Water heater T&P valve replacement Featured

I forgot to say that, although it's not in the title, the text says, "Lead free DZR brass construction for durability and reliability" it doesnt' show a sku in the ad. I thought HD used to show the sku's. , but it will be on it when you see it.

On 21 Apr 2025, micky snipped-for-privacy@fmguy.com wrote in alt.home.repair:

The one you show above is different than the one I have. There are several with similar specs but slightly different dimensions. Home Depot has NCLX, NCLX-5LX, NCLX-A, but I guess I was wrong, HD appears to NOT have my NCLX-5L valve.

This is the same valve I have currently installed, from at Amazon:

Yer overthinkin' this whole thing . ANY TPR valve with the same temp/pressure rating and the same thread pattern - most are 3/4 pipe thread - will work as long as it fits in the available space . The chance of any lead poisoning from the brass valve body is so remote that you can just ignore it .

This guy says to operate the vslve to see if it re-seats and stops leaking - before replacement.

On 21 Apr 2025, Snag <snag snipped-for-privacy@msn.com wrote in alt.home.repair:

I figured there were probably equivalents by other manufacturers, but don't you think the length of the neck between the threads where it screws into the heater and the valve itself is significant? Or the length of the temperature "stalk"? I assumed they must make some difference or the company wouldn't make so many models with seemingly minor variations.

Anyway, I went ahead and ordered the one from Amazon, which is the same as I have now. As micky advised, its lead might provide me with some extra protection against X-radiation from supermen and aliens.

On 21 Apr 2025, snipped-for-privacy@ccanoemail.com wrote in alt.home.repair:

I actually saw this video earlier! I will try what he suggests, but I want to have a replacement valve handy in case exercising it makes the leak worse. A replacement is on order now.

I'm also planning to flush the tank soon, which is something I've never in my life done, but which I've been told is good to do every few years. And maybe check the sacrificial anode.

At this point, you may be thinking what I was: “Wait—aren’t modern pipes lead free?” Montross explained that it’s a little more complicated than that. Even newly-manufactured pipes have a permissible amount of lead in them: 0.25% is allowable according to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Pipes dating back to the 1980s can have as much as 8% lead, and pipes from the 1950s may contain as much as 50% lead. As Montross explained, adding lead to pipes protects them from cracking and bursting in freezing temperatures, because lead is more malleable than the other materials used, like brass. That’s why it’s still used.

Why should it matter, compared to the cold water that everyone used to drink. I refuse to buy bottled water, which I think is a racket.

On 21 Apr 2025, micky snipped-for-privacy@fmguy.com wrote in alt.home.repair:

I recall reading that you should avoid drinking hot tap water because there is a chance that bacteria can more easily grow in a tank of standing warm water. Sounds plausible to me.

If tank is under 145F for sure

"Hot water releases more lead from pipes than cold water."

We have a point of use heater under the house beneath the kitchen sink . It bumps the hot water feed from the main heater to just over

Especially if you live in a shithole like Flint , where I understand they still have lead piping in service .

Yes, too much over thinking it. Any valve that has the same ratings and fits is fine. Just look at many items that say the state of California has determined it may cause cancer. Many homes in the US have had copper plumbing and lead containing solder in them for many years. If that cased cancer then most of the US would be dead by now.

I do not know the temperature but have heard the same thing. I set my hot water tank to a much higher temperature than recommended. Replaced it a few years ago and the installers said they could not set it higher but gave me a screwdriver and told me o set it where I wanted it.

Just found out a while back how to set up the shower temperature. I got tired of the cool showers and waiting a long time in the winter for the water to get warm.

IIRC flushing is to get rid of sediment, but iIUC the amount of sediment is greatly dependant on what kind of water you have in the first place. When I replaces a water heater that no longer worked, I cut it open ot see what was inside and after about 15 years, there was about one tablespoon of sediment. And my sacrificial anode had not sacrificed much either.

Also, I happened to come across the box that the pressure regulator I put in a year ago came in. By Watts, a major maker, it says "*LEAD FREE: The wetted surfadce of this product contacted by consumable water contains less that 0.25% of lead by weight." Of course this is for the whole house, hot and colde water. I think all or almost all of the parts are, on at least one side, contaced by consumable water, but they are only promising what they promise.

On 24 Apr 2025, Bob F snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in alt.home.repair:

But that brings back one of my original questions: Why would they market two versions of the same valve, one "lead-free" and one that doesn't mention the lead content at all, which I presume does contain some lead? Why not sell just the lead-free one and uncomplicate the product line?

btw, I did some checking, and the lead-free version is hard to get. Most places have the regular one, but the couple of places that listed the lead-free one have to special order it.

They cost more to make, because lead free brass is not easy to get?

On 21 Apr 2025, Nil snipped-for-privacy@rednoise9.invalid wrote in alt.home.repair:

To follow up on my water heater pressure valve situation...

I could find the so-called "lead free" version only online in a few places, but they seemed to be special-order only, with long lead times. So I put my lead worries out of mind and got the regular one.

I bought an exact brand replacement valve on Amazon. I later found what looks like an identical valve at Home Depot, but with a different label, but it was more expensive. So, I guess they're somewhat generic if you match specs.

I did try the suggestion of some here and online that I try just exercising the valve by opening and closing it a few times, which might get rid of some of the crusty deposits that could be causing the leak. And it worked! Or so I thought. The leak stopped for a few days, but then it started again. I tried flipping the valve again but this time it kept leaking, and worse than before.

I was glad I had the replacement valve on hand. I followed the method shown in several Youtube videos and replaced the valve. It took maybe a half-hour but was all pretty easy. It's been two weeks now and no more leak.

The End.

I hope you checked first that your expansion tank has not failed, if you have a check valve on the incoming water pipe to the house.