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cpoo's avatar
cpoo
Explorer
Dec 27, 2014

pressure relief valve dripping

2015 Winnebago Sightseer 35G. Atwood water heater. Discovered my pressure relief valve has drips when heating. It does not drip when we are using very little hot water. We have it in electric mode. We did several loads of laundry and it began to drip at end of first load. I have tapped it and also fired up lp with electric to get it hot and still dripping. Hasn't been used much as new in June and only one week trip in summer. We are traveling or I would be back to the dealer. Any ideas?
Class A
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Dec 28, 2014
    Rwake901 wrote:
    Mine does that too. Read the owners manual for the water heater it tells you that is normal.


    Yes Suburban and Atwood both address 'weeping relief valve' and that it is normal because of the 'closed system'.

    AND they both also address -re-establishing the air pocket as the correct method to reduce the possibility of weeping occurring.

    Water can not be compressed......water expands when heated.
    Air can be compressed...air pocket (by design) controls the increase in pressure when heated water expands

  • olfarmer's avatar
    olfarmer
    Explorer II
    Dec 28, 2014
    All good advice so far. if that doesn't do it, they are cheap and easy to replace. I have seen them fail.
    Good luck!
  • Rwake901's avatar
    Rwake901
    Explorer
    Dec 28, 2014
    Mine does that too. Read the owners manual for the water heater it tells you that is normal.
  • cpoo's avatar
    cpoo
    Explorer
    Dec 27, 2014
    Well, I followed those instructions and didn't scald myself and so far no drips although the proof will be when we do something that calls for more hot water like a load of laundry or long shower. Thank you all for the quick responses.
  • FrankShore's avatar
    FrankShore
    Explorer
    Dec 27, 2014
    A mobile tech guy I know says to never mess with the pressure relief valve. Just stand back when you drain the tank, etc.
  • justlou's avatar
    justlou
    Explorer
    Dec 27, 2014
    Open and close the valves a couple of times to clear out any calcium that may have built up. Then re-establish the air gap following these instructions and you should be good to go.
  • Corkey05's avatar
    Corkey05
    Explorer
    Dec 27, 2014
    wolfe10 wrote:
    Bob,

    First step is to reestablish an air pocket at the top of the water heater. That should take care of it.
    X2
  • Oasisbob's avatar
    Oasisbob
    Explorer
    Dec 27, 2014
    Mine did that for a time. I pulled up on the release and flushed it out. No more drips.
  • wolfe10's avatar
    wolfe10
    Explorer
    Dec 27, 2014
    Bob,

    First step is to reestablish an air pocket at the top of the water heater. That should take care of it.

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