Waterheater nightmare + too much pressure in house

lukin

being green and not realizing @ the time i made a big mistake
and now im paying for it

i was short on cash

my old WH was leaking on the outside of the seals (slowly) from the T P valve and wanted to change out before it blew on me

bought new powermiser9 40 g. from sears and figured i'd craiglists a plumber to do it cheaper than the $300 price for a sears guy to do it


install went good, until shortly after we turned water on, TP valve
starts leaking again? but from the actual faucet this time

did some research and found out about the thermal expansion tank

just recently installed that, and still leaking

found out about the pressure reducing valve,
turn it down to 40 psi and it IS STILL LEAKING OUT OF T P VALVE

i have a digital pressure gauge that i have been monoriting the expansion tank, and when the T P valve is leaking, i have noticed both
140 psi and 0 psi


please help me end this nightmare quickly
and as gentle on the pocketbook as possible
like i havent learned that lesson already

thx for reading and responding


lukin

Mike Swearingen

First, get an inexpensive water pressure gauge from any hardware store or big box. It will fit on hose threads, so you can put it on the bottom heater drain valve or an outside spigot to check the actual water pressure at your house. This will verify if your pressure reducing valve is working properly. If it isn't, the PRV may need to be replaced if you have adjusted it properly and it isn't functioning correctly.
If you have a PRV, then you always need an expansion tank because the PRV creates a "closed" system.
Next, carefully open and close your heater T&P valve quickly to flush out any debris that may be holding it open causing it to "leak". That could be your only problem if the pressure is where it should be.
Good Luck!
Mike