Water heater leaking from side or bottom?

Suburban steel tank could be rusted out.
Atwood could have a split in it.
Make of water heater?

Is this your 2000 Jayco, if so as 'enblethen' said. could be a seam or corrosion or split. You may have to take the unit out or carefully remove the insulation to see where the leak is. If 19 or 20 years old, you maybe looking at a replacement.

Ken

Does not matter if side or bottom.. Replace tank.. About 200 plus an hour or two labor (Source Amazon) Did it a couple years ago. Had about a hundred pin hole leaks.

After I removed the tank I capped one of the lines (outlet) and put pressure to the inlet using a hose adapter (Replaced the TPR valve) and WOW. A sprinkler I had.. So I put in a new tank. Works

Suggestion: Now some will not care for this.. With the new tank came a new 1500 watt 120 volt element.. I pulled it and put in a 1500 watt 240 volt element. at 120 volts that's about 375 Watts. close to the rating of the HOtt Rodd.

What does this mean.. Slower recovery (Re-heating of water) by a factor of 4 but also way way way less likely to have to go out in the rain and reset the 30 amp park breaker when on a 30 amp site (Very nice).

And that last is why I did it. IDEA courtesy of RV101byfred.com if you want more info.

And for your humor enjoyment.....

Chased down the RV park's most popular girl the other day.. (She's the RV Girl.. RV on-site service tech) Had to tell her I had yet another thousand dollar pain in the my wallet (hers is feeling right good).

SHe was working on another camper's water heater. Worked great on propane but not on electric.. She found the problem quickly enough.

Works best when it's turned on.

OK, thanks. It’s an Atwood in my NTM ‘03 Thor hybrid.

I don’t think I can replace it before I hit the road next week. Hopefully I won’t have a bigger problem the next 2 weeks.

If you don't get it fixed, you can have some structural damage and the possibility of complete failure.
What is the exact model of the Atwood water heater?

There are 5 or 6 threaded fittings on a trailer water heater to check for leaks. If those are not leaking then the tank is leaking somewhere.

1 cold water connection.

2 hot water connection.

3 drain plug.

4 relief valve connection.

5 where the gas control temperature probe screws in.

6 electric heating element connection.

I had water leak through the gas control block on a Suburban water heater and could see it dripping. If it were leaking behind the block running down the water heater I would have never noticed it until I found water inside the trailer.

Waiting for OP to tell us exactly model of water heater.
He may have more or less openings.

Not getting it fixed before your trip is just foolish. If nothing else, more water causing damage. Worse? The leak becomes a gusher out somewhere. Then, you will wish you had had it done.


Gary Haupt

if it is a Suburban, be sure and check the plastic valve between the hot and cold water line at the rear of the unit. On my older Montana you can't actually see it because of the cabinet, so you may have to feel for it. I just spent 337.00 replacing my heater for no reason. may be worth a check.

Haven't seen any answer from the OP as to what model of Atwood!