In article ,
Westcoast Sheri wrote:

In my laundry room, I've been hearing an *extremely faint* high pitched
sound. It is so high pitched and faint, I almost couldn't tell where it
was coming from. Finally, I determined it was coming from my 8 year old
gas hot water heater.
I then noticed that when I touched/bumped/jiggled the, "relief valve,"
pipe coming out of the side of the hot water heater, the high-pitched
sound changed a bit.
So...... perhaps the high-pitched sound is just a tiny bit of air coming
out of the relief valve pipe?
Anything to worry about????

Yes, this could be something to worry about. The relief valve
opens if there is too much pressure or too much temperature in
the water heater. If the valve doesn't function properly, you
could have the water heater break, which could be dangerous and
certainly would make a huge costly mess.

Many people do not routinely exercise their relief valve.
As a result, it can become sticky and fail to operate
properly.

You could have one of three things...

1) the valve has failed, and is letting out pressure even
though the pressure and temperature is normal.

2) the valve is operating normally, and you are on the
edge of having too much pressure.

3) the valve has failed, and is struggling to relieve
a dangerously high internal pressure level.

There are a number of reasons for abnormal pressure. It
could be water "backflow" into the water heater. It could
be too high of input water pressure. It could also be a
heating element that is stuck on that is getting the water
too hot. The latter should show up on your gas bill.

You do need to get this looked at. If you are not qualified,
get someone who is. If this thing blows, it could send
scalding hot water all over your house or cause water damage
throughout your house.

BTW, water heaters typically last about 7 years. Yours is
due for replacement. You can get a new one installed for
less than $200. That might be cheaper than a service call
for a plumber to look at this one, and a new one might be
more efficient and save you money in the long run. If you
do change it, look at electric storage water heaters. Many
utilities will help pay for them, and then put you on off
peak metering to get the ultra-cheap electric rates.

-john-

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John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
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