Hot Water Heater Leaking??....?

Question

I have a gas hot water heater in my basement and it is leaking. I turned off my hot water hoping that I could drain the water out of the tank myself. But it seems as if the tank is never going to drain. A plumber won't be able to come until tomorrow or Monday and it is flooding my basement. So I hoped that draining it would cease the leaking until someone could come out and see it. Am I doing the right thing by trying to drain it? Or should I try something else?

Answer 1

There should be a drain on the water heater itself, with a male hose thread - you can connect a hose to it to drain the water heater.  Turn off the cold water to the tank (on the right side as you face the tank from the temperature control side).  Also, turn the gas off.  If you can't figure out how to turn the gas off, turn the temperature all the way down - no point in the water heater firing while this is going on.

Answer 2

make sure your gas valve is also turned off you dont want an explosion

Answer 3

TURN THE GAS OFF FIRST

If you have a valve on the hot and cold shut them both off.

If only 1 valve on the cold side (which is normal) turn the cold valve off and then go around the House to each SINK and shut the HOT water angle stop off underneath each sink to prevent cross flow of the cold water when someone uses the faucet.

Doing that will stop the water heater from refilling itself

Answer 4

you have to shut the cold water going into the hot water tank off, even if in means shuting the water of to the whole house. the tank is fed with cold water. on or off it will still fill up and leak.

Answer 5

There is a relief valve either on the side or top of the heater, it has a tab coming out of the center. Pull the tab up and it will allow air into the tank and the water will then drain faster. Yes you are doing correctly. There is a valve on the cold line coming into the tank. This valve must be closed to stop water from entering the tank. Just turning the gas valve off will do nothing.

Answer 6

There should be 2 water lines going to your tank, a cold water line entering the tank, and a hot water line leaving it. Each line should have a valve on it. Shut off both lines. Turn off the gas to the heater. At the bottom of the tank should be a drain valve. You can hook a hose up to the tank and drain it from there.