water heater is biting it

[jcurtis934]

So I notice water coming out of my 12gal suburban water heater today. Pulled the outside cover off expecting to see water dripping out of the pressure vent. Nope...coming out of the round chamber where the gas flame does it job. Okay, lots of condensation from running it on gas since we are in a 30amp site. Nope. Along the side of the plate or shelf inside the tube I see a gob of rust midpoint on left side and some dampness. Right side has rust is is slowly feeding water to back and down, then out front when tube has enough water to rise above the lip. Bummer, time to buy a new one and become water heater rv tech. Will wait till we are back in florida in november. Hope it holds out to then. John

[1retired06]

Wow, should have lasted longer than that.

[DQDick]

Would be interesting to call Suburban and see what they say about it. Most of us are still working on our first one, many years older than yours.

[rohrmann]

The Suburban water heaters have a three year warranty. You should be good to go. Don't need to go through Keystone with this, just get someone who can do the warranty claim to do the replacement.

[WeBeFulltime]

Our Suburban 12 gal bit the dirt like yours this past April. 3 1/2 years old and out of warranty. $418.00 from Amazon with free delivery. Easy self install. Local dealer wanted $750 plus install. (Not dealer where Monty purchased.)

[Rondo]

Also John, how often do you check your anode rod? If you are getting any build up in the tank and around that area where the leak is at it could be because of build up inside the tank also. I personally replace my anode rod every year unless we are in an area that has high mineral content and then I check it about every three months or so to make sure it is doing its job of sacrificing itself to keep the water heater clear of mineral build-up!

[jcurtis934]

My heater is now over that three year mark. Check rod twice a year since we fulltime and always use water softener tank 90+% of time. Three years of solid use is way more time in service than most rigs see, so I am not real surprised that it is on that downhill slide. I plan on doing the work myself. Will think about bringing out the local mobile service guy if they have the setup to check water column for right gas flow setting. Amazon it will be. John