Andrew wrote:
We live in a condo that was built in 2003 as apartments and converted
to condos and sold "new" in 2005. I'm not sure the actual age of the
water heater, but the serial number says something like "E.1.1998" or
something to that effect, I don't have the exact number in front of me
(I'm at work). I don't know if the 1998 in the serial number is a
coincidence, or if it represents the year it was built. If it does, I
have no idea where the water heater was for the 5 years before the
apartments were built.

Anyway, over the weekend, our hot water went cold. I didn't know
anything about water heaters yet, but I'm very handy and I always try
to fix things before I call a pro, so I took a look. The first thing
I noticed was that the drip pan was about full of water (probably 2
gallons or so at least). I vacuumed it all out and try to relight the
pilot. The pilot lit, stayed on, and when I turned the temp back up,
it fired up no problem. I wasn't sure what to think, but I let it go
for a few to see if the hot water would come back. I came back half
an hour later to find that the flame had gone back out. I lit it
again, and again it lit perfectly fine, but went out 10 or so minutes
later.

I then began to further research and inspect the situation and at this
point I noticed that the cold water inlet fitting was leaking where it
connects to the water heater. The threaded part coming out of the
water heater is a little rusty, and there was some blue stuff coming
out of the connection. It was not spraying, but was dribbling pretty
good. There is a cut out in the top of the outer shell of the tank
where the threaded pipe sticks out. This gasket seemingly seals the
threaded pipe to the cutout in the outer shell. Part of this gasket
was pushed into the cut out leaving a hole leading into the top of the
tank. The leaking water from the cold inlet fittings was filling up
the gasket (it's about 3.5" or so deep) with water, which was then
draining into this gap/hole in the gasket/cut out (into the top of the
water heater). I have no idea where the water goes after this, which
is part of the reason I'm posting here. I assume that it does not go
into the main water tank, as I think that is a pressure tested tank
that is separate from the outer shell. I did also notice what
appeared to be some water dripping at the bottom of the tank, but I
couldn't tell where it had come from. It was at the bottom front
corner of the tank, directly below the inspection cover where the
pilot flame peep hole is. It was wet there at the corner and
dripping, but like I said, I couldn't tell where it was coming from.
It did not appear to be coming out the inspection cover or anything.
There is a 90 degree lip from the outer wall to the base of the tank
(base is like 2" tall, and about 2" smaller radius) and the water was
collecting on this 90 corner, and kind of felt like it was coming from
the bottom of the shell, from the flat part created by the 2" radius
difference, if that makes sense. Sorry for the confusing description.

So, to make this long story a little shorter, I tested the relief
valve, it seems like it's working (some water came out), and I
tightened the fitting at the cold water inlet, and now the leak seems
to have subsided (will check again tonight). I didn't notice any more
water collecting in the drip basin. I lit the pilot again, turned up
the temp, and it has stayed lit all night, the water is hot again, and
was lit this morning still, and had hot water this morning as well.

My guess was that perhaps the water that dripped into the top of the
tank eventually found it's way down the inside of the tank shell
(outside the actual water tank), to the pilot flame, and was
extinguishing it as it dripped/splashed. Does this sound plausible?
I probably should have opened up the inspection cover and checked if
it was wet/damp inside, but I didn't.

So my questions are, does it seem possible that the water coming into
the top was putting out the flame and that's why the hot water had
turned off? And, more importantly, could that explain some dripping
from the bottom corner of the outer shell, and could it have caused
any worse problems that mean I should be replace the tank? If the
flame stays on, the water stays hot, and the drip basin doesn't fill
up with water for the next couple weeks, is it safe to say that I'm in
the clear until the tank (or something else) goes "for real" ?


Correct on all counts.

http://homerepair.about.com/od/plumb...tank_gas_3.htm
http://www.14ushop.com/magnets/cutaway.html
http://www.mrrooter.com/services/water_heater.aspx#

You may have to replace the inlet fitting eventually,
but the tank is probably good for some years yet.

Jim