Signs of water heater problems?

[Kurt Ullman]

I have been told that very few water heaters just burst, usually there are signs that the end is near. What might some of these be??

a

[salty]

A puddle

Signs of a leak or heavy corrosion at the point where the pipe is connected at the middle of the top of the unit.

[Kurt Ullman]

Is this the main point of failure. I was sorta assuming the bottom would rust and drop off.

[hallerb]

can fail anywhere, but most often where openings are in tank, water entrance exit etc.

my one tank sprung a leak in the flue, water sprayed out of the top..

[trader4]

ing the bottom

e quoted text -

Most don't "burst" suddenly, but I've seen cases where they started leaking very substantially with no warning. I had one go here about

6 years ago. I woke up in the middle of the night and heard and odd buzzing. Turns out, it was the sound of water flowing through the cold water pipes and out the water heater, like the sound you might hear sometimes from a partially open water faucet.

[hallerb]

usually there

uming the bottom

ide quoted text -

After a flooded basement I replace heaters before they leak.

I wasnt home when heater started leaking, some paper and part of a plastic bag floated over the main basement drain, water filled basement to over a foot, and filled driveway which slopes towards house. the driveway drain pump choose that time to fail, submersible it filled with water shorted out, and took out a breaker.

I came home to water filled driveway basement and garage, spilling down the street to a storm sewer.

water heaters are cheap in comparison to all the mess of that day.

I replace them in nice weather, on my schedule.

hey its about 50 bucks a year, less than one decent candy bar a week.....

plus its one less thing to worry about, and new heaters are more efficent.

my current one is about 8 years old, and rumbling which means its accumulated sediment, and around here draining gains nothing.

it gets replaced this summer.

i helped a friend once his died in zero weather on a christmas holiday with houseguests coming

no fun dont go there..........

i call it preventive maintence. others prefer to wait for the flood:(

[Mike O.]

Last summer, I was getting ready for work and noticed that I had almost no hot water (had to open the hot side almost all the way). After the shower, I went to the basement, thinking maybe the pilot had gone out.

On the way down the stairs, I heard what sounded like water running in the basement. When I got down there, there was a stream from the water heater to the drain (fortunately, the drain was only a couple of feet away).

What had happened is that it rusted through into the middle flue area. There hadn't been any obvious signs of corrosion on the connections or outside of the tank.

Of course, the tank was something like 12 years old when we bought the house

5 years ago, so I figured we were on borrowed time. At least it wasn't a holiday or anything, and I was able to do the work myself (took a few days of washing up at the kitchen sink, using water heated on the stove..)

As far as "signs that the end is near", I would probably look a lot at the age of the tank. From what I've seen on the net, 10-15 years is about normal. I went with the 12 year warranty model, so I figure I should be good for at least that long...

Maybe check with neighbors to see what kind of life they're getting on the water heaters, since water quality can make a difference, too.

Mike O.

[HeyBub]

And it's virtually no trouble to write the date you installed the sucker with a felt-tip marker on the side of the tank.

For that matter, you can write the dates you drain it. There's lots of room.

If you write small.

[Oren]

Here's a sign! Wake up just before dawn: for a whiz, hear water running, forget about it and go back to bed. Just figure the sprinklers are running for the lawn.

Wake up and then find the WH had leaked all night...even after you went back to bed.

[great_prophet]

I hate to tell you this, but THE END IS NEAR !!!!

Not for your water heater, but for the world !!!

[hallerb]

you can call the tanks manufacturer, with the model and serial number, that will show the manufacturer date.

you can also buy a water alarm that will scream when the tank leaks, of course that only helps if somone is home./

much depends on peace of mind and how much damage a leaking tank can do.............

[hallerb]

yeah bush took out saddam hussein and set in motion world war three

[HeyBub]

They're going about it pretty quietly.

In the decade before Bush, we had about one serious terrorist attack per year (1993 WTC bombing, the USS Cole, embassies in various places, diplomats, etc.). Since 2003, there have been no attacks on U.S. soil or to U.S. interests abroad.

Some people think the goal of the war on terrorism was to capture Osama ben Laden. In Douglas Feith's new book, he points out that the capture of OBL was NEVER a primary goal of the Bush administration. To capture the evil-doer is a technique of a law-enforcement mentality and this crippled mindset has stifled our efforts. The primary, over-riding impetus of the current administration has been to prevent further acts of predation. This is done by shutting down the terrorist's financing, communication, training, supply, support, logistics, transportation, investments, propaganda, and all the other tools they use.

The sheiks of Araby, the president of Pakistan, the head of Monkeystan, etc., look at Iraq where we invaded the country, deposed the leader, exiled his wives, killed his sons, evicted him from his homes, confiscated his fortune, imprisoned his friends, and hanged his skanky ass, and come to Jesus.

[Oren]

So Carter supporting the Mujahideen would not have started WW III with the Russians, had they found out of the convert operations?