Water leak (part II)

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Levin

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Apr 7, 2007
165
Hunter 340 San Diego
Hello everyone... Ok so as perhaps a few of you remember I spent some significant time a while back tracking down a fresh water leak on my boat. I didn't know where it was coming from but it turned out it was coming out of the safety/pressure relief valve on my hot water heater (an Atlantic Marine F/R series). Now the leak was hard to find as the safety valve had been set up with a flexible pipe that went down into the bowls of the ship and simply disappeared. I re-routed this hose so it ended in the bilge and to my surprise it stopped leaking... and although confused I figured I must have fixed the problem. ...yet it would seem that things were not that simple. A week later the safety valve started leaking again and has not stopped since. The really odd thing is that when I relive pressure through the safety valve manually the water comes out hot (as one would expect) but the water that is leaking out of the hose on a regular basis is in fact cold. This only confuses me further. I wanted to turn down the thermostat on the water heater figuring it must be overpressure because it is turned up to high, but I discovered that the model I have does not have an adjustable thermostat. So I'm completely confused at this point. Add to the fact that the water heater is less than two years old and I really can't figure out why it's failing. Perhaps I should just replace the safety valve and be done with it... but why is it leaking cold water? Anyway if you have any ideas or have had a similar problem please give me ideas. As always the help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, -Levin
 

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
Levin , Consider the size(volume) of the leak

If it is small then the water has time to cool before it exits the drain hose so you get cold water. When you open the valve the volume of water is much larger and you feel hot water at the end of the drain hose. Short answer: change the relief valve. ;)
 
F

Fred

Levin, is there a pressure tank in your hot

water system? If there is nowhere for the water to expand when cold water comes in and heats up, it must open the over pressure valve or burst something. In a house with a pump and well, like we have here on Gabriola, there is a tank with air in it that absorbs the expansion and contraction, and smoothes the water flow. If your system is closed with no provision for expansion, be glad the over pressure valve is doing its job. I think Ross has it right on the hot/cold question.
 
Feb 26, 2004
23,342
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
PRVs

(pressure relief valves) are notorious for leaking once they have been "popped". What happens is that gunk in the water ends up in the seat of the valve, and it never really fully closes again. Either get yourself another PRV and sleep tight, or heat up the water when plugged in at the dock, and "exercise" the valve by manually opening it and letting the spring pop it back and see if it seals.
 

RichH

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Feb 14, 2005
4,773
Tayana 37 cutter; I20/M20 SCOWS Worton Creek, MD
Just 'spin' the stem/toggle of the PRV to remove

any formation of carbonates (scale) that have formed on the seat of the PRV. Then 'pop' the valve a few times by manually opening/closing the valve a few times to flush out any remaing debris on the seat, etc.
 

Levin

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Apr 7, 2007
165
Hunter 340 San Diego
As always thanks...

Hello all... Thanks for all the input... I'll try messing with the PRV and see if I can get it to seal again. If not I will just replace it and be done with it. Been a long time getting this fixed so perhaps it's worth it to just replace the part and "sleep tight". Thanks again, -Levin
 
K

Karl

PRV Valve

Don't be surprised if messing with the PRV, or even replacing the valve has no effect. Mine leaked, so I replaced it with a new valve. Lo and behold, the brand new valve released about the same amount of water as the old valve. I finally gave up, and took a piece of hose and routed the water to a 1 gallon detergent bottle. Now I just empty the jug about once a month. That seeks to be th easy fix.
 
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