Atwood Motoraid Water Heater Antifreeze Leak

[boxfeet]

Our Atwood motoraid water heater has an antifreeze drip. Hubby is trying to troubleshoot and has disconnected all visible hoses, screws, etc. We are unable to get the water unit to pull out of the installation box. Has anyone been able to remove their water heater unit for inspection? Using a mag light and looking through the water supply line, we can see the bottom of the unit is wet inside (probably the antifreeze). Any suggestions are welcome!

Troy & Lois
2008 Winnebago Adventurer 38J

[luqutus]

First. Is it in a motorhome? And, therefore, engine antifreeze? I had trouble removing my water heater. The styrofoam insulation attached on water heater hung up on body sheet metal. I had to move heater out a little bit and slipped a piece of cardboard between heater and sheet metal to help ramp it over the sheet metal. The engine runs coolant across back of water heater to heat while driving. The leak must be in area where hoses to back of water tank.

[David K]

First, the water heater will not drain completely -- so you may be seeing water in the heater. If you have a motor aid on the heater, the leak could be where the hoses attach at the back of the heater. To remove the heater, you have to take out all of the screws around the heater and then you have to break the seal that is behind the flange of the heater. At the factory, they use a sealant to seal in the heater. I just removed mine this last week and it took almost two hours to break loose that sealant. Disconnect the gas line and then you can start to remove the heater. You will also have to remove the hot and cold water lines to remove the heater. If you do have the motor aid, your hoses may be short so be ready to pinch them off so you can remove them without loosing too much antifreeze. Be careful with the 120 volt wiring as you remove the heater. When you put the heater back in, I used gasket making material (bought from the auto store) to reseal it.