Little brick bungalow in the midwest, built in '54. Poured
concrete foundation.

Back in '92, I installed an AO Smith 40-gal. gas Water Heater (FSG
model) as a replacement. About 3 ' from the furnace, which shares
the vent. Been so long I don't even remember how the old WH failed.

This morn I notice maybe 1.5 gallons of water on the floor, with
the wet sorta centered on the WH. So I figger after 15 1/2 years, the
WH gave out.

But, of course, I check the cold and hot pipes, the vent, the
pressure valve, the drain, to confirm. Nothing wet.

Pull the cover, check the pilot, etc. Nothing wet in there. Sop up
all but a little water from the floor, sprinkle some talcum to
facilitate detection of water flow. Run about 20 gal. of hot water
out, watch the burners fire, etc. Still no detectable water flow.

The water couldn't have come from the furnace: the AC hasn't run
for months (it's still winter). Even checked up in the rafters
for a leak: nothing.

I think the unit is glass-lined. What happens when they fail?
What am I forgetting to check (for a leak)??

Thx,
Puddin'

"Blues starts to rolling ...
stops at my front do'.
I'm gonna change my way of livin' ...
won't have to worry no mo'."
- from "Blues Before Sunrise", Leroy Carr, maybe 1934

Puddin' Man wrote:

Little brick bungalow in the midwest, built in '54. Poured
concrete foundation.

Back in '92, I installed an AO Smith 40-gal. gas Water Heater (FSG
model) as a replacement. About 3 ' from the furnace, which shares
the vent. Been so long I don't even remember how the old WH failed.

This morn I notice maybe 1.5 gallons of water on the floor, with
the wet sorta centered on the WH. So I figger after 15 1/2 years, the
WH gave out.

But, of course, I check the cold and hot pipes, the vent, the
pressure valve, the drain, to confirm. Nothing wet.

Pull the cover, check the pilot, etc. Nothing wet in there. Sop up
all but a little water from the floor, sprinkle some talcum to
facilitate detection of water flow. Run about 20 gal. of hot water
out, watch the burners fire, etc. Still no detectable water flow.

The water couldn't have come from the furnace: the AC hasn't run
for months (it's still winter). Even checked up in the rafters
for a leak: nothing.

I think the unit is glass-lined. What happens when they fail?
What am I forgetting to check (for a leak)??

Thx,
Puddin'

"Blues starts to rolling ...
stops at my front do'.
I'm gonna change my way of livin' ...
won't have to worry no mo'."
- from "Blues Before Sunrise", Leroy Carr, maybe 1934

Hi,
One possibility, for some reason T&P valve opened once. Since it is that
old it's about time for new one.

"Tony Hwang" wrote in message

I think the unit is glass-lined. What happens when they fail?
What am I forgetting to check (for a leak)??


By glass lined, they mean it has a coating of a sprayed on frit, sort of
like porcelain pots and cookware and it is not very thick. Usually, they
rust from a crack and drip. Catastrophic failure in not common.

Could the pressure relief valve on either the water heater or a boiler have
popped? They sometimes get weak and drip after a number of years.

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:09:24 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:


"Tony Hwang" wrote in message

I think the unit is glass-lined. What happens when they fail?
What am I forgetting to check (for a leak)??


By glass lined, they mean it has a coating of a sprayed on frit, sort of
like porcelain pots and cookware and it is not very thick. Usually, they
rust from a crack and drip. Catastrophic failure in not common.

It's had a blanket around it for the last 5 years or so. I checked
for moisture around the bottom, didn't find any.

Could the pressure relief valve on either the water heater or a boiler have
popped? They sometimes get weak and drip after a number of years.

No boiler. The TPV looked fine and there was no moisture around the
bottom of the drain tube.

Thx,
P

"Blues starts to rolling ...
stops at my front do'.
I'm gonna change my way of livin' ...
won't have to worry no mo'."
- from "Blues Before Sunrise", Leroy Carr, maybe 1934

Puddin' Man wrote:
Little brick bungalow in the midwest, built in '54. Poured
concrete foundation.

Back in '92, I installed an AO Smith 40-gal. gas Water Heater (FSG
model) as a replacement. About 3 ' from the furnace, which shares
the vent. Been so long I don't even remember how the old WH failed.

This morn I notice maybe 1.5 gallons of water on the floor, with
the wet sorta centered on the WH. So I figger after 15 1/2 years, the
WH gave out.

But, of course, I check the cold and hot pipes, the vent, the
pressure valve, the drain, to confirm. Nothing wet.

Pull the cover, check the pilot, etc. Nothing wet in there. Sop up
all but a little water from the floor, sprinkle some talcum to
facilitate detection of water flow. Run about 20 gal. of hot water
out, watch the burners fire, etc. Still no detectable water flow.

The water couldn't have come from the furnace: the AC hasn't run
for months (it's still winter). Even checked up in the rafters
for a leak: nothing.

I think the unit is glass-lined. What happens when they fail?
What am I forgetting to check (for a leak)??

Thx,
Puddin'

"Blues starts to rolling ...
stops at my front do'.
I'm gonna change my way of livin' ...
won't have to worry no mo'."
- from "Blues Before Sunrise", Leroy Carr, maybe 1934


Does your furnace have a condensate drain? I had the exact same scare
(after my T&P valve flooded the basement) and it ended up being the
rubber condensate drain tubing inside the furnace.

I've had a lot of different items put water on my basement floor, slowly
but surely I've been tracking them all down and sealing 'em up...

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 18:05:03 -0400, Nate Nagel wrote:



Does your furnace have a condensate drain? I had the exact same scare
(after my T&P valve flooded the basement) and it ended up being the
rubber condensate drain tubing inside the furnace.

Good point. I shoulda mentioned. Single stage 80% furnace.
Simplest possible. No condensate drain.

I've had a lot of different items put water on my basement floor, slowly
but surely I've been tracking them all down and sealing 'em up...

I guess most everybody with a basement in a 40+ yr. old house
has been doing similar. Sho'ly true of me last 20+ years.

Thx,
P

"Blues starts to rolling ...
stops at my front do'.
I'm gonna change my way of livin' ...
won't have to worry no mo'."
- from "Blues Before Sunrise", Leroy Carr, maybe 1934

leaks can occur from the flue area, which goes thru the center of the
tank. leaks can and do start and stop, depending on temperature and
wether interior debris happened to clog leak.

if a leak can damage anything then replace the tank at that age its
way out anyway and a new one will save you gas and money.

my one tank sprayed water out of the flue when it failed

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:33:38 -0700 (PDT), " wrote:

leaks can occur from the flue area, which goes thru the center of the
tank. leaks can and do start and stop, depending on temperature and
wether interior debris happened to clog leak.

if a leak can damage anything then replace the tank at that age its
way out anyway and a new one will save you gas and money.

Sounds reasonable. But I gotta *find* the leak before I
take any action.

my one tank sprayed water out of the flue when it failed

And it was a standard up-draft flue interface? First I've heard of that.

P

"Blues starts to rolling ...
stops at my front do'.
I'm gonna change my way of livin' ...
won't have to worry no mo'."
- from "Blues Before Sunrise", Leroy Carr, maybe 1934

On Mar 16, 2:22*pm, Puddin' Man wrote:
On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:33:38 -0700 (PDT), " wrote:
leaks can occur from the flue area, which goes thru the center of the
tank. leaks can and do start and stop, depending on temperature and
wether interior debris happened to clog leak.

if a leak can damage anything then replace the tank at that age its
way out anyway and a new one will save you gas and money.

Sounds reasonable. But I gotta *find* the leak before I
take any action.

my one tank sprayed water out of the flue when it failed

And it was a standard up-draft flue interface? First I've heard of that.

* P

"Blues starts to rolling ...
*stops at my front do'.
*I'm gonna change my way of livin' ...
*won't have to worry no mo'."
* * *- from "Blues Before Sunrise", Leroy Carr, maybe 1934

And it was a standard up-draft flue interface? First I've heard of
that.

Then make this the 2nd time you've heard of it.

My leak was in the flue tube and I found it by sheer luck. Whenever
the tank fired on, the pressure increased and forced a mist of water
into the flue tube. The heat carried it up into the metal flue pipe
where it condensed and dripped back down. I could turn the mist on
and off just by adjusted the thermostat.

But I gotta *find* the leak before I take any action

Maybe, maybe not.

If you've eliminated all other sources of the leak (plumbing, furnace,
rafters) and given that the unit is 15.5 YO, it might make sense to
start looking for sales and pick up a new unit. It's probably near the
end of it's life anyway.