Crisis temp adverted. Urgent Hot water heater issue. Need some help.

[SirStev0]

Updated:
Just got off the phone with the landlord. He is sending a guy out tomorrow first thing. He was about to take me through shutting it off and draining it but then he/we remembered that the house still has fuses not a breaker and the hot water heater is in one of those boxes of a few fuses.

He just said to throw down a few more towels and we can take care of it in the morning. I was able to take a look at the leak and it is really more of a drip and not full on Niagara falls.

Thanks for all the posts. I appreciate the prompt help from everyone.
Will keep you updated. Especially if I level the neighborhood (added bonus is new neighbors just moved in about 2 weeks ago, had the housewarming party yesterday. I am pretty sure that is double points).









Hey

I am in kind of a bind. We have a big old puddle of water under our hot water heater and moving into our hallway carpet. We tried calling the landlord but he didn't pick up and I assumed that regardless he won't be able to come out to until the morning at earliest.

Is there any way to turn off the water supply to the heater and just let it sit over night so it isn't just leaking every where and dumping water??

I honestly don't even know how long this has been going on. We rarely even go near that corner of the hallway and only happened to notice it because a box we were storing nearby was suddenly wet. This could have easily been days of water leaking.

Any help would be extremely appreciated. The only faucet knob I see is in the middle of a copper pipe coming off the top (one of two copper pipes the other doesn't have a faucet/knob) and is painted red.

It is more or less sitting in a back closest and I was able to take the covers off the front of it that expose what looks to be temp control on top and then behind the bottom cover it looks some sort of heating wiring apparatus.

Seriously any help is crazy appreciated. I am clueless when it comes to plumbing type things and my go to people all seem to be away from their phones.

 

[amdskip]

Post a picture of the setup.

 

[Rubycon]

The knob you see is the feed line shut off. Yes close this valve now!
Also if your tank has sprung a leak it will likely continue to do so even with the valve closed. What you need to do is drain the tank. There should be a cock near the floor. This is the drain cock and a regular garden hose should screw on this cock. The garden hose can be run outside, to a sink drain or sump pit - it just needs to be lower than the water heater to work!

Once the hose is run you can open up the cock and let it drain.

 

[SirStev0]

We have gas heat/stove does that mean we have a gas water heater? If so do I need to turn that off somehow?

 

[Number1]

What rubicon said and shut the power to the tank off.

 

[Rubycon]

We have gas heat/stove does that mean we have a gas water heater? If so do I need to turn that off somehow?

Oh and yes I forgot to mention you want to turn off the water heater. Electric elements will burn open in seconds if they are energized without being submersed!

If you have a gas water heater you will have a pipe for the gas as well as a flue pipe out the top between the two water lines. Electrics won't have these. Electric water heaters are fed with a 30A double pole (240VAC) in the U.S. so that's what you would have in your panel with an electric.

 

[Lorax]

knob to feed line or master water valve (which will shut off water to the whole house).

also hose to drain the whole thing if you want in to stop dripping. the bottom pan might be leaking, which happened to me. happens when heaters get older.

 

[Hyperlite]

and don't goosemaster us, we'll think you leveled a city block or something.

 

[feralkid]

We have gas heat/stove does that mean we have a gas water heater? If so do I need to turn that off somehow?

Does it have a gas line going into it?

From your description it sounds like electric; turn off the breaker.

Stop calling it a "Hot Water Heater"...it heats cold water.

 

[Rubycon]

and don't goosemaster us, we'll think you leveled a city block or something.

(Accidental) BLEVEs are extremely rare for residential domestic hot water generators.

 

[Number1]

How old is the tank?

 

[Red Squirrel]

This happened at my parents' house years back. The tank actually cracked near the bottom and there was a slow leak. We got VERY lucky that we caught it in time.

Like mentioned turn off the cold water supply, turn off the power or gas depending on type of heater, and drain the tank. You'll probably want to point a high powered fan at the affected floor area or it may cause damage as it soaks into the floor.

 

[iamwiz82]

How quickly is it leaking? If it's a slower leak, a valve shut off is just going to limit it. Keep in mind there is 30-50 gallons of water in there. If it's just seeping... there's a lot of seeping to do still.

 

[SirStev0]

Hey everyone. Will update the OP in a sec. Just got off the phone with the landlord. He is sending a guy out tomorrow first thing. He was about to take me through shutting it off and draining it but then he/we remembered that the house still has fuses not a breaker and the hot water heater is in one of those boxes of a few fuses.

He just said to throw down a few more towels and we can take care of it in the morning. I was able to take a look at the leak and it is really more of a drip and not full on Niagara falls.

Thanks for all the posts. I appreciate the prompt help from everyone.
Will keep you updated. Especially if I level the neighborhood (added bonus is new neighbors just moved in about 2 weeks ago, had the housewarming party yesterday. I am pretty sure that is double points).

 

[Ken g6]

My hot water heater produced a puddle once. Turned out it was just a faulty pressure-release valve. But I guess it's better than failing the other way!

 

[Rubycon]

My hot water heater produced a puddle once. Turned out it was just a faulty pressure-release valve. But I guess it's better than failing the other way!

T&P valves are supposed to have escape piping to a drain. Shoddy builders run them to the floor. Either will prevent catastrophic pressure build up however it can be fairly common for them to fail weeping and if your escape goes to the floor...

 

[feralkid]

T&P valves are supposed to have escape piping to a drain. Shoddy builders run them to the floor. Either will prevent catastrophic pressure build up however it can be fairly common for them to fail weeping and if your escape goes to the floor...

The darn things usually weep if you "test" them. Is that even recommended anymore?

 

[Rubycon]

The darn things usually weep if you "test" them. Is that even recommended anymore?

A plumber (igas?) can probably give you are more up to date explanation/answer...

They should seal shut whether or not the lever is lifted. Testing means lever fully open not just a little pissing test! Of course if the escape line drains to the floor this is rather inconvenient!

 

[Hyperlite]

(Accidental) BLEVEs are extremely rare for residential domestic hot water generators.

party pooper!


ehem. glad you got it figured out OP.

 

[DrPizza]

A plumber (igas?) can probably give you are more up to date explanation/answer...

They should seal shut whether or not the lever is lifted. Testing means lever fully open not just a little pissing test! Of course if the escape line drains to the floor this is rather inconvenient!

I don't find that to be shoddy in unfinished basements with concrete floors. If anything, it alerts the homeowner that it's leaking. Straight into the drain = wasted money & minimal indication of a leak. And yeah, once the tank is a year or two old, those things never seem to want to shut off completely after you open them.

Also, if the leak is just a pinhole sized leak, turning off the supply should stop the leak. i.e. if you take an empty liter bottle and burn a small hole through it - about the size of the holes in paper for a 3-ring binder - then refill the liter bottle & put the cap back on, water won't come out that hole. (This assumes, of course, that the valve to turn off the supply goes 100% off & doesn't allow a trickle through.)

 

[Rubycon]

I guess it boils down to building codes. (sorry about the pun!)

If one is concerned about weeping they could stick a temperature indicator tape on the escape line like this:

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/product/1624/Mocal_Temp_Indicator_Strips

Yes once the tank becomes locked from draw down the dripping should slow to a crawl. Big difference between a 2l pop bottle and a 50 gallon tank - factor of ~95x!

I've blasted similar containers with a 3mm dia laser beam and they generally don't leak as long as the fluid does not go more than a few cm above them.

The 405nm is the best because it can be focused down so small and the holes (plastic cups) are so tiny. When the victim gets a cup full of beer they're left wondering why it's sweating! Slightly larger holes will produce a needle thin stream like it's peeing beer. After a few they really start wondering what's up!

I don't find that to be shoddy in unfinished basements with concrete floors. If anything, it alerts the homeowner that it's leaking. Straight into the drain = wasted money & minimal indication of a leak. And yeah, once the tank is a year or two old, those things never seem to want to shut off completely after you open them.

Also, if the leak is just a pinhole sized leak, turning off the supply should stop the leak. i.e. if you take an empty liter bottle and burn a small hole through it - about the size of the holes in paper for a 3-ring binder - then refill the liter bottle & put the cap back on, water won't come out that hole. (This assumes, of course, that the valve to turn off the supply goes 100% off & doesn't allow a trickle through.)

 

[iGas]

You can trace the power line back to the panel use a light/pen circuit tester and undo one fuse at a time to find out which fuse serve the HWT. You don't have to look for the sub panel to shutoff the tank because the main power panel will shutoff the sub panel that serve the HWT.

Plumbing code requires the cold water feed line must have a shutoff valve (better plumber install ball valves on both hot & cold line for ease of service), however older home may not have shutoff valves at all.

Building code requirement is that very slab finish basement must have a floor drain, but many older residential buildings or reno of unfurnished basement may not have floor drain. Floor drain doesn't have to be near the HWT, and common enough concrete finisher screwup the grade & slope the floor drain into a useless high spot.

 

[iGas]

The darn things usually weep if you "test" them. Is that even recommended anymore?

Yes, testing T&P is a recommendation by plumbing codes for safety and by the manufacture. T&P can weep when test because the seat is fouled with debris, and that is an indication that it has fail therefor you will have a chance to replace it before it become a bigger problem.

 

[guyver01]

you can open up the cock and let it drain.

i love it when you talk dirty.

 

[Rubycon]

i love it when you talk dirty.

Well if you don't use (the drain cock) frequently your tank gets excessive sediment which can be harmful. I'm sure ATOT is completely familiar with frequent cleaning of the pipes.