There is a safety valve on top of the heater to let pressure off in case it gets too high, The valve has a lever that you can lift up and let pressure off. If it goes bad then it will leak. The hardware store has these replacement part for a few bucks and is easy to change, just turn off the water and open a faucet first before removing it to let the water pressure off.
Most likely your T&P valve needs to be replaced. This is a temperature and pressure relief valve. It is spring loaded and releases pressure when the water heater gets too hot or too much pressure. Without it your water heater could explode. It is most likely leaking because sediment has gotten into the spring mechanism and opened the valve. If you need to know how to replace the T&P just post it as a question. If I have been any help please rate my answer.
It's possible the water heater itself is defective. My brand new Kenmore Powermiser 12 leaked very slightly from the hot and cold fittings.. At first I thought it was the teflon thread joint. But I re-did them and they are both still leaking. With a flashlight up close I can see that it is not the teflon joints but water coming from the sides. This unit is defective.
I have a leaking gas hot water heater which is leaking from one small spot on the front bottom and I can see and feel hole. It has been doing this for weeks and has not worsened.maybe 3-4 cups a day.can I use some sort of filler to close the hole?
A fellow user here has provided a very good answer to this similar question which was asked in January 2008. May I direct you to this link on our site for some very good advice? There are 2 answers there that are quite helpful and should solve your problem. Your friend, Yergamon
Here is the link you may click on to be directed to these answers on Blurtit:
Could be as simple as a loose connector or the water is reaching the relief valve temp/press.If the tank is a 6 or 10 year tank and it is near the 6 or 10 yr mark it may have developed a pinhole leak from errosion.first check both connectors on top the inlet/outlet.( if they are loose) then check area around the relief valve inlet or discharge.if it is leaking from the relief valve tou may have to lower the setpoint temp. If it is not leaking from the mention areas the tank has probably developed a pin hole leak and will need to be replaced. A month after I moved into my house I had the same problem and assumed it had a pinhole leak after I bought a new one and went to replace it found that the connector fittings from the hot outlet had worked it's way loose from expansion and contraction. Good luck
Valve sounds like its going bad or may have a piece of dirt caught in it. Open and close it a couple of times and see if that helps, if not then replace it
Hot water heaters once they start to leak are not repairable. Unless the leak is at a fitting or heating element the tank has corroded through and will need immediate replacement before you have a catastrophic failure.
If its leaking from the pressure relief valve, there is something internal like excessive pressure or high water temp. Need to find out which. The relief must be replaced cause it'll always drip once it reliefs. Could be a rotted fitting on the cold or hot that is causing it to leak up top. If so, even though I hate to say it, call a plumber.do you have a dehumidifier going in the basement/ pipes could be sweating from the humidity flowing down the pipes giving the illussion of a leak. Priority must be given to the relief valve. Do you have a well or city water. If a well, the expansion tank on the water heater may be bad(if equiped) or your well tank could be bad. To find out, use a quarter. Start tapping from the top to the bottom. Should have a solid sound all the way until you reach the weld in the center at which point you should start hearing a hollow sound. If solid sounding all the way down, the bladder ruptured and the tank is full of water which would cause the relief to go off as the water heats up because it can't expand. Replace the expansion tank or well tank.if that's OK, then the t-stat may be bad causing the relief to go off on temp. get it looked at by a professional. If city water, the city may have been working on the pipes in the street and put too much pressure to the water heater if you don't have a pressure reducing valve between where the water comes in and the water heater.
First thing is, you never just open and close a t/p valve cause then it will always leak. Could be your expansion tank (if equiped) is bad or your well tank is bad or the city worked on the lines and if you don't have a pressure reducer valve could have overpressurized the tank. Gas valve or t-stat may be bad. T/p could be bad. Most common two are t/p is bad or expansion tank is bad.
Yes! Dear you must call the plumber as now the work is technical and you can do it yourself. There is a problem with the water heater pipe, there must be some leakages in it, and should be changed.
When you say the tube on the side. Do you mean the drain valve on the lower wall of the tank or the tube that ties in to the valve on the top or the upperside of the tank? If it is coming from the top or the topside of the tank your pressure relief valve is leaking and the tank has to be replaced. If the tank is leaking from the bottom side of the tank that is usually caused from rust that forms on the bottom of the tank. That is where all the sentiment collects and the tank should be replaced very soon.
It is probably only leaking from one place but is spreading through the insulation to appear as if there are multiple leaks. Remove the power from the heating elements and take the covers off the top of the tank along with the insulation to try and isolate where the leak is coming from. A 4 1/2 year old tank should not be leaking in a manner which cannot be fixed.
