Kenmore gas water heater installed 1/10/17. No dents or obvious external damage to the tank. Everything worked fine for 5 months. Leaked last night. Steady drip, say one half gallon per minute, visible from the bottom of the tank. The back side of the tank?not near any fitting. I shut off the gas, turned off the water supply, ran out a little water to relieve the pressure?leak stopped. Came back this morning, re-pressurized the tank. The leak came back for less than sixty seconds, then stopped by itself. Turned the gas back on, relit the burner, everything back as it was. No leak now for about 5 hours. What might be the source of an intermittent leak in a brand new tank?
intermittant leak at water heater
Jun 23, 2017
5 Replies
A manufacturing defect? You sure it's not leaking at either of the water c onnections? How about at the anode, which is a large hex head fitting on t he top. At the TPR valve? And half gallon a minute isn't what I'd call a dr ip.
water heater installed 1/10/17. No dents or obvious external
ne for 5 months.
say one half gallon per minute,
e bottom of the tank. The back side of the tank?no t near any fitting.
the water supply, ran out a little water to
the pressure?leak stopped.
g, re-pressurized the tank. The leak came back
or less
ng back as it was.
o leak
Intermittent leaks can be c aused by intermittent high pressure. Where exactly is the leak? It could be a defective weld in the tank or is it the PRV?
There are roughly 45,000 drops of water in a half gallon and 60 guzinta 45,000 about 750 times so that would be approximately 750 drops per second.
I was going to suggest that too. Happened to me. I'd see water in the morning but trail to relief pipe had dried out. Change of valve solved problem.
Jethro Bodine posted for all of us...
I have used this term many times. Now I know how to spell it!
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