’t have a water softener?? Give us a call! Or watch our YouTube video on water softener pricing!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How To Bypass Your Water Softener.
• Why You Need To Bypass Your Water Softener.
• Why Bypassing Is Necessary.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey everybody. Troy Champion Plumbing at Eagan. This is just a quick video on how and why to bypass your water softener. So this one is up an in-service here at our training facility in the shop, just so you can get an idea. They’re usually down in the utility room by the water heater. This is the brine or the salt tank that goes with it. Some of them are cabinet models, but we will turn over to Cole and talk a little bit more of how and why you need to bypass your water softener.

Cole: All right, so this is one brand bypass. These are on a lot of several different brands, actually this little brass one right here. You can see there’s a little arrow. It’s in service mode. That way the water’s going into it and it’s softening right now. We get a lot of calls, too. They have lower pressure in their home and they’re wondering why. One of the main things that I do to troubleshoot what’s low pressure if the whole home has it, is put your softener bypass. Real simple lever. You just go ahead and turn it to bypass.

Troy: This is a brand new one. So this one we can move rather easily. They get the little arrow right there pointing towards bypass, pointing in service. But some of them, you got to give it a little bit, make sure you’re supporting your plumbing lines so you’re not putting any pressure on those. Sorry, Cole.

Cole: And a lot of times, once you switch it over to bypass, you’ll check your faucets and you’ll notice you’re getting way better pressure. So right there, it tells you softener is the cause of the issue. There’s different bypasses, different models. This one, classic bypass, you’d slide it in to bypass it. It’ll actually say push for bypass on the lever.

Troy: Can’t really focus on that. But it does say if there’s always going to be an arrow or something telling you what direction to go to bypass it.

Cole: Yes. And usually, you have this bypass or you have this bypass. They fit a lot of different makes and models, especially if you’re having low pressure and you’re seeing something discolored coming through your faucet. So your toilet’s not working properly, you want to show shut that off because…

Troy: We’ve got one over here that Cole actually took out a couple of months ago,

Cole: We have a toilet. These are these little resin beads. These are what are in the softener. That unit gets old and fails. It cracks and it sucks these all into your plumbing system. This one right here, it clogged up all the toilets, kitchen, bathroom faucets. We had to replace a lot of them, flush a lot of them out. It’s a very expensive expense on a bigger home if you have to redo all your fixtures.

Troy: So if they’re seeing any sort of little yellow beads, get downstairs, bypass that water softener-

Cole: Bypass it right away.

Troy: … and call us or another plumbing professional right away.

Cole: And it’s easy too. Once you have low pressure, like your toilet’s not working properly or something, pop the lid off. If you see that in there, turn your softener on bypass, give us a call and we can diagnose from there. Most likely it’s time for a new water softener.

Troy: Any other reasons why they’d want to bypass it? So low pressure, if you’re having low-pressure issues bypass it. See if your pressure comes back.

Cole: Yep.

Troy: If they see the little beads, you want to bypass it. Any other reason, really, to bypass a water softener?

Cole: No.

Troy: You can’t think of any?

Cole: Not that I can’t think of any. So usually, a low-pressure issue or if you got beads or something not working properly in your home, that’s usually what it ends up being, especially on an older model.

Troy: Well, since we’re talking about water softeners, any tips? Do they need to be maintained? How much salts it should someone put in their softener?

Cole: Well, here we got a tank right here. We got salt. We’re almost empty obviously. You can see there’s some water on top of the salt. Totally normal. I never fill them totally full. You could get a salt dam and then it doesn’t want to feed it down. I’d go half, three quarter at most. Let it chew that all down and then add more again, which then it will clean this all out and you won’t have to worry about anything getting clogged up in there.

Troy: I’m a two-bagger. I put two bags at a time and I wait until I can almost see the bottom of my brine tank or salt bin.

Cole: Then two bags probably takes you a couple months. So it’s not like you’re going to have to feed it every week.

Troy: Right? Yeah. These things are a lot more efficient than the old-style water softeners. They actually have a meter. It’ll count the gallons used. The plumber should be setting it up for your city hardness. And other than that, you don’t need to do anything to these but add salt.

Cole: Yeah.

Troy: That’s it. That’s why and how you bypass a water softener. If you have water softener problems, give us a call (651) 365-1340. Or look us up on the web www.championplumbing.net. And please click that subscribe button.

Perfectly Relocating A New Gas Meter In St. Paul, MN

Gas meter main relocation in St Paul, MN! This customer had their gas main inside their home, but must be brought outside, per the city. In this video, we show you how that’s done! If you have a gas main that needs to be relocated, or even a gas line to your garage maybe, or anywhere for that matter, please let us know!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• It’s Important To Relocate The Main Gas Meter The Right Way.
• How To Replace & Relocate Main Gas Meter.
• Gas Meter Main Relocation With A New One.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey there, everybody. Troy Champion Plumbing out of Eagan, Minnesota. Today, we are in St. Paul, where a customer used to have a gas meter here. A lot of these older houses, you had the gas meters on the inside of the house and the gas companies are slowly going around and getting them all on the outside of the house.

So what we are doing with this project is running a new gas line from the inside where the meter was to the outside where the new gas meter is. I’ll bring you out there. We just had an air test, passed that inspection so that excel can turn the gas back on, and then there’s some more projects happening at this house.

We’re going to be getting rid of the galvanized pipe, bringing everything in high pressure now helps, so we can run over to all the other appliances. So more to come with that probably in the few weeks or a month, and I’ll show you what we did on the outside. All right.

So here’s the outside. You can see the new gas meter where Billy’s got air on it. Well, the air’s off now. We passed the inspection, so he took the air off.

So if you have a new gas line, like this gentleman’s going to be running it out to his garage at some point, or any need of plumbing overall, give us a call at (651) 365-1340. Or look us up on the web www.championplumbing.net. Thank you.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Replacing A Bradford White Power Vent The Right Way.
• How To Do A  Bradford White Power Vent Replacement Properly.
• Things To Remember When Replacing A Brad Ford White Power Vent.

Replacing A Bradford White Power Vent The Right Way

Bradford White power vent installed in Eagan! Troy explains step-by-step procedures how the existing water heater is drained out, and what to do when the drain valve will not work. This customer is replacing a Rheem heater with an American-made Bradford White power vent! Again, we stand behind these great heaters. Some signs to consider with a failing water heater include discolored water, water buildup around the unit, lukewarm water temperature, strange noises, and the length of time since repair/replacement. If you need a new water heater or would like a price on these great units, please give us a call!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Replacing A Bradford White Power Vent The Right Way.
• How To Do A  Bradford White Power Vent Replacement Properly.
• Things To Remember When Replacing A Brad Ford White Power Vent.

Installing A Bradford White 50 Gallon Water Heater

Today we’re doing a Bradford White 50 gallon water heater installation in Prior Lake. This customer went with an American Made water heater, which is a great choice. These heaters are built to last, and we at Champion Plumbing stand behind them! Get yours today!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• What Is Bradford White Water Heater?
• Bradford White Water Heater Installation Explained.
• What Other Things You Need When Doing A Bradford White Water Heater Installation.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Lee: Good morning, everybody. Lee from Champion Plumbing, out of Eagan, Minnesota. We’re here doing another water heater replacement. We’re taking out a Bradford White, and we’re going to replace it with a brand new one. Kind of hard to get a little bit of video, but pretty straightforward.

The water piping should be pretty easy, we don’t even need to change the water valve.

And the venting is pretty easy too, no need to change the venting. As you can see, it’s already got a B vent, which is this double-wall venting, in the areas that it is needed. I will get back to you guys once I’m all done.

Hey, you guys. We’re back here in Prior Lake, finished up with the water heater. As you can see, we got a bunch of brand new water piping, including a brand new water valve. Easily set up, it’s with an American-made Bradford White 50-gallon water heater.

The gas valve was pretty easy as well, and the venting was nice and easy as well.

If you like what we did here, get in touch with us at 651-365-1340. Look forward to hearing back from you.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Important Things You Need To Remember When Replacing Water Main Valves.
• Things To Avoid In Doing A Water Main Valves Replacement.
• How Extremely Important For Homeowners To Know Where Their Water Main Valve Is.

A Perfect Water Main Valves Replacement Video

Water main valve replacement in Prior Lake. Lee explains the two different valves on both ends of the meter, also the shut off outside typically controlled by the city. Sometimes, your city may need to be involved to accomplish main water valve replacements. It’s extremely important for every homeowner to know where their water main is, and how to control the water shut off to the entire house. This could be the difference between controlling a water emergency to having a flood. If you have any questions regarding water mains or any plumbing need for that matter, please reach out to us!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Important Things You Need To Remember When Replacing Water Main Valves.
• Things To Avoid In Doing A Water Main Valves Replacement.
• How Extremely Important For Homeowners To Know Where Their Water Main Valve Is.

Installingn a Gas Line for Garage Heater The Right Way

This customer wanted his new garage heater to have a gas line routed. In this video, we show you how that was completed, including testing the line with air to ensure there are no leaks. It’s that time of year again, many people want to bring heat into their garage. We can make the impossible, possible. Give us a call if you’d like this done for your home or any plumbing need!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Important Things You Need To Remember When Installing Garage Heater Gas Line.
• How To Properly Install Garage Heater Gas Line.
• Things You Need In Installing Gas Line.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey there. Troy Champion Plumbing out of Egan, Minnesota. Today, we are in Minneapolis. I’m in the garage. We are putting in a gas line so the homeowner can add some sort of heat out here when he gets the remodel done.
We’ve got the gauge on it. It’s pumped up to just over 50 PSI. We’re going to let that sit for 15 minutes, make sure it’s good. We did use Pro Press on this one.

They are approved fittings and, as you could see, we have 50 PSI on it. So it’s holding pretty darn good. We’ve got the gas line labeled all the way up and it’s quite a walk here from the front to the back, but it’ll be nice to have a heated garage. So the line is labeled and sleeved wherever it’s coming through any sort of landscaping or whatnot.

All right, it’s been 15 minutes. So we are going to, not show any addresses, but show you the gas gauge now or the air pressure gauge. The homeowner’s already got some of this filled in. Starting to anyway, making sure there’s no rocks on there, tamping it down a little bit, being careful with it.

Actually, I’m going to show this cause this is clever. Built a little box with a screen in it to get just the fine dirt down to the bottom. There’s our Pro Press. So gas lines, Minneapolis, water heaters, hot water heaters, plumbing, leaks. We do it all and took a chance that it would be right where it was, but not really a chance because there’s nothing to this.

So if you need a new gas line or any plumbing needs, give us a call (651) 365-1340. Look us up on the web www.championplumbing.net. And please click that subscribe button. Thanks.

Things To Remember When Doing A Water Softener Installation

In this video, Lee shows us the installation to a new BrassMaster water softener. Customer had an older unit that they wanted to upgrade. These units are great, plug them in and they last for a long time. A well functioning water softener can have many benefits, to include softer skin & hair, less soap used, less scale & scum buildup, fewer stains on dishes, protected pipes & appliances, and better tasting water. If you would like a quote on a new water softener, give us a call, or check out our new video at the end!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Important Things You Need To Remember When Doing A BrassMaster Water Softener Installation.
• How To Properly Replace A BrassMaster Water Softener.
• Why Do You Need Pellet Salt And Not Crystal Salt.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Lee: Hey, this is Lee from Champion Plumbing out of Eagan, Minnesota. We’re here doing a water softener today, and we got an older Kenmore in here, which we’re going to be taken out and replacing with a BrassMaster cabinet softener.

Should be a pretty easy install. The water piping lines are pretty good with it. I will get back with you guys after I’m all finished.

All right, guys, we’ve finished up with the new water softener in our house in Prior Lake. We put a new BrassMaster cabinet system in. It’s nice and easy to fit. It’s good for those ones where you have a lot of tight spaces, and you got to fit it in there. Otherwise, we do offer a two-tank system that has the brine tank and the salt tank as well, nice and easy to fit in some homes, though.

Where you’re going to have to put some salt in here, we do provide two bags of salt to get it taken care of. It does require pellet salt. Make sure that if you’re going to be buying a BrassMaster, we are putting in pellets for your salt, not the crystals.

Really easy to set up. No problem. Just a little bit of water piping in the back.

If you like what you see here, have any questions, 651-365-1340. Look forward to hearing from you.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Important Things You Need To Remember When Doing A Water Pipe Replacement.
• How To Properly Replace A Water Pipe.
• Galvanized To PEX Water Pipe Replacement.

Things To Remember When Doing A Water Pipe Replacement

Check out this galvanized to PEX water pipe replacement in Richfield, MN. Cole went to this customer’s house because the existing water pipe is rusting from the inside out. Their main water piping was all replaced with Type A PEX. Be sure to look inside the old galvanized piping, you’ll see how it cakes up with rust. If you would like to have water piping replaced, or have leaks such as this customer had that need fixing, please contact us!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Important Things You Need To Remember When Doing A Water Pipe Replacement.
• How To Properly Replace A Water Pipe.
• Galvanized To PEX Water Pipe Replacement.

Why It’s Important To Turn Off Your Outdoor Spigots In Cold Climates.

All about outdoor spigots! In cold climates, it’s extremely important to turn off your outdoor spigots. In this video, Troy shows us how simple it is to turn these off, in preparation for the cold weather. In this video, these are quarter-turn ball valves, some homes may have full rotating gate valves. It’s important that these are turned off before the cold weather. If these aren’t turned off, it can lead to burst pipes in the spring. If your valve isn’t working, or you need them replaced, please reach out to us and we can assist!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Why You Need To Turn Off Your Outdoor Spigots in Cold Climates.
• How To Properly Turn Off Your Outdoor Spigots.
• Turning Off Your Outdoor Spigots During Cold Climates.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey everybody, Troy Champion Plumbing out of Eagan, Minnesota. Today we’re in Eagan. I wanted to get a quick video up on how to shut down your outside spigots. Beautiful tankless water heater, side note. In most of the houses in the suburbs, what we’re going to have is the main is going to be coming up out of the floor. Then you’re going to have a shutoff valve.

Then you’re going to have your meter.  A lot of houses will have this pressure-reducing valve in here, but not all of them. Shut off valve, meter, then another shutoff valve. And then you follow the copper line. And in the suburbs here in Minnesota, it’s going to tee off and go a couple directions. One is going to a shut-off valve with a bleeder on it.

This is going to an outside spigot. It gets so cold in our winter times, we have to shut the water off, otherwise, we’ll have freezing and breaking and a lot of damage.

You follow your copper lineup. It’s going to tee off. And another thing almost all of us have in the suburbs is a water softener. If you follow the 3/4″ line to the water softener to the inlet of the water softener, everything after that is going to be softened water. And we don’t soften our outside spigots. So you want to find before it gets to the softener, two 3/4″ shutoff valves that should have a bleeder on them. Here’s one of theirs and here’s the other one.

The main comes in, tees off this way for an outside spigot, tees off that way for an outside spigot, and then goes to the water softener and then feeds the rest of the house soft water.

The one caveat here is sometimes there’s a 1/2″ line going to the refrigerator or your kitchen sink because we don’t soften that a lot of times. Calcium is good for us, not good for our fixtures.

So what we’ll do is shut down these valves. You turn it off, it’s a 1/4 turn valve. So you just turn it off like that. I go to the outside. Open up my outside spigot, let that drain down, come back in here and with a bucket, take this off and it’ll drain down any of the water that’s trapped in this line. At that point, you’re good for the winter. Just reverse course in the spring.

And remember you do have to do it to both valves if you have a two-valve system. There are some cases where they’ll put both of them on one and tee off somewhere else, but most houses you can isolate each individual outside spigot.

Hope this helps somebody shut down those outside spigots. And if you need help, give us a call 651-365-1340, or look us up on the web www.championplumbing.net. Thank you.

What To Do With A Toy Clogged In Your Toilet

Customer had a toilet clogged with a toy jammed inside. The drain company was not able to clear it out, so they called us to replace.

In this video, we go through many unnecessary steps to attempt to remove the toy. Of course, none of these would be tried in a customer’s home. This toy was determined to remain jammed.
 
If you have a toilet that needs replacing or any other plumbing needs, please reach out to us! We can supply toilets, or install any toilet already purchased.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• How To Remove A Clogged Toys In Your Toilet.
• Easy Way On How To Removed Stuff Clogged In Your Toilet.
• Things You Need To Do To Removed Solid Particles Stuck In Your Toilet.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: All right, Troy, Champion Plumbing, Eagan, Minnesota. We got a toilet that we are going to try to get a ball that got stuck, a kid’s toy got stuck in it. We got the call, we called the drain cleaner, the drain cleaner broke his auger trying to get it out. So now we’re going to try to have a little fun on a Friday and see if we can blow it out.
Stay back, Tito. Back.

Speaker 2: Put your glasses on.

Troy: They’re on your head.

Speaker 2: Just something, I want something on.

Troy: And turn your face. Turn your face.

Speaker 2: All right, what am I doing? Hold on.

Troy: Can’t get a good seal?

Speaker 2: Can’t get a good seal. Two-inch press.

Troy: Try something else.

All right, so now they’re going to try the pressure washer. Jam it up in there and see what happens.

Speaker 4: You think that’s going to work?

Troy: No. Hold on.

No, I do not, but they’re going to give it a shot. I don’t think it is.

I think it’s because he just got turned down with low pressure.

Speaker 2: No, the other way.

Troy: Yeah, it was tight. Well, you’re getting soap to come through.

I don’t want to be on the wrong side of this. You’re pushing a lot of soap through but we need something with more pressure or a better seal, I should say.

Speaker 2: All right, here we go.

Troy: Yeah, no, don’t stand right there.

Speaker 2: Oh, I know.

Troy: Glasses down.

I want to be on this side of it so I can see where it goes.

A little air pressure. See if he can get it.

Speaker 2: No, that’s probably as tight a seal you’ll get. That’s 80 pounds just blowing right past you right now.

Troy: Just blowing by it?

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Troy: Oh yeah.

Well, whomp, whomp, whomp.

All right, Nick, you’re up.

Nick: I got a hammer. I’ll get it out.

Troy: Grab it, let’s see this little badass… oh, I can’t sweat on here. Let’s see this little ball that’s causing so much issues.

All right, Nick. You’re up. There it is. Yay. One hit.

Nick: She was wedged right there.

2021 Water Softener Prices Update

In this video, Troy goes over our updated water softener prices. We place units in a good, better, best category to help our customers choose what fits their home and budget. A well-functioning water softener can have many benefits, including softer skin & hair, less soap used, less scale & scum buildup, fewer stains on dishes, pipe and appliance protection, and better-tasting water. If you have more questions on any of these units or would like a water softener in your home, please reach out to us!

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Check Out Our Brand Variety.
• Learn How Much Does Water Softener Costs.
• Learn Prices & Functions For Each Water Softener Brand.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey everybody. Troy, Champion Plumbing out of Eagan, Minnesota. We’re going to talk about water softeners again. I know I already have one video out there, but it is a bit old and we’ve changed our good water softener to a North Star system. Good solid machine.

It is the cabinet style. So you flip it open and you pour your salt in. It has a plastic bypass built into it. This one is going to last 15 years, ish maybe, maybe get a little bit more out of it.

For the North Star, our good version water softener it’s $1,522.18. That does not include the city permit. You’d have to talk to the dispatch team to figure out if your city requires a permit and how much that is.

Moving on to our better version is a Bassmaster. They have brass parts and a brass bypass. It’s a little higher quality, and it’s going to last 20 to 25 years. We have that in the cabinet style where you flip it open and put your salt in. As well as the two-tank style where you’ve got the tank that stands alone and the big tub that you can move around if needed.

So space requirements are really the only reason you would pick one or the other. If you have the space, I would usually pick the two-tank system. You can put a little bit more salt in it and you don’t have to make as many trips up and down the stairs, right? So you’re good, North Star, you’re better, the Bassmaster.

The cabinet style BrassMaster’s $1,896 for the unit and the installation. The two tanks is $1,804.17.Moving on to the one I have in my house, I call it the Cadillac, is the MultiMax. This one you can see it’s quite a bit bigger. Let me get behind it. So it’s almost as big as I am, right? It’s also, it only comes in the two tanks. So you get a salt bin, and then you got the machine.

This one has a big carbon filter on it, as well as a water softener. So they basically have this machine, the Bassmaster water softener. Inside of a bigger tank because they have a big carbon filter in the tank. This is going to get rid of chlorine, chloramines, pesticides, herbicides, prescription drugs, just all the stuff they’re finding in the water that I don’t want my kids bathing in.

So that will take care of the entire house. As opposed to these will just soften the water. This one’s going to have a carbon filter in it as well. This, the MultiMax supplied and installed is $2,575.68.

All of these are going to work for your basic two bathrooms, three, four-bedroom home. If you have something bigger, you’d need to call in and we’d have to size it for you, but these are all going to take care of it. They’re all smart.

They count the water you use. They regenerate when they’re supposed to. They’re plug-and-play. Let us hook it up, set it up and you forget about it.

All you got to do is add salt once in a while. So if you have a water softener that’s old, failing or just don’t have one at all, give us a call 651-365-1340.

Look us up on the web www.championplumbing.net. And please click that subscribe button. Thank you.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Difference Between House Side & City Side Water Shut Off
• Why Do You Have To Choose Between These Two
• Reason Why You Need To Choose Between These Two Carefully.

Breaking Down Parts Of The Navien Tankless Water Heater

This is all about the tankless Navien water heater! Troy goes over important features and information that many potential buyers would find very helpful. We discuss the warranty, our own warranty on the unit, and ultimately, why tankless? If you have more questions regarding our Navien tankless water heater, please reach out or comment below.

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• Difference Between House Side & City Side Water Shut Off
• Why Do You Have To Choose Between These Two
• Reason Why You Need To Choose Between These Two Carefully.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey. Troy, Champion Plumbing out of Eagan. Still talking tankless, this is a Navien tankless water heater. And we’re going to talk about how to flush the water heater. Every water heater we put in, we put the isolation valves on, so your water pipes would be coming up here. We got the cold in, the hot out. So to flush it, all you got to do is turn the supply and the outlet off. And then you have on your isolation valves, you have little hose connectors.

There’s the cold. Here’s the hot. So you take the little caps off, hook up the hoses. The inlet would go to a pump and the outlet would go into the bucket. So we get a five-gallon bucket. You could see it in that last video. You put the hoses in the bucket and you turn on the pump and you open these up and it’ll allow the solution to run through the heat exchanger, which we showed you in that last video. Let it run for about 45 minutes and then close everything up, turn everything back on. And you’re good to go.

Some of the questions we get about tankless water heaters is why? why would you want to go with a tankless water heater? Well, efficiency space and endless amounts of hot water, those are the three biggest key factors. Why not? The price. They run right around five grand to install one of these, to retrofit your house, to make that beautiful machine over my shoulder work. It’s a lot of work.

It’s a lot of work by the plumber, labor-intensive. The machines themselves are also very expensive, but they have a better warranty than say their counterparts … the power vent. I do not like power vent water heaters. They cost more. They cost more to install. They only have a six-year warranty, unless you use your Bradford White’s, which we can get a 10-year warranty on, but still, they’re more efficient than a standard gas gravity water heater, but they’re nowhere near efficient as that Navien tankless water heater. It’s the only thing we put our name behind. If you want one, give us a call Champion Plumbing, Eagan, Minnesota.

Hey, one last thing to talk about with the tankless water heater is the warranty. So Navien has a 15-year heat exchanger warranty. The heat exchanger is where all the magic happens.

It’s where the water goes from cold to hot and to have a 15-year warranty on that is pretty awesome. Pretty awesome. You can’t find a tank-style water heater with more than a 12-year warranty. So says something about the way it was built. And it has a one-year labor, five-year parts.

With Champion, everything we install, you get a three-year bumper-to-bumper. So their one-year labor doesn’t really matter. But if you also install a water softener at the same time, or within a couple of weeks of installing a tankless water heater, if you do them both through us, just like with our regular tanks, we will extend the labor warranty to match the warranty on the piece of equipment you have.

So for example, the Navien would have a 15-year labor warranty, which is huge. Plumbers are expensive and we ain’t getting cheaper anytime soon, so that’s a big deal. That pretty much wraps up the tankless water heater.

If you are in need of a beautiful piece of equipment like that, give us a call 651-365-1340, or look us up on the web www.championplumbing.net. And please click that subscribe button. Thank you.

Listen To The Audio

Enjoy this transcript below!

Troy: Hey everybody, Troy at Champion Plumbing out of Eagan, Minnesota. I’m upstairs in our shop, in our training facility where we just had a class last Tuesday on tankless water heaters. Just kind of getting them set up, doing some of the prep work here at the shop so we’re not in your home as long.

Turn it around here and show you what we got. It’s the Navien tankless water heater. It’s pretty much … Yeah, get this one on the wall. It’s pretty much the only one that we … Well it is the only one that we recommend.

It’s a 200,000 BTU machine, so it’s a big deal in the gas world, but it’s extremely efficient, extremely efficient. Here’s a shot of the inside of this thing. This is the heat exchanger, these are … They’re awesome, they’re bulletproof.

They’ll give you about four and a half gallons a minute. To put that into perspective, your shower is going to run two and a half gallons a minute. So these will easily run two showers all day. Turn it on, go to work, come back, still have hot water.

Our climate is obviously very cold here in Minnesota, so we have 40-degree groundwater. All right, so to put that into perspective, two and a half gallons a minute, not all of that’s going to be hot. You will be able to run, like I said, two showers and still do laundry with no issue.

Tankless water heaters are the future; overseas that’s all they’re putting in. It costs quite a bit of money to retrofit your house, we’re still doing quite a few of them right now. There are a lot of energy rebates available, there’s some federal rebates, potentially. Nobody knows yet that are going to be available, usually, they are because they are like a 92% efficient.

I’ll show you the energy sticker on these. [inaudible 00:02:04] $192 a year is what they say that will cost you to run. Now to put that into perspective, here’s just a standard tank water heater: $288, $293. So you’re saving money right out of the gate every year. The more water you use, the more you’ll save.
So if you are interested in a tankless water heater, give us a call at 651-365-1340 or look us up on the web, www.championplumbing.net. Thank you.