T&P Valve Noise and Leaking

[Mawdaddy]

Preface: I am renting. Last night the T&P Valve was making a pretty loud popping type noise. When I initially woke up I thought it was gun shots at a neighborhood house. Once I tracked it down to the Water Heater in the garage, I realized it was coming from the T&P Valve. I set the unit to Pilot mode and secured to water to it so we could get some sleep. This morning I turned it all back on and drained some water and it came out kind of dirty. There is a valve on the T&P discharge pipe that was off (see Red Handled Knob in Pic), I opened it and now water continuously drains out. There is also a 90 degree connector that goes up into the ceiling. Its not making the noises anymore but this red handled valve has me worried. Is it supposed to be open? If its open it just dumps water in to the catch pan and it would overflow in about 5 minutes. Please Help!

 

[Reach4]

This is a safety device and it is not installed in accordance to the rules. Exploding water heaters can have incredible force.

It is replaceable by unscrewing the old one and screwing in the new one.

It is not certain that the valve iss bad, but it is probably bad. Maybe it was saving you from a bad water heater. I am not a plumber.

I would inform your landlord now by text message.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Mawdaddy]

Any idea what the 90 degree pipe coming off and going into the ceiling is?

 

[Reach4]

Any idea what the 90 degree pipe coming off and going into the ceiling is?

I presume that routes the water to elsewhere. Rain gutter? Hole drilled in vent pipe in the attic?

 

[Terry]

There can't be a shutoff on a T&P relief line. That needs to be removed.
The pipe above may be for a furnace or air conditioning condensate.

We've been installing gas water heaters with expansion tanks and that helps with expansion of the water when it heats up.

In the Seattle area, someone had capped off the relief on a water heater. It blew through the roof of the home and landed a block away near a stop sign.

Also the line from the T&P should be a 3/4" line, not 1/2".
The T&P should be replaced.

 

[Dj2]

My advice: Contact your landlord and ask him to get a plumber to re-do it to code.
I see multiple code violations, if this was in my state, but what the picture shows could be a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[LLigetfa]

My guess is the pipe going up is to redirect the discharge to the outside or to a drain. Regardless, I doubt any of that is to code.

I've no experience with a T&P releasing due to simple expansion but it does not sound like that is what is happening. I would expect it to settle down quickly. It sounds more like the heater is boiling the water causing the T&P to release which is very serious.

 

[Mawdaddy]

So I talked to a plumber here in Georgia. He said the 90 degree connector goes redirects the discharge outside and to close the red handled valve. I did so and walked around and I can see where the water is now discharging outside the home on the side. He said he believes the issue is the Water Pressure Reducing Valve coming in and that the T&P valve was just doing what its meant to do. He is supposed to come today to take a look. All this has me concerned because the the sound coming from the T&P Valve last night was so scary. Here is the Georgia State code verbatim: "When the relief valve discharge piping goes upward, a thermal expansion control device shall be installed on the cold water distribution or service pipe in accordance with Section 607.3.2. If the discharge pipe is trapped, provisions shall be made to drain the low point of the trapped portion of the discharge pipe."

The heater does have a thermal expansion tank installed.

 

[Reach4]

Here is the Georgia State code verbatim: "When the relief valve discharge piping goes upward, a thermal expansion control device shall be installed on the cold water distribution or service pipe in accordance with Section 607.3.2.

Surprising that Georgia has made this exception to the IPC for the state. It sure seems handy.

What you have appears to correspond to that text.

That still doesn't explain the noise, and LLigetfa's thought that the water is boiling seems like a reasonable and scary explaination.

 

[LLigetfa]

Get a pressure gauge with garden hose thread to determine whether the PRV is in fact failing and to confirm at what pressure the T&P is popping off.
A T&P valve should pop off at 150 PSI which should be noticeable at the faucets.

 

[Phog]

He said he believes the issue is the Water Pressure Reducing Valve coming in

If turning the burner to pilot-only cured the issue (as I understand your original post above) then it would not be the service connection PRV -- it would be either the T&P malfunctioning or the water getting too hot. An issue with the service PRV would set off the T&P regardless of the tank water temp.

 

[LLigetfa]

The OP also turned the water to it off ("secured to water to it" was his words), so that would also isolate the pressure.

 

[Dj2]

I can't believe that GA code allows WH T&P discharge to go up !
No way no how in my city.

 

[FullySprinklered]

Believe it. The T&P blowby has to be piped to the outside. A drain valve of some sort must be installed before it turns up. Going up is often the only way out.