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Old 10-08-2020, 01:38 PM   #1
Texan_8891
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Leaking water heater

I have a 2018 3701LK bought new 18 months ago. Noticed water leaking by front landing gear. Make a long story shorter, traced leak to water heater area. I can see the cold and hot fittings at the rear of heater, they are dry. Has anyone had the suburban SW12DEL 12 gallon tank leaks. Thank you for any help.
 
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Old 10-08-2020, 01:42 PM   #2
jsb5717
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Welcome aboard! Ours has the 12 gallon heater, no leaks. Don't mean to be a stickler but if the inlet/outlet are both dry how do you know it's the water heater that's leaking? Is everything also dry behind the exterior cover? What other plumbing or drains may also be in that general area?


Edit: Looks like the water heater is located under the bathroom linen closet. All of the bathroom fixtures are around there as well so I would crawl under as best I could and inspect all of those fittings. I would start with the easy ones at the back of the toilet and under the sink as those can be a little loose. Also check the backflow check valve (likely not the correct name) under the sink as those are notorious for failing and leaking.
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Old 10-08-2020, 01:53 PM   #3
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I removed fireplace and it's definitely coming from around the water heater.
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Old 10-08-2020, 01:57 PM   #4
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I can see all those lines from the storage area. They are all dry. The pictures I just loaded shows the area. The board under the water heater is soaked and it's running forward.
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Old 10-08-2020, 02:02 PM   #5
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I can follow the bathroom lines, drain for shower and all those are dry. There is a thin board under the water heater that is soaked and the pics. I added shows the water is flowing from the water heater area and going towards the front of the rv.
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Old 10-08-2020, 02:06 PM   #6
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Hmmm...you might need to just pull the thing and inspect the tank for a small hole. Maybe someone put a screw where it doesn't belong. If every thing else is dry then that might be your only option.
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Old 10-08-2020, 02:36 PM   #7
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It seems to be my next step. I was trying to put that off.. Thank you for all the advice and help.
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Old 10-08-2020, 02:37 PM   #8
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If you can't find anything leaking the next thing to check is the backflow preventor, normally located under the bathroom sink. They will only leak when you flush the black tank, but they are well known for doing it. If that's the case many have replaced them with a good one from a box store and some of us have eliminated them altogether and use an exterior one when we hook up to flush.
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Old 10-08-2020, 10:57 PM   #9
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Our water heater tank developed a leak about four years ago and I replaced it. It was not terribly difficult, but fortunately I had the tools to do it. Turns out, it was a failed weld joint that rusted through. Where they had welded the gas burner tube to the outer wall of the tank is where the leak occurred.
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Old 10-09-2020, 08:25 AM   #10
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I replaced the WH on our 2012 3585SA a few years ago and it was an easy one person job. Saved a TON of money ordering the new one from Amazon too.
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Old 10-09-2020, 11:28 AM   #11
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Thank you Montana owners. It was the weld on the side of tank. It's still under the 2 year suburban warranty, we will see if they step up
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Old 10-09-2020, 11:40 AM   #12
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Thank you for your time and reply.
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Old 10-09-2020, 01:26 PM   #13
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glad you found the culprit. Fortunately, pulling/replacing a water heater isn't that bad of a job. Been there/done that.
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Old 10-09-2020, 07:10 PM   #14
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Glad you found it. I've gone thru the same thing with water showing up from no identifiable source. Same thing, just a hairline split along a weld. Thankfully it was easy to pull and replace.
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Old 10-09-2020, 07:38 PM   #15
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Had the same thing a couple of years ago, pin hole in the welded seam. We were just a short time out of the Suburban warranty, but they agreed to supply a new unit, but wouldn't cover removal and install. New unit had to be shipped to a Service Center, but when it arrived I gave them the old one to return and took the new and installed myself. We were lucky that it was in a very exposed area behind the Basement Rear Bulkhead.
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Old 10-10-2020, 07:09 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jsb5717 View Post
Hmmm...you might need to just pull the thing and inspect the tank for a small hole. Maybe someone put a screw where it doesn't belong. If every thing else is dry then that might be your only option.
I agree. I once found a screw in a line more than a foot past where I thought the actual leak was.
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Old 10-11-2020, 12:15 PM   #17
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Sorry to hijack thread, but I have a question. My WH is under the 'peninsula' in the kitchen. Do you remove the WH from the outside? Or gain access inside? If inside, I would have to tear the frame around it (under the counter top) to get to it.
Thanks.
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Old 10-11-2020, 12:22 PM   #18
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There might be some access to the plumbing on the interior by opening cupboards or removing drawers. The unit is removed from the exterior but you need to drain it and disconnect the inlet, outlet, electrical, and gas line. There may be a false wall inside the cabinet that would need to be removed. Crawl around and take a good look. Post pics if you can get them.
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Old 10-20-2020, 05:10 PM   #19
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My ? to the OP is do you normally leave the water heater full of water for the camping season ?

I have installed a petcock/anode rod drain in every heater I have had so the heater can be drained after every use.
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Old 07-04-2022, 11:56 AM   #20
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WH destroyed our 1st 3850FL

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Originally Posted by Texan_8891 View Post
I have a 2018 3701LK bought new 18 months ago. Noticed water leaking by front landing gear. Make a long story shorter, traced leak to water heater area. I can see the cold and hot fittings at the rear of heater, they are dry. Has anyone had the suburban SW12DEL 12 gallon tank leaks. Thank you for any help.
We bought a new 2014 Keystone Montana 3850FL in 2014, after a year of ownership we noticed our flooring was getting soft and spongy in front of our refrigerator. We took our unit back to the dealership (Capital RV in Bismarck, ND) they checked it out and told us the floor was in spec and our unit was good. We took it back home and set it up, spent the winter in it, we are full timers. Our floor got worse and once the weather warmed enough to move our unit, we took it back to the dealership. After inspection, they found our water heater had a very small pin hole which was misting water the whole time we had it since new. The result of the leaking water heater caused severe black mold to develop, not only under the floor, but also the roof area from all the moisture in our unit. The dealership contacted Suburban about our issue and Suburban wouldn’t do anything about fixing any damages. We had to stay at a hotel for many weeks while the dealership and Suburban argued about who would be responsible. The dealership finally decided to order us a new unit a 2015 at a price we could agree on. Now it’s 2022 and our WH is leaking just like the 2014 did. Suburban WH is not a good unit, going with an on demand unit now.
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