- This topic has 3 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 8 months ago by
nicktheplumber.
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inkandline
Trying to figure out the cause of my reliance 501 hot water heater leaking I just came down stairs tonight and suddenly it’s leakign all over the floor it had leaked so heavily inside and underneath that it put the pilot out I went ahead and turned the pilot/ gas off as well as the flow of water to the tank.
It seems to be leaking from everywhere underneath. I am guessing maybe it’s a cracked tank. However the water heater looks relatively new. The temperature was far from the highest setting. any ideas as to what could of caused this? Does this just happen sometimes? is reliance a bad water heater?
feel free to e-mail me any inforamtion you are willing to share. [email protected]
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It is not normal for a hot water heater to leak. There are 2 common problems that you may be having. One, you could actually have a leak in the tank usually caused by the tank rusting through. Remember that most of the time what you see is a shell which is just a cover over the actual tank so it can easily look new or good and still be damaged. Solution: replace the whole unit.
The second possibility is that your temperature control blow off valve has gone off because of a spike in temperature. This is a good thing because otherwise the tank could have exploded. This usually happens when you have a bad heating element, if the tank is elctric, and has caused a temporary overheating problem. Solution locate the offending element and change it. The other cause, especially if it is a gas fired unit, is a bad thermostat causing the overheating and the blow down. In that case the thermostat would need to be replaced.
Regardless you need the situation fixed before it does more damage.
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It could also be that the sacrificial anode has completely disolved and for some reason the water is seeping through the brass top fitting of this device – in which case a replecement anode and nut would cure the problem. However, from your description of the problem it certainly sounds like you have a leaking internal tank there my friend and the only way to fix that problem is to replace the whole tank.
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You seem to have a catastrophic leak in your water heater…In 30+ years of work I’ve seen only a couple of water heaters that leaked so bad the pilot was extinguished, and these heaters were completely rusted through at the bottom and needed replacement. I guess you could have sprung a leak from above that dripped down onto the pilot, and such a leak could be repaired. Sounds like it’s time to bring in an expert.
NtP
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