RAE
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I have a 40-gallon gas hot water heater in the (unfinished) basement, that has operated flawlessly for 16 years, until yesterday. When I went down to the basement yesterday, a little while after taking my morning shower, I noticed that the floor under and next to the hot water heater was wet. I'd say maybe 16 oz. or so of water had leaked onto the floor, so not a massive leak. Upon inspection, I could see that there was no new water leaking - just what had come out earlier. I inspected the bottom of the tank as best I could, expecting to find some corrosion and possibly the source of the leak, but it actually looked good - pretty much solid metal, no corrosion or leak apparent down there. Then I looked at the pressure relief valve, and the flap was sticking out at about a 45-degree angle. Also, most of the water on the floor was in the vicinity of the tube that drains water when the pressure relief valve blows. So now I am thinking that the leak was most likely due to the pressure relief valve blowing, as it should when the temp. gets too hot, or the pressure gets too high. We have not changed the temp. of the hot water for years......always been set on 120.
Today, all the water has dried up that had leaked yesterday, and there is definitely no new water coming out (the tank is still full of water, but I shut it off and have not used it since the leak). So..........what would you do? I guess after 16 years, I should probably be thinking about just getting a new heater, but something tells me that the problem is just with the relief valve, and maybe all that needs to be done is to replace it, to get a few more years out of this unit(?). I hate to replace the whole unit if a $20 fix would work for now. Would you attempt to replace the relief valve yourself, or is that something best left to a plumber? If it is the latter, that might push the decision toward just getting a whole new unit installed, I suppose.
Any advice would be appreciated.......thanks.
Today, all the water has dried up that had leaked yesterday, and there is definitely no new water coming out (the tank is still full of water, but I shut it off and have not used it since the leak). So..........what would you do? I guess after 16 years, I should probably be thinking about just getting a new heater, but something tells me that the problem is just with the relief valve, and maybe all that needs to be done is to replace it, to get a few more years out of this unit(?). I hate to replace the whole unit if a $20 fix would work for now. Would you attempt to replace the relief valve yourself, or is that something best left to a plumber? If it is the latter, that might push the decision toward just getting a whole new unit installed, I suppose.
Any advice would be appreciated.......thanks.