water heater leak

gwilkrrs

anyone ever have a water heater leak from the top? i have lost them before when the bottom rusts out and they start leaking but this one is wet at the top at the bungs where the water lines go in and out. i have checked the lines and the fitings and they are good but the top of the tank is wet from the insulation by the bungs......

joecaption

Got a picture?
Were dielectric unions used?

joecaption

Got a picture?
Were dielectric unions or nipples used?

gwilkrrs

yep- i replaced the lines with new and waited and a week later had same results

joecaption

Your missing the proper nipple.
Here's a picture.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...069532&first=1

Also if you over tightened those flex lines you may have crushed the rubber washer inside of them.

gwilkrrs

never saw those nipples- been installed for 2 years now started leaking----if the are true nipples with threads on each end how is it conected to the tank side?

NiNe O

You're missing die-electric unions. Copper cannot connect to steel without them.

danpik

I'll bet someone threaded steel nipples into the bungs on that tank for you to attach those flex lines to. Any tank I have ever installed always has female threaded openings for the connections. The conectors Joe linked to are supposed to thread into them and then the water connections made to them. Hopefully the threaded openings on the tank are not too corroded to be usable.

NiNe O

looks like those labor savers have some die-electric properties to them so scratch that.