grrr, new suburban water heater leaking

[philh]

NONE of the connections are leaking, seems to be coming from underneath the water heater.

Luckily my wife happened to be cleaning the floor when water was coming from underneath the sink. I've talked to the dealer that is a couple thousand miles away, they are looking for a mobile RV tech to come out. I've done a lot of diagnosis and water is coming from somewhere I can't see.

Looked at all the water connectors, drain, electric heater, and pressure valve, none appeared to have a leak and water appears to be coming from underneath.

Anything else I can look at short of pulling the unit out?

[philh]

I'm guessing it was refurb due due to part shortage. It's tough to find a new one anywhere. Trailer was built in August, I took delivery in October '21

It was definitely the tank leaking, and it's not an uncommon issue, as apparently Suburban has had some welding issues. I did not take the insulation off to find the leak before we boxed it up to return.

[wa8yxm]

Possible "not the water heater" leak sources
The inlet connections
The outlet connections
The Drain/Anode connection
The TPR valve and it's fitting.
Any pipe fitting NEAR the water heater but not directly connected (Valves, Elbows "T"s and the like)

Finally the tank can spring a leak but I would hope not a new one less the installer wacked it with a punch.

Slow leaks can be mighty hard to track down.

[dougrainer]

philh wrote:
Suburban sent out a "refurbished" water heater. Not completely thrilled with that, but it was definitely the water heater had a leak somewhere. I didn't take off the insulation to see what was leaking.

Just very lucky that the leak got bad enough when my wife was mopping the floor and saw water coming from underneath the cabinet. I've gone back to only using my onboard pump.

If the Transmission in your new truck under warranty goes out, you do NOT get a new transmission. It will be a factory rebuilt. True for almost all the more expensive parts under a Vehicle warranty. Odds are that a Suburban rebuilt/refurbished was one that an OEM sent back because OEM's do NOT fix appliances if they find a fault when building the RV. They just swap it out and send the defective appliance back to the Maker for credit. Maybe because of the Pandemic, but I have NEVER heard of a RV appliance maker(Furnace or Water Heater) sending out a refurbished under warranty. They may have done so when the appliance warranty was out but they wanted to do a Goodwill repair. I have 43 years as an RV tech. What is your warranty date on your RV? Doug

[philh]

Suburban sent out a "refurbished" water heater. Not completely thrilled with that, but it was definitely the water heater had a leak somewhere. I didn't take off the insulation to see what was leaking.

Just very lucky that the leak got bad enough when my wife was mopping the floor and saw water coming from underneath the cabinet. I've gone back to only using my onboard pump.

[philh]

water is seen coming from underneath the water heater. Plumbing had no water under any of the connectors. No pipes underneath. Pressure relief valve is outside, and it has occasionally seeped. Heater element doesn't appear to be leaking. I've called the selling dealer, they are working on getting a mobile tech to come out and look at the water heater.

[Retired_JSO]

A few years back a friend ordered a new tiffin motor home. First trip, water was found on kitchen floor. We opened it up and found the tank seam had a pin hole.

[Sjm9911]

Doug gave some good advice. Addtionally, i put dry paper towels in areas under fittings or wrap them around. After you dry up the area. If the towel is wet, then you have an smaller area to look for the problem.

[dougrainer]

If you have water cut offs at the back of the tank, shut them OFF and drain the water heater. Dry up the area and let sit for 24 hours on city water. IF NO LEAK, then the bottom of the water heater tank has a pinhole. Do you have ANY water lines that are routed underneath the water heater? If so, they may be the problem, but you will still have to pull the water heater regardless. Doug