hot water heater leaking

[byvwhc]

My 2013 Dutchmen Voltage hot water heater is leaking. It appears to be from underneath the tank. I've lived in it full-time for one year so I'm still new to owning a camper. Question - how long do the water heaters generally last? I saw on one thread that if the leak is on the tank itself that it can be welded. Has anyone had any luck doing this? It's an Atwood GC10A-4E. Is it best to replace it with the same make/model or is there something better? Thank you for your assistance.

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by byvwhc

My 2013 Dutchmen Voltage hot water heater is leaking. It appears to be from underneath the tank. I've lived in it full-time for one year so I'm still new to owning a camper. Question - how long do the water heaters generally last? I saw on one thread that if the leak is on the tank itself that it can be welded. Has anyone had any luck doing this? It's an Atwood GC10A-4E. Is it best to replace it with the same make/model or is there something better? Thank you for your assistance.

Many folks are replacing their existing hot water heaters to on-demand hot water heaters. In my experience, the hot water heater should last several years of continuous use. I would check the owner's manual for the heater (not the RV manual) to see what the warranty on the tank is. If the tank is split, they may warranty that.

[sundancer 87]

Originally Posted by byvwhc

My 2013 Dutchmen Voltage hot water heater is leaking. It appears to be from underneath the tank. I've lived in it full-time for one year so I'm still new to owning a camper. Question - how long do the water heaters generally last? I saw on one thread that if the leak is on the tank itself that it can be welded. Has anyone had any luck doing this? It's an Atwood GC10A-4E. Is it best to replace it with the same make/model or is there something better? Thank you for your assistance.

I think it would be prudent to find where it is actually leaking. It could be a loose crimp or broken threads.

Aluminum tanks can be welded if the split is not that bad. Rarely will the tank itself leak at the seams. A split tank is a result of freezing conditions.

[israelws]

2013 Voltage 3200. Discovered that geniuses at the factor had run the abs drain pipe from kitchen sink so that it rubbed and eventually wore through thus leaking water that at first appeared to be from hot water heater. Also discovered that heater was sitting & rubbing on pex water supply which also had started rubbing rubbing through. It may not be your water heater.

[brettflory]

Yep, same here... 2013 Voltage 3800. I tightened the connection on the cold water inlet that was literally LAYING on top of the kitchen drain pipe and discovered the entire weight of the water heater on this connector on the drain pipe! I put shims under the water heater and that solved it. Geniuses is a good word.

[sundancer 87]

Originally Posted by brettflory

Yep, same here... 2013 Voltage 3800. I tightened the connection on the cold water inlet that was literally LAYING on top of the kitchen drain pipe and discovered the entire weight of the water heater on this connector on the drain pipe! I put shims under the water heater and that solved it. Geniuses is a good word.

I didn't shim the tank but I did cut out some of the ABS that was supporting the water inlet and installed 60 degree turns to clear the cold water inlet.
My ABS already had a dimple in it from the water heater sitting on it.

Can you say design engineer, or even spell it?

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by sundancer 87

I didn't shim the tank but I did cut out some of the ABS that was supporting the water inlet and installed 60 degree turns to clear the cold water inlet.
My ABS already had a dimple in it from the water heater sitting on it.

Can you say design engineer, or even spell it?

But they are really good at math...

Actually I would blame it on the blind installers, grabbing the first piece of pipe they found and not being able to read a tape measure to get it cut to the correct size to fit.

Aaron

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

but they are really good at math... :d

Actually i would blame it on the blind installers, grabbing the first piece of pipe they found and not being able to read a tape measure to get it cut to the correct size to fit.

Aaron

tape measure lololol!

[sundancer 87]

Originally Posted by franktafl

tape measure lololol!

One blind installer to another blind installer. Um dude, how many joints make a foot?

[franktafl]

They probably have an assembly line person that their job is just to cut tubing. Some BRAIN probably said that if we cut three inches off the length of each one and go UNDER the heater, we can save $$$$$ per year in tubing costs and get 1000 pieces out of a reel instead of 999!

[sundancer 87]

Ok, so you have one guy laying pipe to drain the kitchen sink. His job looks good, pipe goes from the sink to a large hole in the floor. Not his job to make the hole so that's not his problem.


Then you have the guy that installs the water heaters. Stuffs them in the hole, screws them down and goes inside to finish the plumbing. He sees the ABS pipe running in front of the water intake on the heater but it's no biggie. Pry the heater up enough to get the intake fitting threaded in and tightened down. Drop the heater back in its place and on to the next job. Not his job to lay the pipe so if the heater rides on it, so be it, not his problem.


Here's a QC I watched in Tucson one time. A boot maker there set up his hand made boot assembly line. The workers didn't really like the assembly line set up. technique. They were allowed to sit on the line where they wanted, mostly next to friends.


The QC came in where if one was passed a defective boot or a mistake to the next position and he was working on it his commission was cut on that particular item. Even sitting next to his friend he wasn't going to accept inferior work because of the loss of a commission. They rarely sent out a defective boot because everyone on the line was very serious about getting paid for their work.


Now that's QC at its best. Of course a pair of hand made boots took longer than a day to build.