Water Heater Moved?

[Carl n Susan]

I know it has been a bit longer than I planned, but the water heater is fixed and back in service. I want to thank all of the previous responders for their experiences, suggestions, comments and support. I had always planned to provide an update and here it is.

The big concern was an undetected water leak which had rotted the support and/or floor. Fortunately that was not a problem at all. Everything was dry and intact.

The symptom of something wrong was the water heater had moved in the wall. While not obvious on a standard Montana, it definitely jumps out at you on a painted rig.




The old world's craftsmen use a cradle to support the water heater. Unlike some of the other pictures provided, this cradle is of a bridge type construction. There is space under the horizontal platform. It doesn't look like they used the strongest OSB or whatever for the horizontal platform. After 10 years and ~ 70K miles on our silky smooth highways, the 100+ lbs of the hot water and the heater assembly caused the platform to sag and thereby causing the movement on the exterior wall. There were two screws holding the front of the water heater to its position on the wall. You can see in the following pictures they were not adequate and are bent down.






This is a side view of the cradle which unfortunately doesn't show the bow in the horizontal piece.




Here is a view of the back of the water heater as viewed from the pass through compartment with the rear wall removed. And yes, my 6' 2" 210 lbs with bad knees crawled into that area to verify there was no water leaks or rot. I do have to give credit to the old world's craftsmen for laying linoleum in that area. Hopefully it will mitigate ay water leak that should occur from the water heater or shower.



So to my solution, I took the easy way out. I shimmed the front edge of the water heater until it matched up with the paint lines. Quick and easy. I also added additional screws on the walls of the water heater to help support it and prevent movement.



Here is the water heater re-installed and ready to go again. I think I spent more time cleaning off the old caulk than anything. I used Eternabond tape, instead of a ton of caulk, to bridge the gap between the water heater and the beauty ring. There is no way water can get between them when draining the water heater.

[Mikendebbie]

Thanks for the detail and the pics Carl!

[Lee-CI]

Thanks for the follow-up on the issue and solution Carl Great photos.

Glad to hear that you found no rot and that the shims and additional screws will do the trick for you. Especially liked your idea of the Eternabond tape between the tank flange and beauty ring.

[Carl n Susan]

Originally Posted by Lee-CI

<snip>.... Especially liked your idea of the Eternabond tape between the tank flange and beauty ring...</snip>

Actually I 'borrowed" the idea from a You Tube video. But it seemed worthwhile.

[jeffba]

this is a good thread thanks

[Montana Man]

Well, I've been noticing the trim ring aroung my water heater looking like it dropped some. After pulling off the ring it became obvious that the only two screws that hold the heater in place vibrated so loose as to become useless. Really, two sheetmetal screws? Anyway, cleaning off the silicone is the time consumer. Reinstalling everything with multiple screws and should be good to go.

My advice as a preventive measure would be to add a couple more screws along the vertical frame even if all is well.