Author Topic: Hot water heater leak (Read 3001 times)

ChadTower · « **on:** October 18, 2006, 07:56:51 am »

---fudgesicle---... just discovered my hot water heater leaking from the pressure release valve. Not sure why yet, my knowledge of hot water heaters is low novice at best. Have a quarter inch of water in parts of the basement.

saint · « **Reply #1 on:** October 18, 2006, 08:10:55 am »

That blows. From what I understand it's usually a question of *when* and not *if* one of those goes. If you need to replace it, take a look at a tankless heater if you have gas service -- electrical units don't have the oomph for a full house yet...

ChadTower · « **Reply #2 on:** October 18, 2006, 08:37:23 am »

Oil fired. No gas.

It pretty much *is* a question of when... the tank itself is fine. The water is coming from the pvc pipe hanging from the pressure relief valve. I just had a guy in two weeks ago to clean/adjust the furnace and he told me he did the water heater to as a favor because I let him play pinball. I suspect he upped the temp a little bit, both me and my wife noticed it... I just looked at the thermostat and it's still set below normal if I'm reading it right, so he didn't set it too high.

Since the water is coming through where it normally would in case of too much pressure... I'm guessing that the pressure relief valve itself is failing. It's not coming from the bottom of the tank, as in corroded tank failure, which is when you normally would replace the heater (I think).

ChadTower · « **Reply #3 on:** October 18, 2006, 08:43:17 am »

Electricity and cold water supply are off. I'm in the process of draining the tank now, one bucket at a time, since there is no drain in the basement. The kitchen hot water faucet is open. Already had a hose on the drain faucet since I flush the bottom few gallons every three months or so.

The relief valve has a PVC pipe leading downwards, I guess to prevent a person from getting sprayed in the face when it opens. That is where the water is coming from. It's the relief valve, probably. Not a major failure yet, a slow leak, but enough that it seems to have happened overnight and there is a quarter inch of water in parts of the basement. Fortunately, no cabs have been damaged that I have seen yet.

I just have to figure out how to get this sucker off. I'm good with wiring (I rebuild pinball machines as a hobby) but don't know tons/have good tools for plumbing.

ChadTower · « **Reply #4 on:** October 18, 2006, 09:31:20 am »

We had a guy come in a couple weeks ago to service the furnace. He is an old pinball fan and played Shadow for a few minutes, then did the water heater too as a favor. What I think happened is that he tested the relief valve in the process. A bit of reading turns up that it is not unusual for an old relief valve to fail shortly after being tested. We are very lucky it held out until we got back from FL, I guess. We've been out of state nearly the whole time since he tested it.

Edgedamage · « **Reply #5 on:** October 18, 2006, 09:35:53 am »

The pvc pipe should just un-thread. Then remove the s-valve and get a replacement at any local pluming shop. Bring the old one with you to match the pressure value. Get a roll of dope tape for the threads.

ChadTower · « **Reply #6 on:** October 18, 2006, 10:11:36 am »

Thanks. Took an hour to drain the tank one bucket at a time, no drain downstairs.

It came off just as you described. The PVC pipe seems to be in a pressure based collar of some sort that came out easily. The valve itself took a bit more work but wasn't hard. I'm heading off to the hardware store in a few minutes. It doesn't look corroded or anything. The threads are actually still shiny gold. We'll see what happens when I get a new one in... if it still lets water out once it's full and up to operating temp, then I know the valve wasn't the issue and it's time to call a repair guy.

J_K_M_A_N · « **Reply #7 on:** October 18, 2006, 11:29:11 am »

Sometimes when you test the relief valve, something will break loose from the tank and get stuck holding the relief valve open just a little. It also happens when you open the valve on the bottom. (Most newer ones have those as well for draining.) Both should be fairly easy to change. Good luck.

J_K_M_A_N

ChadTower · « **Reply #8 on:** October 18, 2006, 11:49:16 am »

Don't think that was it... the test would have been 2.5 weeks ago and it didn't leak until today. It probably just was near failure when it was tested.

The new part is in, tank refilled and heated, and after 15 minutes it's not leaking any. That's a good sign.

ChadTower · « **Reply #9 on:** October 18, 2006, 11:53:18 am »

Check your relief valve yearly. Yow.

cdbrown · « **Reply #10 on:** October 18, 2006, 12:02:12 pm »

Pressure relief valves can fail at any time, mainly once they lift to relieve what ever pressure is against them and cannot reseat properly due to misalignment, dirt or corroded springs that was pushing (or pulling) the plunger into the seat. You may want to slightly reduce the temp of the heater as this slightly higher temp may be causing the relief valve to lift for a very very short time (10th of second). Was it still leaking when you turned the system off? It may have been the valve was chattering (opening and closing) as the pressure was on the limit of the valve (just throwing ideas out there).

ChadTower · « **Reply #11 on:** October 18, 2006, 12:04:15 pm »

No, it stopped leaking as soon as I turned it off. And the operating temp, even though a little higher than it had been, is still below what is marked "normal". So that shouldn't be an issue unless the thermostat is bad.

ChadTower · « **Reply #12 on:** October 18, 2006, 05:14:05 pm »

Several hours later, no leaks. Looks resolved.

shmokes · « **Reply #13 on:** October 18, 2006, 11:33:01 pm »

Well, at least it could have been worse from what I understand. When hot water heaters decide to go it's often a lot worse than that. A lady I work with went home and there was a hole in the wall where the water had sprayed long enough to wear a hole through. So a rather high pressure stream of water was just spraying into the next room, and had been for hours. And this was all finished, with carpet, etc. Sucky.

cdbrown · « **Reply #14 on:** October 19, 2006, 04:25:42 am »

She'll find that wasn't the only cost - increased water and utility bill due to having to constantly heat the water replacing what is being lost. Amazing what a pinhole leak can do when unnoticed. If it was a bigger hole she probably would have been fine (except for flooding)

shmokes · « **Reply #15 on:** October 19, 2006, 04:37:26 am »

oh . . . it was big. I get the impression that when she got home it had more in common with a fire hydrant than a pinhole leak. The hole in the wall was huge.

ChadTower · « **Reply #16 on:** October 19, 2006, 07:47:16 am »

It does happen... we had a tank fail in the apt we lived in a few years ago. We woke up to two inches of water in most of the apartment.

I'm thinking I want to get two years out of this water heater. After that, it will probably be time to replace it. Don't want to have a crappy tank wreck all the cabs/stuff in my basement.

mccoy178 · « **Reply #17 on:** October 19, 2006, 11:09:59 am »

We had a pinhole leak in the crawl space under one of the bathrooms. It was costing us an additional $10 a month. For the life of us we just couldn't figure out what was going on. Just a stupid solder fitting on an elbow gave.

ChadTower · « **Reply #18 on:** October 19, 2006, 11:11:24 am »

Did that cause any mold issues?

shardian · « **Reply #19 on:** October 19, 2006, 11:16:37 am »

On my current bathroom renovation, I took a break of about 2 weeks after finishing some plumbing. I walked out into my garage on day and noticed a wet spot on the floor. I looked up and noticed the drywall on the ceiling was sagging and leaking!! Apparently, while wiggling around an exisiting water pipe we opened up a pinhole crack in the pipe. I had to tear down 2 sheets of the ceiling, and there was about 2 inches of standing water sitting on the ceiling. Good stuff...

mccoy178 · « **Reply #20 on:** October 20, 2006, 01:48:22 am »

Quote from: ChadTower on October 19, 2006, 11:11:24 am

Did that cause any mold issues?

Nah, it ran into a gravel subbase, and there was really nothing to mold. It's very dry in the crawl space. Very dry.

ChadTower · « **Reply #21 on:** October 20, 2006, 08:13:57 am »

Cool. My house has no crawlspaces. The one I grew up in in NS did... but that one only had plumbing to two spots in the first floor.

NightGod · « **Reply #22 on:** October 20, 2006, 10:11:18 am »

Thanks for reminding me to test my T&P valve, almost forgot this year!

Zakk · « **Reply #23 on:** October 20, 2006, 10:32:02 am »

If the valve was not faulty, the pressure release valve will purge water if the temperature is set too high. I found this out on a brand new water tank I had installed last year. I set the dial to HOT, since that's what the old one was set to. Turns out the newer versions only need to be set right around the mid point. Had water coming out of that tube you mentioned. Just a thought, if anyone was messing around with the temp on it lately.

ChadTower · « **Reply #24 on:** October 20, 2006, 10:38:05 am »

Took me 15 minutes to find the thermostat on mine... it was inside a closed box on the back side of it.

Zakk · « **Reply #25 on:** October 20, 2006, 02:13:56 pm »

Had someone changed that recently? If not, it could be a faulty thermostat, heating the water too high... Still, it could have been a faulty valve, and maybe replacing it DID do the trick. Just want you to be aware of what else it could be, if it happens again.

ChadTower · « **Reply #26 on:** October 20, 2006, 05:01:09 pm »

The HVAC guy I had in to clean it did tweak it... but those valves commonly fail when you test them if they are old. The new one didn't leak at all and tests just fine, so I can only assume that the thermostat is still working properly.


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