suburban water heater leak

[kicker]

Thinking I had a small project turned into a huge project. Last wknd noticed water in bathroom. Didnt think to much until I followed the water trail. long story short, water was coming from water heater. Ok, Camper is 8 yrs old, so I order a new water heater. In taking the old one out is when my project turned into a big mess. Floor, sub floor, sub structure of right rear corner rotted out. From the looks of the damage, this has been leaking for a very long time. The tank was rusted on the underside where the drain out plug / anode rod is installed. I am the second owner, so I am not sure how maintence was performed on the tank. I can fix the problem with the floor etc, but how do you prevent this from happening again. where my water heater is located, in the 4 yrs that I have had the camper, I have never noticed or had water in basement. I have a 2008 Starcraft 2700BH

[kicker]

I have a couple of ?'s. I removed my tank and it was rusted right at the drain out plug underneath. From the looks of the damage to the floor is sub structure, it has been leaking from the previous owner. Anyways, I repaired sub structure and floor to the best of my ability and cut out all rotten wood that i could see. I stop tearing anything past a 2 x 4 ft area as it looked like most of my damage was concetrated at the right rear corner. I have since gotten a new suburban tank, only because everything was fit for that tank. I am looking for the rubber sealant they used around the propane line connecting to the burn assembly. I also have some dicor tape sealant for the door frame but can not find the rubber back type of sealant. I then got some 4 x 8 plastic mobile home underside tape to fix the tarp where I cut it. Is there anything else that i might need. I do know that I will have some reservations on sub structure being that I am not completely sure i got it all. But at what point do you call it quits.

thanks

mike

[canoe_on_top]

Maybe a piece of sheet aluminum under the tank with a drain hole. If it were to leak again, you would see it under the trailer. might run a small drain hose from the pan through the sub floor. etc. You could probably find a cookie sheet of the right size that would have a raised edge forming a pan.

[bobndot]

Don't know if they are any good or not but what about an RV tankless water heater ?

[enblethen]

Don't get a glass lined Suburban water heater. Get an aluminum tank Atwood!
Somewhere along the way the glass lined tank got damaged. It could have been during winterizing or who knows what. Once the glass lining is damaged, rust tracks around that point.

[BB_TX]

It's possible the previous owner never bothered to replace the anode rod as needed and allowed the tank to decay. Good maintenance is the key.

[Trackrig]

Can you go to a sheet metal shop and have them fab a drip pan to go underneath it that's sized to go in the access hole? Checking it occasionally would tell you if there's water sitting in it from a leak.

Bill