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Hi all. So yesterday we woke to find the carpet in the master bed soaked. Took out the wall paneling (since outside access to the water heater is blocked by shed - my roommate said the place came that way) and found a mess. I took pictures to show yall how bad it is back there in the closet of cramped doom. First we noticed there's a major rust build up where the water line from outside coming in to the home is split before it goes into the water heater and from researching my mobile home fix it book from yall and other resources I think this is how it's suppose to be done. The guys who came by last night said that it shouldn't be... UUUUGGGHHH! Then I noticed that the rust had somehow attached to the bottom of the water heater and a small hole has formed. Even though the guy who came by last night said that the water wasn't leaking from there, I'm assuming it probably will be sooner rather than later, RIGHT??. Hopefully yall can see it in the pics. So I'm assuming we're going to have to replace it... right?? I know that rusted elbow thing-ma-gig has to go, just wondered if there's an easy (actually cheap) way of fixing this. Meaning can I do it myself (again here we go with never doing this before - lol). Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!!!
It looks to me like that is copper pipe going into a standard galvanized elbow. If you want to use that copper pipe, the elbow should have a di-electric nipple attached before it goes to the copper. There should also be a di-electric nipple where the copper flex line goes into the water heater. Anytime you are joining two dissimilar metals like that, you need something to break the electrolysis reaction. The electrolysis reaction will just eat metal.
From looking at the water heater, there is a good chance the the sacrificial anodes are used up. It is probably a good time for a new water heater. The anode rods are screwed in at the top of the water heater. They look like wide flat bolts that do nothing. They are actually rods of aluminum and/or magnesium that perform the same task as the di-electric nipples. They keep the electrolysis from eating away at the steel water heater.
No easy way to any of it. I would just replace as much of that plumbing material as looks bad. I would also change out that gray plastic PEx line while I was at it. It is just a leak waiting to happen.
JMO
JD
☯JD♫
Today is PERFECT!
All information and advice given is for entertainment and informational purposes only. The person doing the work is solely responsible to insure that their work complies with their local building code and OSHA safety regulations.
Then I noticed that the rust had somehow attached to the bottom of the water heater and a small hole has formed. Even though the guy who came by last night said that the water wasn't leaking from there, I'm assuming it probably will be sooner rather than later, RIGHT??. Hopefully yall can see it in the pics. So I'm assuming we're going to have to replace it... right?? I know that rusted elbow thing-ma-gig has to go, just wondered if there's an easy (actually cheap) way of fixing this. Meaning can I do it myself (again here we go with never doing this before - lol). Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!!!
