Greetings
There is a small trickle of water that "appears" to be coming from the water heater. As near as I can tell, the hoses and connections from the engine
heat exchanger and the piping on the feed and pressure side, are intact. There is no sign of leaking from any of the fittings. If the water is coming from the
heater, it has to be coming from inside the housing somewhere, which is a problem because the only way to get inside the housing is to remove the unit.
Furthermore based on my experience with domestic water heaters, if there is a leak on the tank itself, it is not repairable anyway.
Before I start ripping out the water heater does anybody have any ideas on troubleshooting?
Thanks
Addison
0 Kudo
Servicing the Water Heater
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 ajchan |
Servicing the Water Heater |
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Posts: 153 10/29/07 08:33:36 |
Threepenny Opera
1999 C-42 MK II, 2CP Wing #640 http://the-voyages-of-threepenny-opera.blogspot.com/
Last Edited By: ajchan 10/29/07 08:36:05.
Edited 1 time.
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dbnonsense |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 138 10/29/07 09:03:34 |
I had a similar condition a while back.
Check the fitting where the hot water exits the heater ,it most likly is a brass nipple that attaches to the plastic piping.In my case the slow drip was working back from the nipple conection to just inside the hot water heater cover, giving the impression that it was the heater. I actualy pulled the heater expecting to find an internal leak. It is worth another good look before pulling the heater. Dave Zeuli Common Sense #810 |
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garrywillis |
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Posts: 277 10/29/07 10:24:16 Moderator |
Try opening the pressure relief valve on the back side of the heater first and see what happens.
Also, if the heater is sitting on pooled water on its platform then it will eventually corrode. This is not good. It is recommended that you raise up the heater so that air can get under and circulate. Use some 1/4" firring strips to do this.
Garry
"Breezn" #502 2-Cabin |
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pwinterfeld |
Water Heater | #3 | ||
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Posts: 108 10/29/07 14:06:27 |
I also saw a trickle of water coming, from what appeared to be the water heater, instead the water came from the chromed access hatch above the rudder. Check
that also - in my case there was quite a bit of water coming through which made its way underneath the water heater. I sealed the access port with silicone
sealer and no more water.
Peter C'est la Vie Hull #746 |
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pdrimmer |
#4 | |||
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Posts: 159 10/29/07 14:32:25 |
There are two sources of water from the water heater. The first is engine coolant. If the leak is engine coolant you should eventually see the coolant level
decrease. Smell the water that is leaking, If it is sweet smelling it is coolant.
The other source is fresh water from the tank. Turn the water pressure switch on. If the pump cycles now and then, there is leak in the fresh water system. I agree with the other folks. Check all of the fittings first. Those hose clamps work loose with vibration. Good luck. Let us know what you find. |
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ajchan |
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Posts: 153 10/30/07 04:48:37 |
pwinterfeld wrote: Peter. that's a great idea. My gut tells me that it is not the water heater, but my eyes are telling me otherwise. I've checked the usual suspects, like the heat exchanger hoses and all of the aft facing fittings, so unless I find other sources, it means pulling the thing out! I am consoled by the fact that it is reasonably accessible, and it should fit through the engine compartment door. I'll let you guys know how this turns out. Addison
Threepenny Opera
1999 C-42 MK II, 2CP Wing #640 http://the-voyages-of-threepenny-opera.blogspot.com/ |
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marvroni |
#6 | |||
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Posts: 20 10/30/07 08:57:06 |
I had a similar situation. The leaks were from the pressure relief valve and the water heater(boiler) drain valve. I replaced both from the hardware/Lowes and
the leak was gone. You can check if it is the drain valve by holding a finger over the outlet. The pressure relief valve leak was visual. If the water heater
is on, be careful of the hot water! I would recommend that you get the longer stem drain valve so it will drain into the bilge instead of on the water heater
support. I cannot recall if both are 3/4 inch or 1/2 inch or if they are different.
Marv Bromley
314/2 Wing |
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CaptNorm42 |
Grease emergency tiller plate | #7 | ||
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Posts: 617 10/30/07 10:40:24 Moderator |
Regarding:
The chromed access hatch above the rudder... I sealed the access port with silicone sealer and no more water. I hate to disagree, but strongly feel silicone is not the best for that application. If you have an immediate need to steer with the emergency tiller, you will have a hard time taking that plate off if it is sealed w/silicone. Annually, I remove that plate, look below and if everything looks fine clean the old grease off & apply wheel bearing grease. That does an adequate job of sealing it & makes it easy to take the plate off.
~~~~_/)~~~~
Norm Perron, Hull #600/2 cabin, Aphrodisiac, Marina del Rey, CA |
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symandalay |
#8 | |||
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Posts: 127 10/31/07 04:11:54 |
I had a leak from my water heater and I thought the heater was shot. Ultimately, I discovered that the hose connections from the engine were leaking and I had
to trim off the deformed end of the hose and reattach it.
I jumped to conclusions because the rectangular housing of the heater was corroded and looked in need of replacement. I drained the heater and loosened the screws that hold it down. At that point I could move it around enough to take the screws out that hold the rectangular cover on. I used a stubby screwdriver to do that. I was able to get the end piece closest to the engine off and look inside. It is full of fiberglass type insulation and once I pulled that aside, I could see that the 10 year old tank inside looked like brand new. It is very nicely made. Anyway I buttoned it up, took care of the hose issue and spray painted the rusty areas with galvanize paint. Colin
Colin Ward, Mandalay, #593 1997 2-cabin, fin keel
Florida |
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donpaget |
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Posts: 22 11/11/07 15:55:33 |
I had a similiar problem but found that I had water coming from the pressure reliel valve. After that was fixed, a leak still persisted under the tank. I found
that it was the strut leaking when the vessel was underway. This has been an on going discussion with Catalina as I have asked them for a detailed procedure to
repair this strut leak. To date they have not complied. What must a person do to get warantee work done on a new boat?
Don Paget C950 |
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seaair |
#10 | |||
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Posts: 64 11/11/07 22:31:26 |
Don -
We just pulled our boat out of the water for the first time since new. There has always been a small leak around the strut, but it never appeared to be a big deal. Once out of the water, it was apparent that the fiberglas near the strut was saturated. Last I heard, they were waiting for it to dry out before they attempted a repair. Our dealer is making good on the repair, and I am not certain if he is going to try to get Catalina to pay for it. I would suggest your first course of action would be to go back to your dealer and try to get him to repair it, or at least act as your liaison with Catalina. I'll post what happens to our strut to repair it.
Warren
Seattle, WA Sutlej, #920 3-cabin pullman |
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