Gas Water Heater Leaking From Top Vent

1 turn off the water heater.

Gas water heater leaking from top vent.

Electric switch or turn the gas control valve to off 2 attach garden hose to the drain valve. Check the plumbing pipes above the water heater using a stepladder if necessary. From its base where it screws into the water heater from the piping attached to the t p relief valve and also coming out of the open end of the pipe. Leaks from the top of the water heater are usually caused by one of the three connections at the top as shown in the diagram below.

The first place to check is the plumbing pipes above the water heater. Most homes have a dedicated circuit breaker for an electric water heater and some were built with an easily accessible secondary shut off in the vicinity of the heater itself. Drain your tank just slightly so you don t get any overflow as you remove the parts your replacing along with pulling. For a gas water heater turn the thermostat control to the off position.

A drip from above can easily leak down on top of the water heater and even work its way down the insulation and make it look like the leak is coming from the tank itself. If you suspect that you have a leak from the top turn off the power to your water heater. 3 run garden hose to a safe place to dump hot water. Fortunately and to your relief sometimes when your water heater is leaking from the top it may not be because of a malfunctioning or defective part.

Two places it may be leaking from include. 5 open drain valve. Here are a few other possible causes. 1 connection that generates hot water 2 connection that generates cold water 3 connection that releases pressure.

If your valve is located on the top of your water heater like in the picture below check to see where it s leaking from. 4 shut off water inlet to hot water heater. Rain water when rain water travels down the flue vent pipe of a gas water heater it can collect on the top of your tank.