Don't Know Leak Source

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JenniferJ

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Hello,
My husband and I installed a new Whirlpool 38 gallon electric water heater yesterday. Everything went great, we got everything connected, but then we noticed just a slight, slow leak at the hot and cold water nipples. My husband tightened them up a little more and that fixed the problem. As far as I can tell, there are no leaks around the hot water outlet. But now I'm noticing a little bit of water in the insulation around the cold water inlet if I dab a paper towel into the insulation (attached is a photo with an arrow showing exactly where the wetness is).
I thought it was possible that the insulation had just absorbed a bit of water from when the cold water nipple was leaking, but I tried soaking up all I could last night with a paper towel. I just went back again this morning and there is, again, just a tad bit of water.
Any ideas as to what could be leaking and what would the next step be to remedy the situation. Thanks in advance for the input.
 

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Cacher_Chick

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You have to get the threaded junctions completely dry and then watch carefully with good lighting to see where the leak is. The insulation might take awhile to dry, but you have to make sure your threaded fittings are not seeping before you decide how to approach the next step.
 

Jadnashua

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IF your incoming water is quite cold, keep in mind that the cold supply pipe might be sweating, just like a cold drink can.

Did he use pipe dope or tape (or both) on the nipples before tightening them into the WH? If you're using a threaded supply pipe or hose, did he use tape on those threads (they have a washer in them, and tape will usually make them leak)?
 

JerryR

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How many times did he go around with wraps of Teflon tape on the lower threads? Looking at your picture it looks like not very much tape was used.


I would remove both nipples, reapply at least 3 wraps of tape and possibly even some Pipe Thread Sealant paste to the thread that screw into the water heater. DO NOT USE Tape or sealant on the upper threads of the nipple where it connects to the FIP Copper Water Heater Connector lines with washers.
 

Jadnashua

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Take the pipe on the nipple off, take off the tape, and tighten it back in place. Tape on that connection that is trying to seal with a gasket will usually cause it to leak. Tape (or pipe dope) IS required when you have a tapered pipe thread (the bottom connection of the nipple into the tank), but it CANNOT be used on straight threads that are used to tighten up a gasket seal.
 

hj

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It appears that you either have a bad thread in the tank or a bad nipple, since it looks like it was tightened quite well and the leak is in the thread. Those nipples are usually installed at the factory, but it appears you had to install these on the heater. I NEVER use tape on steel pipe threads, ALWAYS joint compound, for just this reason.
 
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