I jinxed myself. Now I have a water heater problem.

[zach477]

Yet another problem has presented itself. I hope I run out of problems soon...

I have been hearing my water pump run randomly for about a half a second here and there. So I started searching for leaks.

There was a wet spot on the ground under my water heater. It's an atwood. I could see water slowly dripping out of the drain plug, so I tightened that thinking I fixed the problem. However the water pump is still doing its thing.

The wet spot has returned under the water heater, the water is dripping from somewhere inside the water heater. I had the water heater off for about 12 hours and it was still leaking.

It's has only dipped below freezing for a night or two around here. In afraid I may not have had the water heater on at that time. 😕

I don't have time right now to investigate further. I'll have to wait until tomorrow. I'm. hoping it's not expensive to fix, but I'm fearing it might be. I'm feeling a little defeated at the moment. Also just found out my dog has to have an expensive surgery to removed a growth that could be cancer. Sorry. I'm just venting now....

[Gjac]

zach477 wrote:
If it were to be an air pocket issue, wouldn't it only leak when it was turned on and heating up? Mine will leak even if it has been off for a day.

Yes Zach you are right it should not leak under pressure. But there is still some pressure until the water cools. You could lift the handle to release the pressure. You said it appeared to leak right under the drain plug. Are you sure it is not leaking from the plug it self?

[zach477]

If it were to be an air pocket issue, wouldn't it only leak when it was turned on and heating up? Mine will leak even if it has been off for a day.

[zach477]

I don't think its the relief valve. The leak seems to be coming from further inside. It comes from the lower left side of you are facing it.

It may be a lack of air pocket. I'll have to look into that some more...

[RayChez]

zach477, have you checked the pressure relief valve to see if it is not leaking through there. I had to replace mine. On mine it is right on the front facing out. Would drip at times, not all the time until it finally gave out and the drip was continuous. So I just drove up to Home Depot and bought the exact valve and changed it out. Took about ten minutes.

[Mont_G_J]

My Ice Maker will cause water pump to cycle occasionally.

Water Heater will weep water if the air pocket is lost inside the tank. Read the Water Heater Manual on how to establish air pocket.

[zach477]

Gjac wrote:
Zach is this in a MH? If so if you open the baggage door next to the WH you should be able to look at the backside of the WH. You may need a flashlight and a mirror it may be very tight. Can you access the backside of the WH? You can't get to it from underneath.

Yes it is in a MH. However, the only way to access the back of the WH is from underneath. I crawled under today and there is a hatch on the bottom side. I spent more time than I want to admit trying to get it open. The screws were so caked in gunk from being on the underside of the coach that you couldn't even tell they were screws. One was especially stuck/stripped. I ended up just drilling it out and was finally able to acces the back of the WH.

All of the hoses and fittings look good and were dry. The leaking is coming from the front of the WH. On the front there is the black faceplate (I guess that's what you could call it) and it has a hole cut out where the drain plug is. If I push down just below the drain plug, I can get a little water to seap out.

[Gjac]

Zach is this in a MH? If so if you open the baggage door next to the WH you should be able to look at the backside of the WH. You may need a flashlight and a mirror it may be very tight. Can you access the backside of the WH? You can't get to it from underneath.

[Jim]

Jim & Betty wrote:

Gjac wrote:
When mine leaked it was also in cold temps. Look in back of the WH there should be two lines with fittings on them one for hot and one for cold. Wrap a paper towel around each one, and hand tighten the one that is wet. Let us know how you make out.

Ditto on this same thing happened to me more or less turned out to be the outlet where the anti-back flow device is.

JimR

Another "Ditto" on checking and tightening the fittings. Mine also had a minor leak that turned out to just be a loose fitting.

[Community Alumni]

Gjac wrote:
When mine leaked it was also in cold temps. Look in back of the WH there should be two lines with fittings on them one for hot and one for cold. Wrap a paper towel around each one, and hand tighten the one that is wet. Let us know how you make out.

Ditto on this same thing happened to me more or less turned out to be the outlet where the anti-back flow device is.

JimR

[zach477]

Now that its night time and it's cold out, it's leaking again. I'm pretty sure it's not coming from anything else. The water heater is enclosed in the under belly of the coach. When I get under there and look up I can see it dripping from where the enclosure meets the front face of it. If that makes sense.

I'm going to wait until tomorrow when it's light out and look a littler deeper.

[Wrong_Lane]

The chance of the water heater being damaged during a night time dip below freezing is slim. It takes an extended period below freezing to freeze a 6 gallon tank to the point of expansion and rupture. Multiple days below freezing with the heater not operating then you have a problem.

The small diameter plumbing pipes, now that's a different story. They can freeze overnight at just below 32 degrees no problem. The pipes are likely PEX so they should be ok but the fittings will crack or push apart from the pipe connections. Check around elbows first, they always seem to be the first to let go.

Fixing any plumbing leak with eternabond on the exterior of the tank or pipe is no real solution. The pressure in the plumbing system works against that sort of patch and failure is the likely outcome. A short term fix at best. I am sure someone has had success with external tape patching but it would be the exception.

If you find something broken or split replace the part, everything you need is on the shelves at your local Home Depot and the parts are cheap. In the case of the tank it can be welded by a professional with the right equipment. An Atwood replacement tank with no attachments, just a bare bones tank, is around $200.00

Is there any other source of water in the area, a fridge overflow, a low point drain left slightly open, water dripping from the roof, a drain pipe under the shower pan? Investigate before spending money, I learned that lesson the hard (expensive) way.

[zach477]

A little more info before I go to work...

I noticed the wet spot on the ground this morning. The pump and water heater had been off all night.

I turned them on so I could shower and get ready for work. When I left for work, I checked again and the wet spot seemed to be drying up. I could be mistaken but it seems like having te water heater turned on stopped or reduced the leak.

[Jim]

I would remove the drain plug and put some teflon plumbers tape around it. That is, if you're unsure where it's leaking from. If you're sure it's not from the drain plug, you might have to remove the tank to find the leak.

If it were mine, and there was a tank leak somewhere relatively flat on the tank surface, I'd just use a piece of Eternabond tape to seal it.

The pump running like that does indicate a leak, and the water tank is the main suspect, but if you're sure it's not the tank, check behind the toilet for a leaking valve.

[John_Wayne]

Could the water be dripping from the safety pop off valve at the top of the water heater. In the mean time turn the water pump off and only turn it on when you are using water.

[Gjac]

When mine leaked it was also in cold temps. Look in back of the WH there should be two lines with fittings on them one for hot and one for cold. Wrap a paper towel around each one, and hand tighten the one that is wet. Let us know how you make out.