Water Heater Vacuum Valve Leaking

Your water heater s relief valve can start leaking for one of two reasons.

Water heater vacuum valve leaking.

Over a certain period of time things just wear out. After draining or flushing a water heater it is common for the drain valve to fail to close completely. Right before spring your customers will turn on the water at the main valve only to find water gushing out of the breaker valve. Open the valve at the bottom and the pressure relief valve for a minute to drain a little water out of the tank and relieve the pressure.

The culprit is often a leaking pressure vacuum breaker pvb. Causes of a leaking pvb 1 wear and tear. When you see water coming out from the water heater release valve there are two most likely causes. In the first case the valve will drain water out of the discharge pipe as explained above.

Why might your water heater s relief valve start leaking. Either the valve was triggered to open because of excessive temperature or pressure or the valve itself is faulty. Fixing a leaking drain valve replacing the entire hot water tank drain valve is usually the most reliable fix for a leak. First turn off the gas to the water heater or flip the breaker if it s electric.

A leak in the drain valve at the bottom of the water heater is another common issue. There are numerous possible reasons your water heater s pressure relief valve leaks. The relief valve is working the way it s intended and water drained to reduce the pressure inside the tank. However you can try and tighten the valve slightly with a wrench to see if the leak stops.

These valves cost less than 15 and replacing the valve is a basic job. Be careful not to overtighten the valve or the leak could become worse or the valve might break off. Just replace the valve. Here you would just need to shut off the water to the water heater and drain a couple gallons of water off and then spin out the old one go purchase a new one and some teflon tape and then wrap say 6 7 wraps of teflon tape on the valve threads and install the new one.

1 either the water pressure inside the tank is too high 2 the water temperature is too high 3 the t p valve hasn t been used in a few years 4 the wrong t p valve was installed or 5 the t p valve itself has failed. Close the cold water cut off valve going into the water heater.