Marty,
That thing is probably what is probably known as a T/P
(Temperature/Pressure) valve. Its purpose is to get rid of excess
pressure in the water heater if there is a problem. They usually are
vented to the exterior of the structure, rather than just screened off.
Are there just 2 plumbing lines going to the tank, cold in and hot out?
If so, then it is probably a T/P valve. All the water heaters I have
seen have that valve either mounted on the top or the side of the tank,
rather than on the plumbing near the tank. If yo have a T/P valve on the
tank, then I have no idea what the leaking valve you have is. It may be
something that is special to the geo-thermal system, such as a check
valve, or air admittance valve.
T/P valves usually leak because either the inlet pressure is too high,
or the heater is set to a rather high temperature. Try turning the
temperature down on the water heater and see if it stops leaking.
Good Luck.
Peace,
Pat
Martin Sukey wrote:
>I have an electric water heater that was installed when they built the house
>in 1999. It is also tied in to the geo thermal system. As the hot water
>leave the top of the tank there is a tee about 4 above the tank. Coming out
>the side of the tee fitting there is some kind of device about 1 in
>diameter and about = thick. There is screening over the face of it. My
>guess it is some kind of vent or relief valve but it doesnt make any
>sense why it would be in that location. About 6 above the tee is another
>tee that contains the normal expansion chamber device. The lines then
>continue at this point to feed hot water to the house. For some reason the
>vent or relief valve thingy that I mentioned earlier has recently decided to
>start letting water come out of it. I cant remember seeing any device like
>this in the plumbing isles of the local dyi stores. Can anybody tell me
>just what that vent relief valve thingy is and why it would decide to start
>giving up water?
>
>
>
>Thanks,
>
>Marty Sukey
>
>
>
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