Water Heater Thermal Expansion Tank Leaking

And sometimes as water expands after being heated it outgrows the space within the tank.

Water heater thermal expansion tank leaking.

But sometimes due to wear and tear your expansion tank may start leaking. Just replace the valve. An expansion tank is a small tank that protects closed and domestic water heating systems from excessive pressure. This prevents a water heater from exploding or turning into a missile.

Even in the best boiler system your expansion tank may begin to experience some leaks. With enough bending the paper clip will break. If the tank has ruptured and is leaking the water heater cannot be fixed and it must be replaced. You see as water is heated it expands.

The expansion tank is a pressurized system. This tank sits off to the side of your water heater and is designed to catch any excess water from the water heater tank. When water is heated or the hot water is shut off quickly the tanks filled with both air and water will equalize the resulting water pressure. Normally this will be a major flooding leak not small dripping.

The way that it works is this. If your water heater holds 50 gallons of cold water it will expand to about 52 gallons when it is heated. The risk of pressure damage from thermal expansion is seldom a concern for tankless water heaters but if you own a tank style heater your plumbing system may be at risk. If the extra volume has nowhere to go it pushes on the walls of your plumbing.

Turn on the tap drain all the pressure from the system. When this happens excess water is immediately sent to the expansion tank to lower pressure levels inside the water heater. A water heater expansion tank also called a thermal expansion tank is a safety device designed to protect your household plumbing from thermal expansion. When a tprv at a water heater leaks it s usually a simple fix.

Go to the expansion tank and connect the pump outlet to the schrader valve. Unequal water to air ratios caused by a built in barrier failure pressure valve leakage or low air pressure in the expansion tank cause problems with the system s efficiency so troubleshooting may. The changes in pressure due to overflow from the boiler during water expansion as well as having moving parts makes for the potential for degradation of the system. Hang the meter on the tap to determine the water pressure in the current system.

You can think of this process as bending a paper clip. Finally if none of the prior inspections showed a cause for leaking then it is likely that the tank inside the water heater has gone bad.