Temperature Pressure Release (TPR) Valve Leaking

Question

Check out the evolution of my saga with my water pressure and my water heater here: Water Pressure Regulator not regulating after rebuild

And here: High water pressure when gauge is not observed

Never had any issue with Temperature Pressure Release (TPR) valve. In fact, I never even knew it existed till I was working on the 2nd issue above, and I decided to test it out.

Here are a cpl pictures of it:

The first time engaging it, the lever was stuck, and I had to force it to open. Once it finally did open, released water out of the water heater like I expected, but after I shut it back off, water kept dripping out of the spout.

Apparently if they havent been operated in a long time, they can get filled up with sediment, and fail to close shut after you release them.

After I watched this YouTube Why is my Water Heater Release Valve Leaking and How to Fix, I thought it would be an easy replacement of the bad TPR, but then I realized the pipes were soldered in, and I didn't know to release them:

So... after a couple trips to Home Depot, I arrived to the solution below in my Answer.

Answer 1

After a couple trips to Home Depot I learned that I'd have to cut a section of the pipe out, and re-attach it with a SharkBite coupling

The guys at Home Depot told me another alternative was to un-solder, then re-solder the connections, but since Im not an experienced solderer, there could be complications, and since this was not a pressure bearing pipe, the SharkBite would be adequate for a simpler solution.

Once I cut the pipe, and could remove the TPR, I saw what had caused the failure:

I assume that seal deteriorated over time, and when I engaged the valve the seal failed and got stuck in the spring.

I watched this YouTube to learn about SharkBite couplings and how to install them How to Install Sharkbite Push-to-Connect Fittings

I had to cut abt 3/4" out of the pipe to allow for the SharkBite to fit in:

When installing a SharkBite, make sure to de-burr the inside and outside of both pipes so as not to damage the SharkBite: NOTE: They say when de-burring you're not supposed to scuff/sand the outside of the pipe, because SharkBite needs a smooth surface to seal against. This why I was careful to only scuff about 1/4" of each side of the pipe. You can see this in the pic above. The SharkBite seal sits much farther down than this on smooth part of the pipe:

And good as new!