Water Heater Leak

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celife

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I recently had a PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) rep come out to look for a gas leak. In the process of looking over my system he apparently broke my water heater as for several days there has been a consistent puddle beneath it (see pic). They can't have someone out to fix it for a week, so I'd like to fix it myself. How should I approach this?
 

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Reach4

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Make sure that the water is not coming from the temperature and pressure valve.
TP_Valve_030_AmerWtrHtr.jpg

If it is not, plan to replace the water heater --- unless....

What caused this person to come check out your water heater? If you did not call, it may be part of a fraud. Don't deal with whoever calls you to try to sell you a water heater. If you did call, then things would be normal.

Maybe it was like the mechanics who squirt oil on a shock absorber, and who offer to sell you shocks.
 
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Jadnashua

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It's sort of a quandary...if the T&P valve doesn't open and you have a fault, things can get serious fast - things can blow up; but, if you do test it, if there's some crud that gets on the seal, or the shaft has some mineral deposits on it, it may never seal well again. Sometimes, they do after sitting there awhile. But, if it is coming from there, just replace it as has been said. YOu might try opening it up fully for a moment (careful, the discharge will be hot!), and if there's something caught there, it may wash it out and then seal. At the worst, you'll be back where you are now.
 

celife

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Thanks for all of the great help! I do believe it's the T&P valve. I tried opening then closing it to see if that helped to clear things out, but it seems to be leaking at a steady rate now. I'm guessing that it'll require a replacement of the valve unless anyone else has any suggestions as to how to fix the leak. Thanks again.
 

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Reach4

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If you have a pressure regulator on your incoming line, your pressure tank may have gone bad, or you may lack one. That could cause a good T+P valve leak water.

Ditto if there is a backflow prevention valve in your water meter. Did you get your meter swapped recently?
 

Jadnashua

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Don't think there are repair kits for that valve...it's tear out and replace. YOu could try pushing the stem down, can't hurt, might help, but sounds like it's time for a new one.
 

celife

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Ditto if there is a backflow prevention valve in your water meter. Did you get your meter swapped recently?

Thank you. The meter hasn't been swapped in recent years. The only event correlated with the beginning of this issue was when the guy from PG&E was checking for gas leaks...but I'm beginning to suspect that was just a coincidence.
 

celife

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Don't think there are repair kits for that valve...it's tear out and replace. YOu could try pushing the stem down, can't hurt, might help, but sounds like it's time for a new one.

Thanks, man. By pushing down on the stem do you mean pushing down on the part in the 2nd image I posted? I gave that a try but it seemed the leak remained the same. I'm sensing it's time to replace it.
 

WyrTwister

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And I suggest you replace the galvanized steel nipples that are screwed into the hot and cold water fittings , on top of the water heater .

God bless
Wyr
 
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