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davidc1857's avatar
davidc1857
Explorer
Jul 17, 2015

Hot water heater leak

I hope I'm posting this in the right place. If not maybe a moderator could move it for me.

As you can see from the pictures below, I have a leak in my hot water heater. Can this be fixed? Or am I going to have to have the whole thing replaced. It appears to be leaking between the heater body and that aluminum ring that the first plastic/nylon nib is connected to.

A month or so ago I had a leak in the same area, but it was coming out of the screw on connector. I tightened them and the problem was solved.

I also think that what may have caused this is over pressure. I had to replace my fresh water hose connector this winter and the new one had a working back flow valve. Since then, when I use enough hot water, and the heater does it's thing and reheats it, the water expands and I get a lot of pressure in the lines. The old fresh water connector had a back flow valve but it wasn't working, so that extra pressure was just pushed back out into the hose. I think I need an expansion tank, but I don't know much about those and how to put one in.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you,
David Chamberlain





7 Replies

  • davidc1857's avatar
    davidc1857
    Explorer
    Jul 18, 2015
    Canadian Rainbirds wrote:
    You are on the right track.

    2 things to watch for:

    The plastic fitting itself could be cracked. It's easy to do that by over tightening.

    Its also easy to get the fitting cross threaded.

    Don't bother to ask how I learned those two things. :S


    Thanks for the suggestions. Fortunately I've done at least some work with plastic threaded stuff, so I should be OK. And those parts can be purchased at the hardware store 10 miles away in town, instead of from an RV dealer.
  • Canadian_Rainbi's avatar
    Canadian_Rainbi
    Explorer
    Jul 18, 2015
    You are on the right track.

    2 things to watch for:

    The plastic fitting itself could be cracked. It's easy to do that by over tightening.

    Its also easy to get the fitting cross threaded.

    Don't bother to ask how I learned those two things. :S
  • davidc1857's avatar
    davidc1857
    Explorer
    Jul 17, 2015
    OK.... New information that changes everything. I took a second look and saw something I didn't before, then felt around. It's leaking where the plastic/nylon fitting goes into the aluminum fitting.

    I can fix this sucker myself. I have the tools and know how to disassemble it and reassemble it with pipe thread tape.

    I assume that would be the correct procedure?
  • davidc1857's avatar
    davidc1857
    Explorer
    Jul 17, 2015
    SoundGuy wrote:
    davidc1857 wrote:
    As you can see from the pictures below, I have a leak in my hot water heater. Can this be fixed?


    You haven't said but assuming this is an Atwood water heater with an aluminum tank chances are the leak is occurring right in the weld. The solution is to remove the tank completely and have that area aluminum welded. I had a friend with this exact issue and this repair solved the problem completely ... much less costly than replacing the tank.;)


    It is hard to see in the pictures, but as best as I can tell, the leak is between the aluminum fitting and the welded one. Not from the weld itself.

    Does anyone know if that fitting is screwed in or pressure fitted. There are tool marks on it, but it seems odd that a screwed in fitting wouldn't be hexagonal so a wrench could be put on it.

    Oh... Yes this is an Atwood.
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Jul 17, 2015
    Hard to tell from pictures whether leak is from over tightening and plastic fitting cracked or you cracked weld.

    IF fitting.......replace

    If weld.....have it re-welded. Good aluminum welder should be able to do that in place

    You can not over pressurize and cause this problem
    Water does swell when heated
    Pressure will increase when water is heated in a closed system
    An 'air gap' at top of tank absorbs the increase in pressure......when lost the T&P Relief Valve will weep
    Helps to re-establish air gap

    An accumulator tank does help. Install it with a 'T' in cold water line close to pump discharge. Small 2 gallon size works well
  • SoundGuy's avatar
    SoundGuy
    Explorer
    Jul 17, 2015
    davidc1857 wrote:
    As you can see from the pictures below, I have a leak in my hot water heater. Can this be fixed?


    You haven't said but assuming this is an Atwood water heater with an aluminum tank chances are the leak is occurring right in the weld. The solution is to remove the tank completely and have that area aluminum welded. I had a friend with this exact issue and this repair solved the problem completely ... much less costly than replacing the tank.;)
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Jul 17, 2015
    Hi David,
    Is it leaking from the fitting or the weld?
    I'm betting it's from the fitting. If you can verify that then it's a simple matter of taking the fittings apart and re-assembling them with pipe-dope or teflon tape.

    Scott

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