Any suggestions for two 50-gallon water heaters, leaking, in series? Both were installed no later than 2004 (based on the serial plate date), and both are 50 gallons, propane fired water heaters. Yesterday, I found water on the floor, but couldn't tell which one was the leaker, even though I tapped the sides of both and tried to tip them by hand. On a 50:50 guess, I assumed the left-most heater (closest to the inside of the house) was the one leaking, as I didn't see anything suspicious coming out of the copper pipes leading into and out of the water heaters hooked in series. Lacking spare parts at the moment, I simply bypassed the second heater, in favor of the first (closest to the well), and, the water on the floor seems to be drying up appreciably. Is there any decent way to "diagnose" a leaking water heater to "repair" it, or, is it always a dumb-but-simple plug-and-play replacement? Pictures to follow, in a minute...

Danny D. wrote, on Fri, 18 Sep 2015 13:53:02 +0000: Had to get the adopt-a-kids ready for school, so, here are the belated photos to give you an idea of what the mess looks like: The left-most heater is closest to the house and appears to be leaking: Both heaters are dated 2004, and are 50 gallons, but different makes: The left-most copper pipe is the cold inlet from the well to the tanks & house, while the accordion pipe is the cold water going into the house: I long ago disabled the recirculating pump to the left, as being noisy & counter productive: The hot water to the house came out of the second tank in series: It's shocking how close the hot-air vent pipes are to the ceiling wallboard: The two yellow-tipped ball valves control cold water to the house & to the 1st heater in series: Given all that, I know the dumb-but-simple answer is to replace the second water tank; but I just wonder if there are other ideas? For example, can a leaking water tank be repaired? Is there...

Any suggestions for two 50-gallon propane water heaters, leaking, in series?

Sep 18, 2015 23 Replies

Rate this thread:

tony944 10 years ago

What he said was:

"Never heard of a leaking _tank_ being repaired"

He didn't say he never head of a leaking water heater being *replaced*.

Vote

hrhofmann 10 years ago

If your water flow is lower with just the one heater, then you must have in troduced some sort of a restriction in the line somewhere, or else the two heaters were not in series. There is no way that two heaters in series wit h exactly the same plumbing would have a higher water flow than just one he ater unless there is some sort of restriction in the one heater line. Did you introduce some sharp bends in the line that was previously a straight l ine???

Vote

gregz 10 years ago

Currently checking my tank. Though it might be leaking, but stopped. I'm monitoring the pressure relief. Having some issue with temperature today. I noticed my pressure going higher initially recently. Pressure regulator might be acting up on main. I don't have an air tank, but do have anti back flow valve. I don't want to blast off.

Greg

Vote

gregz 10 years ago

It was easy enough to put bucket under TP valve to isolate water. Found a little water in there today. Water pressure appears normal the last few days.

Greg

Vote

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required