Hot Water Tank leak

Delboy5

Recently ive discovered a leak at the bottom of my Hot water tank, my house is a relatively new build (2007), the nut in the picture seems to be weeping constantly...

If i tighten the nut could it make matters worse....
Will i need a new tank!?

Irish Steve

if it's the nut above the cloth on the elbow, that's not part of the tank as such.

It should be possible to check if the nut is tight on the fitting, the important thing is to use "appropriate" grips to hold the elbow fitting so that no torque is put on the other pipes or fittings in the area as you then check how tight the nut is. they have to be tight, but not so tight that it needs a gorilla to get it off again.

The most important thing to to make 100% sure that you don't put any torque on to the walls of the tank, as the tank is thin, so won't take much to buckle it.

If it's the inner nut of the 2, then that is also a compression fitting, but much more care will be needed when checking that one, as it's directly threaded into the tank fitting, so the inner nut shoulder close to the white tape MUST be held with a suitable tool to prevent any movement of the fitting when checking how tight the nut is.. If they are tight but still weeping, there are joint sealer compounds that can be put around the ring to improve the seal, but that will probably require draining the tank to open the joints, and compression fittings are not supposed to need any extra help, the pressure of the nut on the olive is supposed to be capable of providing all the pressure needed to produce the seal.

Delboy5

Irish Steve wrote: »

if it's the nut above the cloth on the elbow, that's not part of the tank as such.

It should be possible to check if the nut is tight on the fitting, the important thing is to use "appropriate" grips to hold the elbow fitting so that no torque is put on the other pipes or fittings in the area as you then check how tight the nut is. they have to be tight, but not so tight that it needs a gorilla to get it off again.

The most important thing to to make 100% sure that you don't put any torque on to the walls of the tank, as the tank is thin, so won't take much to buckle it.

If it's the inner nut of the 2, then that is also a compression fitting, but much more care will be needed when checking that one, as it's directly threaded into the tank fitting, so the inner nut shoulder close to the white tape MUST be held with a suitable tool to prevent any movement of the fitting when checking how tight the nut is.. If they are tight but still weeping, there are joint sealer compounds that can be put around the ring to improve the seal, but that will probably require draining the tank to open the joints, and compression fittings are not supposed to need any extra help, the pressure of the nut on the olive is supposed to be capable of providing all the pressure needed to produce the seal.

Thanks for the reply, think ill get the plumper out to take a look, id probably make a balls of it......
F.Y.I...........its the inner nut thats weeping...