My hot water pressure relief valve has a pipe that drains outside my house. From that pipe I can see warm water dripping from that drain pipe at a moderate drip rate. The water is warm to the touch.
My hot water heater is around 13 years old and we have never had an issue. Hot water is currently working fine. I had a plumber come out for a separate issue a few weeks ago,. He inspected the valve on that visit. I am wondering what you recommend as I assume this needs to be repaired. Maybe something is stuck in the valve and it is leaking – since the plumber tested? Maybe the valve needs to be replaced? I assume given the age of my hot water heater I should replace it altogether. Your recommendations?
Rawlins
Tom’s Answer:
Tom: It’s usually a easy repair. It’s a pressure-release valve, and the first thing I would do is it’s got a little lever on there and you can move that lever up and down, up and down, about 3 or 4 times, because sometimes it gets some crud in there and won’t close all the way, and that sometimes will close it up. If it just won’t close up, you can have it replaced, and I think last time I bought one it was $12.99. They’re not that hard to replace if you want to do it yourself. You can definitely call Abacus, and if not …
Charlie: So, that is a do-it-yourself-able thing?
Tom: Charlie-
Charlie: Depends on your skill.
Tom: Is it you, or is it me?
Charlie: No, I’ll tell you right now on that one.
Tom: It depends what your skill are, but it could be for some, yeah.
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