Water heater leaking drain valve in San Jose, CA

Issue description:

You find that the water heater valve is leaking, causing a lot of trouble. Especially if it happens for no reason at night, when no one from the household uses water. The situation is unpleasant and you should understand it thoroughly.

Several reasons why water flows from the water heater valve:

The first thing that comes to mind is a breakdown of the valve itself. Here you should immediately make a reservation that if you have purchased a part of a dubious manufacturer, then this option is quite possible. High-quality valves installed in a branded water heater rarely suffer from such defects. This is because it is so simple that there is nothing to break there. Intake valve, spring and check valve. Everything, there is nothing else there. Chinese products are made in case of non-observance of elementary standards and may become unusable.

But even high-quality valves from a well-known manufacturer can become clogged. And again, not by themselves. This usually happens after all the water in the water heater has been drained through it. Then pieces of scale or other foreign particles can get into it, which will prevent the spring from tightly closing the valve, which leads to a constant flow.

The initial stage of work involves the discharge of water in the boilers. The same laws of physics work here. Cold water enters the tank, the pressure is equalized. Then the water begins to heat up, as a result of which it expands and its excess flows out of the safety valve.

Sometimes the safety valve for the water heater leaks due to the high pressure in the water supply system. Here, as you might guess, neither the valve, nor, especially the boiler, is absolutely not to blame. Moreover, they qualitatively fulfill their purpose, releasing excess pressure in time. Well, this cause will have to be eliminated in other ways, without touching the water heater at all.

As you can see, half of the reasons why the boiler valve is leaking has no direct relation to it. That is why it is important to determine why the water is flowing, and not to deal with water heating devices, dismantling them, disassembling them for parts or calling repair specialists.