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HELP! Water heater KEEPS leaking at top fitting - argh!

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HELP! Water heater KEEPS leaking at top fitting - argh! MrC1 08-10-2005
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Posted by MrC1 on August 10, 2005, 10:06 am


I have a 50 gal gas water heater, which is, of course, in the attic where it
can do the most damage if I spring a leak. I recently lost a 1'x1' patch of
ceiling texture and paint below the heater, so I went up to check it out.

I found that it had a very slow dribble-leak from the steel nipple fitting
at the top of the tank on the 'out' (hot) side. The reason for the ceiling
damage was that the morons that installed the drain pan barely tightened the
PVC to the pan and didn't use any sealer whatsoever.

I sealed up the pan and then got to work on the leak. I unsoldered the
copper so I could work with the steel fitting. I removed the fitting and
the threaded copper adapter, which were pretty corroded, so I replaced them.
I used plenty of teflon tape on the steel pipe threads and cranked it down
to spec: "dang tight". I then soldered the copper back together and let
'er rip. No problems for several days, but...

Last night I checked the ceiling and it was dry. I then went up to check
the water heater and sure enough, it had an identical leak! (ARGH!) It's
dribbling from the base of the steel nipple fitting right where it threads
into the top of the heater.

Any ideas how to stop this freakin leak? I've got the fitting tight enough
that I fear if I try to put another turn on it I might strip or split it,
that is, if I'm able to get it that tight at all. It's really tight now.

Thanks!!!




Posted by on August 10, 2005, 8:44 am


Apparently your water is pretty chemically active. Having dissimilar
metals (copper/iron) in contact is a bad idea in that situation (makes
a galvanic cell). Galvanized iron might buy you some time.

Teflon tape might help insulate the different metals, if you don't
overtighten it.

Seems you really want unions in the water lines, for quick disconnect.
With a valve just "above" each. Then repair/replacement of fittings on
the tank side can be done simply and quickly.

Chemical reactions are exponentially responsive to temp- lower is
better.

Maybe the fitting on the heater is damaged by torsional trauma
(over-tightening)?

HTH,
J



Posted by MrC1 on August 10, 2005, 11:46 am


Guess I should have clarified that the iron pipe ("steel") that I used is
actually galvanized.

> Apparently your water is pretty chemically active. Having dissimilar
> metals (copper/iron) in contact is a bad idea in that situation (makes
> a galvanic cell). Galvanized iron might buy you some time.
>
> Teflon tape might help insulate the different metals, if you don't
> overtighten it.
>
> Seems you really want unions in the water lines, for quick disconnect.
> With a valve just "above" each. Then repair/replacement of fittings on
> the tank side can be done simply and quickly.
>
> Chemical reactions are exponentially responsive to temp- lower is
> better.
>
> Maybe the fitting on the heater is damaged by torsional trauma
> (over-tightening)?
>
> HTH,
> J
>




Posted by on August 10, 2005, 8:53 am


I have had this happen to me on a shower facuet. When I soldered the
pipe, the heat effected the telfon tape and resulted in a minor leak. I
wrapped the joint that had the telfon tape (after replacing the tape)
with a wet rag so it wouldn't get hot when I soldered the adjacent
joint. A pro would be able o solder fast enough not to have this
problem but I am not a pro. Might be your problem,



Posted by on August 10, 2005, 9:39 am


Also, how old is the water heater? If it's much past 10 years, since
it's located in the attic where the potential for disaster is high and
your already seeing indications of advanced corrosion on some of the
parts, I'd get a new one.



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