Hi all,
Typically I've seen this a number of times, had this happen again the
other day, and it's the old woes every time it seems I'll drain a water
heater!

After you drain off X amount of gallons, then try closing the Drain
Faucet, they never seal again, and continue to leak leak leak!?

Typically too, they always seem to have these Plastic Drain Faucets, in
which you have to fear applying any type of torque, and if you do, the
the Handle usually strips out too!

My question is, can these faucets be replaced? Are they easily gotten
from the Big Box Stores-hardware Stores?

Can I expect more woes by trying to replace these Faucets? Can these
usually be disassembled, and just the Rubber Gasket replaced? Or? Any
tips/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Mark

"Mark D" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
Typically I've seen this a number of times, had this happen again the
other day, and it's the old woes every time it seems I'll drain a water
heater!

After you drain off X amount of gallons, then try closing the Drain
Faucet, they never seal again, and continue to leak leak leak!?


You can buy a cap with hose threads and just cap the output.

Al

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 21:33:17 -0700, (Mark D) wrote:

Hi all,
Typically I've seen this a number of times, had this happen again the
other day, and it's the old woes every time it seems I'll drain a water
heater!

After you drain off X amount of gallons, then try closing the Drain
Faucet, they never seal again, and continue to leak leak leak!?

Typically too, they always seem to have these Plastic Drain Faucets, in
which you have to fear applying any type of torque, and if you do, the
the Handle usually strips out too!

My question is, can these faucets be replaced? Are they easily gotten
from the Big Box Stores-hardware Stores?

Can I expect more woes by trying to replace these Faucets? Can these
usually be disassembled, and just the Rubber Gasket replaced? Or? Any
tips/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Mark


I just wonder, if you can put another stop downstream of it. Like a
cap, or another screw on valve.

Just guessing....


tom @ www.YourMoneyMakingIdeas.com

"Mark D" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
Typically I've seen this a number of times, had this happen again the
other day, and it's the old woes every time it seems I'll drain a water
heater!

After you drain off X amount of gallons, then try closing the Drain
Faucet, they never seal again, and continue to leak leak leak!?

Typically too, they always seem to have these Plastic Drain Faucets, in
which you have to fear applying any type of torque, and if you do, the
the Handle usually strips out too!

My question is, can these faucets be replaced? Are they easily gotten
from the Big Box Stores-hardware Stores?

Can I expect more woes by trying to replace these Faucets? Can these
usually be disassembled, and just the Rubber Gasket replaced? Or? Any
tips/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Mark


Remove the valve and replace it with a ball valve. Some people
say they do this when they install new heaters.

Bob

Mark D wrote:
Hi all,
Typically I've seen this a number of times, had this happen again the
other day, and it's the old woes every time it seems I'll drain a water
heater!

After you drain off X amount of gallons, then try closing the Drain
Faucet, they never seal again, and continue to leak leak leak!?

Typically too, they always seem to have these Plastic Drain Faucets, in
which you have to fear applying any type of torque, and if you do, the
the Handle usually strips out too!

My question is, can these faucets be replaced? Are they easily gotten
from the Big Box Stores-hardware Stores?

Can I expect more woes by trying to replace these Faucets? Can these
usually be disassembled, and just the Rubber Gasket replaced? Or? Any
tips/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Mark


There are many good suggestions already, but I had exactly the same
problem on my hot water heater. What I finally did was to remove the
stem (the part that turns off the water flow) and reverse the washer on
the end. There is generally a screw holding the washer to the stem.
The valves are cheap and fragile so be careful, but it beats replacing
the valve.

plastic valves are meant to be opened ONCE, to drain tank at end of
life.....

when buying next water heater shop for tank with brass valve.

or install ball valve when tank is brand new

disturbing by removing valve in old tank MAY junk tank if it decides to
leak at valve location...... this occured to a buddy of mine


always drain tank first thing in morning so you have all day to fix
whatever goes wrong!

Remove the valve and replace it with a ball valve. Some people
say they do this when they install new heaters.


This is a highly recommended practice.

wrote in message
ups.com...
plastic valves are meant to be opened ONCE, to drain tank at end of
life.....


Where did you get that?

I've been draining my tank every year and never had a plastic valve leak
after I closed it.

Steve.

SteveF wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
plastic valves are meant to be opened ONCE, to drain tank at end of
life.....


Where did you get that?

I've been draining my tank every year and never had a plastic valve leak
after I closed it.

Steve.

might depend on how hard the water is, it stops the valve from opening
and closing around here plastic ones often break when disturbed. the
handles twist off

wrote in message
ups.com...

SteveF wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
plastic valves are meant to be opened ONCE, to drain tank at end of
life.....


Where did you get that?

I've been draining my tank every year and never had a plastic valve leak
after I closed it.

Steve.

might depend on how hard the water is, it stops the valve from opening
and closing around here plastic ones often break when disturbed. the
handles twist off


Certainly that's true. I make it a practice to go around once a year, fully
opening and closing all the water valves a couple times(like the ones behind
the washing machine) to keep the build up from freezing the valve. And also
why I have to periodically drain my water tank. I'm very careful when
closing the valve to close it most of the way, turn the water back on and
finish closing it just tight enough so it stops leaking.

Steve.


Steve.

"Big Al" wrote in message
...

"Mark D" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
Typically I've seen this a number of times, had this happen again the
other day, and it's the old woes every time it seems I'll drain a water
heater!

After you drain off X amount of gallons, then try closing the Drain
Faucet, they never seal again, and continue to leak leak leak!?


You can buy a cap with hose threads and just cap the output.

Yep!

An alternative suggested by the real estate agent who sold us an repro
"as-is" property is to get one of those valves that are intended to screw
onto the end of a standard garden hose. Then the "next" time you want to
drain the heater, you just rotate the lever 90 degrees. We put one on
about 9 years ago.

Another "problem child" with water heaters is the PT release "safety" valve.
They are supposed to be "tested." The problem is that after the "test"
most of them will leak a gallon or so until they settle down. The only
"cure" for that is a bucket!


Al