Joseph Meehan wrote:
wrote:
Since last week every time someone takes a bath the T&P valve
discharges a small amount of water. When this happens, the water looks
a bit rusty. If I pull lever on the valve, the rusty water will drain
and for a day or so there'll be no more leaks, then it starts again. I
checked the water line pressure and it's at 60 PSI.
I've replaced the valve and flushed the tank for about 30 min - two
days later the leak is back and water is rusty again when the lever is
pulled.
Any ideas?
thanks,
GE
The valve is doing it's job, it is releasing pressure or opening due to
temperature. I would say that at 60 PSI, it is likely due to the pressure.
Back that pressure back to 40-50 and that should take care of it.
But that doesn't answer why the valve all of a
sudden started leaking. Besides 60PSI is way
below what a T&P valve is set for. Could be
someone installed a back flow preventer, at the
street or somewhere in the house line. Otherwise
the original valve went bad.
The real point is that one should never trip the
TP valve with pressure in the line because it may
not seat properly. The best bet as a first step
with the new valve is to nearly close the supply
valve to the hot water tank, open the T&P valve to
let water flow for a bit to clean out any rust,
close the supply valve tight, and then let the T&P
valve snap shut. Might want open and let the T&P
snap shut a couple of times. Then turn then open
the water supply valve. Of course the new valve
may be bad. But if doing what I said doesn't
solve the problem, look for a change in the water
supply line, house or at the street.