Atwood hot water tank.

[Brian Cloke]

Gentlemen.
It would seem that my hot water tank is leaking.
I have checked all the piping etc which seems to be dry. The insulation is wet around the bottom. My question is how do you go about removing the tank for examination.
Thank you.
Brian.

[Brian Cloke]

Gentlemen.
It would seem that my hot water tank is leaking.
I have checked all the piping etc which seems to be dry. The insulation is wet around the bottom. My question is how do you go about removing the tank for examination.
Thank you.
Brian.

[RedGuy]

It's pretty easy, I just replaced mine. Basically just unhook the in and out water, the propane conection, and disconect the electrical wires if you have a modle with both electric and gas. Then the unit just unscrews from the outside and slides right out.

[Brian Cloke]

Thank you Red Guy.
Will get at it.
Cheers.
Brian.

[rvgrandma]

Our tank sprung a leak this last week. We can't find the leak. It seems to leak only when the water is hot. We pulled it out, removed the foam and still it would not leak. The conclusion is some high pressure leak that we can't duplicate while watching.

We have chosen to replace the whole thing. As usual, CSP only wants to replace the tank but the repairmen say it is 8 years old and best to replace the whole thing. We are going with that and will try to get CSP to pay some of it. Wish us luck!!

[RedGuy]

There's actually a spray that our mechanics use to find cracks in alauminum castings at work. Unfortunately I can't for the life of me remeber what it's called now though. You could use that to find your leak and take it to a shop and have it welded up if the unit still works fine.

[Lorna]

We simply replaced ours. It was pretty old (original). We had a heck of a time locating the leak. Our tank had the leak was on the bottom and very small (pinhole). We figured the newer heaters were probably more efficient.

[RedGuy]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Lorna:
We figured the newer heaters were probably more efficient. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


I don't know about that, the Atwood water heater I replaced is identical to my new Atwood, and the old one was 20 years old. I didn't spring for the DSI though, that may save you some propane by not having to run a pilot 24/7. One good thing about a pilot light though is it keeps the water hot once the burner brings it up to temp. My burner won't turn on again until you start using the hot water. Plus it always seems that first shower in the morning is the hottest and last the longest. I think the pilot running all night makes the water alittle hotter than I have the burner set at.

[Lorna]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RedGuy:
...I didn't spring for the DSI though, that may save you some propane by not having to run a pilot 24/7... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No pilot, electric/LP... our old tank had a after market electric unit installed. I don't think it really worked quite right. I do think this one is better insulated and it seems to heat the water better and faster. We have been running it mostly off of electric since we bought it (late summer 2007). Not used the propane much... yet.