Gusher

[CarlH]

Thursday night I notice that my hot water heater has sprung a leak. The water heater is sitting in a pan and I noticed that there was a bit of water in the pan, so I figure the leak must be small.

Friday morning I call a plumber to come check the water heater. He tells me that he is booked for the day but can come out Monday morning. I think to myself, no big deal. It is a small leak and water heater is sitting in a pan that drains to the sump so if anything it will drain to the sump if the leak gets worse.

Saturday afternoon my wife starts yelling that the basement is flooding. We got lucky in that she happened to be down there at the time the water heater decided to turn into a gusher with water shooting out from around the cold water inlet. So much for the added security of having the WH in sitting in a pan. Fortunately the flooding was pretty much confined to the utility room.

The lesson learned here is that I probably should have taken that little leak more seriously since I guess you never know how quickly things are going to go from bad to worse. I do have to say that this is a real disappointment because the water heater is 9 yrs. old where the previous one was 18 yrs. old. The only reason why I replaced the old one was because my PRV went bad, I needed an expansion tank, and I wanted the water heater moved to a different location in the utility room so I figured might as well replace it at the same time since it was so old.

 

[Jadnashua]

A WH typically comes with something like a 6-year warranty, so 9-years isn't bad. Some of the life depends on luck of the draw, and the rest relies on your water quality and pressure...higher pressure and harder water or aggressive water can make the tank fail sooner, then the brand with the size of the sacrificial anode can make a difference, too.

Once you notice a leak, things can go south quickly...sometimes, you have more time, sometimes, you don't.