Water Heater Pinhole Leak....2007 Aspect 26A

[S.Rodimus]

I think we have a pinhole leak in our water heater, right around the circled area in this photo. Ugh. Can this be welded or JB-weld or otherwise fixed .... or are we looking at a full water heater replacement now?

[Eagle5]

If you have been keeping functional sacrificial anodes in the tank this whole time, then the rest of the tank should be good. I would take it to a welder or a blacksmith to plug the hole. It looks like it might have been a partial void in the original weld.
If you want to try the original formula JB Weld (24-hour cure) it might work, but no guarantees.
Eagle5

[bigb]

That looks like it has been repaired in the past, it does not look like a factory weld.

[Morich]

Originally Posted by bigb

That looks like it has been repaired in the past, it does not look like a factory weld.

This looks totally correct to me. Notice the melted foam from past work?
I might think of calling this a time to go big and replace as a fix may be really hard and not last very long!

The only thing more expensive than replacing things, is spending on a repair and THEN replacing it!

[creativepart]

Some really important considerations.

We don't know the brand of water heater you have nor the model.

Originally Posted by Eagle5

If you have been keeping functional sacrificial anodes in the tank this whole time, then the rest of the tank should be good.

Atwood Water Heaters have aluminum tanks and do not use anode rods at all.

The Atwood company was purchased by Lippert a few years back and many earlier models are not available for purchase - in other words replacements may not be available for some models. Again, we don't know if this applies to your water heater because we don't know what it is.

We have heard from other Atwood owners that are in this pickle that replacement aluminum tanks were available and some have replaced just the tank. Other's have had their tank rewelded, presumably by someone doing a better job?

[S.Rodimus]

Sorry, all -- I should have included the Make and Model Number in my original post.

It's an Atwood model # GCH6A-10E. So no Anode Rod.

I have read in places that some brands/models have a porcelain inner layer, so if there's a leak making it to the outside, that inner porcelain layer is obviously toast, too. Is this one of those models?

[l1v3fr33ord1]

S.Rod-

New Atwood 6- and 10-gallon units are no longer available. Replacement tanks are not available.

It's fix the one you have or replace it with the Suburban SAW6DE or SAW6DEL. The difference between the DE and DEL is in the wiring. You'll probably have to buy a new exterior door as well. Link to the SAW6DE product page is here, and to the exterior door is here.

See this thread on iRV2 for discussion about the wiring. I think you'll want the DEL model. Please confirm for yourself.

The Suburban has a steel tank, so once you install it you'll be feeding it anode rods as needed.

The Suburban does not support the Winnebago "Motoraid" function (i.e., preheating by coach engine), so if your Atwood does have that function now you'll need to cap off the tubes that run from the engine cooling system to the water heater.

[S.Rodimus]

We've shut the bypass valve, so no more leak (or hot water) for now. Emptied the heater tank, too.

I have read in places that some brands/models have a porcelain inner layer, so if there's a leak making it to the outside metal layer, that inner porcelain layer is obviously toast, too. Does anyone know if this (Atwood model # GCH6A-10E) is one of those double (porcelain + metal) layer heater tanks?

As an aside....it only leaked when the water pump was on. As long as the water pump was off, the tank held its full load (then started slowly spurting when we switched the pump on - this is how we discovered the leak, because the pump would kick on for a second every minute or so). Anyway, does this mean anything to anyone insofar as how bad the pinhole is or whether something like JB-Weld should even be tried?

[bigb]

Maybe some JB Weld WaterWeld. Prep real good with a wire wheel and give it a shot, you got nothing to lose. I'd use a stainless steel wire wheel if possible since it won't leave any contaminants behind.

[l1v3fr33ord1]

Originally Posted by S.Rodimus

I have read in places that some brands/models have a porcelain inner layer, so if there's a leak making it to the outside metal layer, that inner porcelain layer is obviously toast, too. Does anyone know if this (Atwood model # GCH6A-10E) is one of those double (porcelain + metal) layer heater tanks?

That Atwood heater has an all-aluminum tank. As far as I know, all Atwood heaters built after (at least 1995) have aluminum tanks. None require an anode rod.

As far as I know, Suburban water heaters have steel tanks with porcelain linings, and require an anode rod.

Anyway, does this mean anything to anyone insofar as how bad the pinhole is or whether something like JB-Weld should even be tried?

A water heater tank is a pressure vessel. The P&T (pressure and temperature) relief valve settings on Atwood heaters are 150 psi and 210 deg. Fahrenheit. Normal practice is to test a water pressure vessel to 150 percent of its relief valve setting. I would have a professional repair and test the tank as above, or I would replace with the Suburban SAW6DEL (with a new door). Too chancy otherwise. Not all would make the same decision.

[Spizzer]

Years ago I had a hot tub that had a leak in the copper heat exchanger. I patched it with JB weld and it held for years. Other things went bad before it ever leaked again.

What do you have to lose?

Jeff

[Bobn1957]

Originally Posted by S.Rodimus

I think we have a pinhole leak in our water heater, right around the circled area in this photo. Ugh. Can this be welded or JB-weld or otherwise fixed .... or are we looking at a full water heater replacement now?

It looks like it has been repaired in place already once before, take the tank out and to an aluminum welding shop and have them re-weld the bung!