Grendel wrote:

I did use teflon tape but (2 good wraps around on all threads). My
first thought was I somehow messed it up when I screwed it in. However
once again if there was a leak at the drain valve connection this
would not explain it being wet on the sides and top of the insulatio.

It hat water heater old enough to be nearing the end of its life. (Where
we live the water is corrosive enough so that we're hard pressed to get
8 years out of a 10 year warranty heater.)It's possible that you already
have a tiny leak through the shell well above that drain valve location
and that's where the dampness is coming from.

Does the T&P valve thread into a boss on the side of the tank located
above the drain faucet you just changed? There might be a leak at its
threads, but IME if a threaded joint on a brass valve screwed into a
steel boss doesn't leak right after installation, it won't start leaking
unless some blow jars it loose.

But, I have experienced steel pipes rusting out from the inside and
breaking through at the root of a male thread, because that area is
necessarily thinner than the full wall of an unthreaded pipe. That kind
of leak can look awfully much like a thread leak, but it isn't really
that.

I guess maybe the insulation would absorb it all. I have sat with a
flashlight to see if I see any water leaking past and no. I just can't
imagine what is causing this. Could this be some condensation that
brass valves have that plastic doesn't.

I'm sure that the valve itself is far too warm to condense any moisture
out of the surrounding air.


just throwing it out there. Or
is it possible that the insulation just never dryed and will never
dry?

"Never" is a long time. If you leave that rubber ring pulled out or take
it completely off and the insulation isn't dry behind the hole in a
week, I'm betting on a slow leak through the tank shell and you can
start shopping for a new water heater.

Good Luck,

Jeff

--
Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"