Your water heater s relief valve can start leaking for one of two reasons.
Hot water heater relief valve leaking.
If a pressure relief valve for a boiler is accidentally installed on a water heater it will leak like crazy from the start.
Both circumstances should be taken very seriously.
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.
A water heater pressure relief valve is what prevents the levels of pressure from your water heater from getting to dangerous levels.
Open a hot water faucet near the heater to release pressure and drain the tank until the water level is below the valve.
The relief valve is working the way it s intended and water drained to reduce the pressure inside the tank.
These valves cost less than 15 and replacing the valve is a very basic job just drain some water out of the water heater remove the discharge tube and replace the valve.
There s a problem with the valve such as a faulty seal and the water is unintentionally leaking.
Close the cold water cut off valve going into the water heater.
If it leaks then it can do quite a bit of damage in just a short amount of time with just the water that is leaked.
First turn off the gas to the water heater or flip the breaker if it s electric.
Leaking t p relief valve when a temperature and pressure t p relief valve at a water heater leaks it s usually a simple fix.
To remove a t p valve first turn off the electricity or gas and wait for the water to cool which usually takes about 24 hours.
If you do try to fix it here are the basic steps involved.
Just replace the valve.
Usually what causes a leak is the minerals in the water that will deposit on your valve.
Why might your water heater s relief valve start leaking.
These valves may look identical but they re set to go off at 30 psi.
Either the valve was triggered to open because of excessive temperature or pressure or the valve itself is faulty.
If the relief valve is needed frequently that means there s an issue with.