HW tank valves leak after de-winterizing....then stop?

[Mike_E_]

Hey there,

Had an interesting thing happen this weekend.

Went out to the trailer for the weekend and had to de-winterize it to use.
Hooked up water, opened all taps inside to flush all the pink stuff out. Then went to the HW tank and switched the valves from bypass to normal use.

First noticed that after the tank filled that the valve on the Hot water line was dripping steadily....hmmm.
Looked at the Cold water valve and it was dripping too....not as much as the Hot though.
Even the bypass valve (which was closed now) was dripping.

"For Pete's sake!!!"I thought.

Closed the Hot valve and it stopped. Opened it up, and it dripped. Aarrggh.
Closed it again and the leak stopped.
"Burped" the pressure valve on the tank thinking that maybe there was too much pressure on the line.
Went inside and made myself a hot chocolate/Baileys and turned on the electric element on the tank.

After a bit of time I went back out to check things.
All drips had stopped.
Opened up the Hot valve and it DIDN"T drip.
Dried all the valves up so I could check them again later.
Every time I checked after that there were no drips.

Anybody had this phenomenon happen to them?

Forgot to mention that my water line does have a pressure regulator valve inline.

[dougrainer]

I would replace all 3 valves. This is NOT NORMAL. The valves and water lines are good to up to 100 PSI. Doug

[Lynnmor]

Condensation on the plumbing from the extremely cold pink stuff while heating the air is my guess.

[jplante4]

Burping the water heater with the PT valve removes the air bubble that acts as an expansion tank. You should re-establish the air bubble by isolating the tank and draining some water out with the PT valve open.

If the tank is solid with water, the PT valve will lift every time the burner kicks on.

[DutchmenSport]

Cold valve, needed to warn up.