Water Heaters - Water heater issue

Ok, I just turned on my water heater today. It has a leak in 2 places. One is the drain on bottom. the other is the pressure relaase valve, that leaks faster (~10oz per hour or so) the other one is about 1oz/4 hours.

This is the basement I am in. I have considered running a pipe to the drain (left side) until I get a plumber out to see it... unless I can fix it myself.

As you can see in the pics I just have a few cups keeping water off the floor. How do I repair a faucet on the bottom of the heater that wont completely seal?

How do I keep the water from overflowing from the overflow release thingy. (sorry Idk much about water heaters)

THANKS A MILLION For any help.

http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/1777/img3614qm6.jpg

Ok now heres the water heater.
http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/6826/img3615cm8.jpg

Well, not sure why it was just turned on, but I'd just replace both of them, if you have already tried flushing out the valves.

The drain valve will probably need to be replaced. I didn't see a floor drain in the basement, so you probably should call a plumber, who would have a small pump to drain the heater with.


The TP could be leaking because debris has fouled the sealing seat. In that case, it is sometimes successful to flick the lever open and closed a few times.

You should always confirm that a leaking TP isn't doing what it is supposed to do...relieve pressure ( or temp). Get an inexpensive pressure gauge from the hardware store and make sure your static pressure is under 80 PSI. Also make sure that when the burner comes on, that the pressure does not creep up over 80 during that time.

on the drain leaking if it is out of the hose connection remove the thumb wheel shutoff and tighten it(stem) with an adjustable(slightly its made of plastic):eek:if it is still dripping by a cap at HD.on the relief it should have a stamped PSI rating on it typical 30PSI blow off.reseat it with a flush a couple of times with the gas valve in the PILOT position.....want to see if it leaks with cold water in the tank:thumbup:..........cut that PVC blow off pipe a bit higher and slip a 5 gallon bucket under there.....that will control the blown off water better and the dripping.if your ambitious on a football sunday.....might think about removing the relief and you will be able to see the SEAT on the relief in your hand.to remove it .....put gas valve in PILOT position.......shut cold water feed and drain off tank......with relief UP to vent.once the water stops coming out of the relief...dripping, you are safe to remove it (teflon tap) the threads going back in.

i does leak with cold water in the tank. it seems like it is slowing though. im not 100%.... but its definitely still coming out.

How hard is it to replace those 2 things?


oh and the drain is under near the sink in the picture.

I havent tried flushing, does that simply involve draining the water or is there more to it?

if it is leaking with just cold water in the tank then it is sensing the actual house cold water pressure you see on that sinks cold water.sounds like a mineral build up on the actual seat of the relief,the relief is easy when you drain down teflon tape it up and hand screw it in CW (like a car oil filter)then pipe wrench it anticipating tightness at the 6 o'clock position down and that PVC blow off.the fittings openings on the tank are steel both at the relief and that drain off so don't worry about stripping them.the drain off valve you can remove the stem after you drain the tank and inspect the seat inside it.most i have seen are made of plastic and could ruin your day if you don't get a good bite on them if you go to remove it.as long as the gas valve is in the PILOT position the rest is just water and threads..DRAINING gas valve in PILOT position .shut cold ware off at the heater....drain off from the bottom over to the sink....POP the RELIEF air will suck in to continue draining,....water will stop draining at sink height U TUBE EFFECT...you will have to drain the tank at the level of the drain to get all the water out.i would CAP that drain off if inspection of the seat reveals nothing after all is done.to flush the tank just open up the cold water feed to the tank so some drains out into the sink(relief down in shut)

It would be good form to check for excessive water pressure. You can buy a pressure gauge that fits on the drain valve for $8-10 at a hardware store. An ideal static pressure would be 50 PSI or so --- over 80PSI starts getting to be a problem which might require a pressure regulator and expansion tank to be installed.

However, you aren't done yet. You should also drain off the hot water so the tank is filled with cold water, then shut off any use of water in the house while the tank heats the cold water. Check for a pressure spike increasing to the point where the relief valve opens.

If that happens, you have a sealed system with a check valve at the water meter or elsewhere. When the water in the tank expands due to heating, you create the pressure spike, which would require installation of an expansion tank.

If the water pressure is OK, I'd simply replace the drain fitting and the pressure and temperature relief valve --- they have a tendency to leak when they age.

The easy way of doing that is to shutt off the incoming water supply and all faucets and such. Put pipe thread compound on the new fittings so you are ready to go. Drain off the water pressure through a water tap and close the tap again.

Then unscrew the fitting, remove it and promptly install the new fitting. Since there is no way for air or water to get into the tank, very little water will get out.

Draining the tank is unnecessary --- I've done this on scores of occasions.