Brass drain on water heater leaking around threads

[Joel Vinkle]

Hey there, sorry I absolutely hate plumbing. I mean I enjoy the comforts that it brings but I hate working on it. Just one pin hole leak somewhere can run your whole day or maybe week.

Anyway I have been having problems with my 40 gallon tank leaking at the brass drain valve. I drained the tank and flushed it all out, cleaned the threads on the drain and on the tank, used teflon tape but and wrapped it about 6 times. It still leaked. I drained tank again and this time only wrapped the threads with teflon tape about 3 times as I read too much tape could cause additional problems. It still leaks. The drain looks to be in perfect condition. There is no corrosion or anything.

Any suggestions? The tank is 12 years old and probably needs to be replaced but it works great and I would like to wait until the weather gets a little warmer to replace it so a quick fix would be nice.

 

[Geofd]

Teflon tape and pipe dope, I like Teflon paste, or a new drain are your only options

 

[Twowaxhack]

Put a steel plug in and let it leak until it’s rusts up .

 

[Joel Vinkle]

Teflon tape and pipe dope, I like Teflon paste, or a new drain are your only options

I figured pipe dope might be the only option. The drain looks brand new so I don’t think that is the problem. Could be though. Thanks!

 

[Twowaxhack]

Pipe dope and Teflon, yes.

Are you sure that you’re not wrapping the Teflon the wrong way ?

Put the Teflon clockwise looking at the threads. Then coated that with pipe dope. Screw it in tight but don’t kill it.

Or you could slap a steel plug in it and let it rust up if it has a slow leak.

 

[tailgunner]

I've had tiny leaks seal on their own after a week or so. The minerals in the water find the path of least resistance and eventually seal the leak.

 

[j.o.]

I recently installed a small tank water heater in a temporary configuration. i will be re-routing pipes in the spring. I used some threaded fittings. I had to use both teflon tape and pipe dope, and tighten everything considerably to prevent leaks.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Whittle an oak dowel into a cone shape and drive it into the hole with a hammer.

Then step back and throw salt at it and bird feathers.


Done and you get a free Internet forum warranty.

 

[Joel Vinkle]

Pipe dope and Teflon, yes.

Are you sure that you’re not wrapping the Teflon the wrong way ?

Put the Teflon clockwise looking at the threads. Then coated that with pipe dope. Screw it in tight but don’t kill it.

Or you could slap a steel plug in it and let it rust up if it has a slow leak.

Pipe dope and Teflon, yes.

Are you sure that you’re not wrapping the Teflon the wrong way ?

Put the Teflon clockwise looking at the threads. Then coated that with pipe dope. Screw it in tight but don’t kill it.

Or you could slap a steel plug in it and let it rust up if it has a slow leak.

If I put a steel plug in it then how do I drain it when I want to install a new tank?

 

[Joel Vinkle]

If I put a steel plug in it then how do I drain it when I want to install a new tank?

I did the teflon tape (the right direction) and used pipe dope and tighted it as much as I could and still have it in the right direction but it still has a slow leak. Not sure if a new drain will do anything since this drain looks to be in perfect condition and is a brass drain. Maybe it's just time for a new water heater? It's too bad because this water heater works great other than the slow leak.

 

[Geofd]

Another thing you can try is graphite packing, I think the threads in the heater are stretched or the drain valve is ng, but the graphite packing goes between the threads

 

[GReynolds929]

How sure are you that the leak is from the drain threads?

 

[TomFOhio]

Put a 3/4" tap on the threads and a new valve. Teflon tape and pipe dope as suggested.