Pop goes the water heater!

[RobG]

I had a new water heater installed back in 2014. It popped two nights ago. I got up to the sound of water -- I actually thought it was raining. Upon closer inspection, it was water pouring out of my water heater. It made quite the flood outside.

I shut off the water to it, and got a flashlight. The "tunnel" where the burner goes is all rusted out and collapsed. Despite ensuring a good anode rod, it appears that corrosion did the thing in.

So now I have two choices: Replace it with another one, or go with an on-demand system. Cost is similar: About $500 for either. The on-demand system that people seem to be recommending is the Girard 2GWHAM. The water heater I'd use is a Suburban 10- or 12-gal unit. The trailer came with a 12-gal, but it got replaced with a 10 in 2014 (which I didn't know until yesterday; I thought it was another 12).

In the meantime, I'm showering in my camper. Thankfully I have that as an option.

Any suggestions? Any other (cheaper hopefully) on-demand units I can consider?

Thanks.

Rob

[Chum_lee]

So you say that you full time in your fiver. Does that mean that you keep the water heater hot 24/7/365?

If you have high mineral content in your water AND the anode rod still looks like new, AND the new water heater rusted out in 5 years, I'd guess you have something else going on that you need to figure out before you destroy another water heater. Did you test the pressure relief valve? Is the water heater grounded properly?

Chum lee

[ksg5000]

RobG wrote:
They say we have a lot of minerals in the water... fwiw the anode rod never did degrade over time like with my last water heater. It always looked like-new when I'd remove it.

That seems odd - thought the primary purpose of anode rod was to prevent the problem your had. Removing an old anode rod which looks like new may indicate your anode rod was defective or something else is amiss.

[Lynnmor]

If the anode rod is aluminum instead of magnesium, that may be some of the problem. You should have seen some rust when doing your regular flushing and that would alert you to a pending failure before a flood.

[enblethen]

If it is rusted out, it must be a glass-lined Suburban water heater.
I would opt for an aluminum Atwood replacement.

[RobG]

They say we have a lot of minerals in the water... fwiw the anode rod never did degrade over time like with my last water heater. It always looked like-new when I'd remove it.

[schlep1967]

You must have a very acidic water supply where you are for it to eat through the burner tube. Either that or the water heater manufacturer had a run of poor tubing they installed. I would think that tube would be twice the thickness of the tank material.

[ScottG]

Read through the reviews on Amazon. Co. has a record of very poor assistance when they don't work - which is often.
I'd really like one but they aren't good enough yet.

Scott