Water Heaters - Pressure relief valve leak

It seems there are a lot of these questions and I did a search but couldn't find a situation the same as mine.

I have a water heater that's about 5-6 years old. This morning I woke up hearing a constant water leak. I check the water heater and there is a constant stream of water coming from the pressure relief valve. I tried moving the pressure valve lever up and down and the water didn't stop flowing.

I then shut the cold water supply to the water heater and the leaking stopped. I noticed the water leaking from the pressure relief was luke warm at best. I then turned the heat to "pilot" and opened the lower drain slightly. A bit of water shot out so I connected a hose and opened it all the way. No significant amount of water came out.

I then fiddled with the pressure relief valve off and on and can hear a mild rushing air sound.

Am I in any kind of danger here? I just saw an episode of Myth Busters where they blew up water heaters so I'm a bit paranoid (lol). I will call a qualified plumber in a bit...just wanted to make sure everything was safe.

Thanks in advanced!

george

as long as your in pilot you cool......the pressure on the bottom drain out should be the same as your cold water faucets or outside hose connections.that air sucking into the vent is the water draining out as you lift the relief that allows air in and the drain off runs faster(with cold feed closed)like draining a car radiator when you pop the top cap.the seat on the relief might have a mineral buildup on it,and it might not be seating 100%(don't do anything till you refill)with cold water and still in pilot position.let the tank drain out and reopen the cold water and let it flush/fill...the air will start to blow out the vent/relief as the water drains and fills at the same time..so shut it on the pin lever.let the tank fil and run that water out into the yard for 15 minutes then shut the drain on the bottom.....put the valve to ON and the burner should come up.while it is heating the water put a bucket under the relief opening and pull the pin to the horizontal position. you should see the cold water pressure flushing it out.pop the silver pin back to the vertical position and leave a bucket in the area.let it heat up to the 12 o'clock position on the temp dial setting..those mythbuster dudes capped the relief and jumped the gas valve to see what the HWH would do in a closed room and off it went like a rocket :eek: thru the roof of that make shift room they had it in.YOUR REPAIR....if it continues to leak after it heats up to that dialed setting,the relief needs to be changed out. HD plumbing section....typical threads and settings 30 PSI tag stamped...some teflon tape and your back to having hot water:cool: