Water leak.

[timitz]

Water is leaking from under the relay on the water heater tank.

[TucsonJim]

Welcome to the forum Timitz. I see you are also asking GDRV for assistance. Due to the holiday, they will not be back in the office until Monday. In the mean time, can you provide a little more info on the leak on your 2600? You say it's leaking from under the relay.

Can you take a look at the water heater, and let us know if it's an Atwood brand (it will have a white plastic drain plug), or a Suburban brand (metal drain plug)? Can you take a picture of the area that is leaking and post it here on the forum? That will give us enough info to help you start trouble-shooting.

Jim

[timitz]

Hi Jim,
It's a Atwood heater. It has steady water coming from under the tank near the relay. There's no connections there that I can see. It only leaks when I have the pump running.

[Cate&Rob]

Hi timitz,

The choices for source of the water are the hose/pipe going in (in your picture), the hose coming out (usually red), the seal around the electric heating element or a failure of the tank wall itself. You should be able to examine the outlet hose and nearby connections. From your description, I am thinking that it might be a loose electric heating element. See attached picture. If not, this is a bigger problem with a failure of the tank itself.

Rob

[timitz]

Thanks Rob,
I thought there were just wires in the relay box. I just bought it last summer and only my second time using it. My first time using the water system this year and discovered this. ☹️

[timitz]

My mistake Jim, it's a Dometic.

[TucsonJim]

My mistake Jim, it's a Dometic.

To me, it's still an Atwood water heater. Dometic acquired several of the Atwood components and sells them under their name now.

Jim

[Country Campers]

If the leak is only present when the pump runs I wonder if it is the valve. It might have a crack or pin hole on the under side that sprays back under the heater. Could also be a similar problem with one of the hose ends there as well.

Brian

[timitz]

Thanks for your help Brian,
I don't see any valves on the bottom.

[Country Campers]

Thanks for your help Brian,
I don't see any valves on the bottom.

The valve in the picture you posted, also the fittings, if these have a leak it could spray in any direction.

Brian

[Yoda]

Do you have a second helper? Try this - dry everything and then place sheets of paper towels under everything. Have someone turn the pump on and watch. You should be able to tell the direction and source of the leak as the towel gets wet. The only other way I know of is drain everything and use air pressure in your system (30psi) then use a soap solution around all the connections. But this does leave a sticky mess.

Good luck

[timitz]

Thanks everyone for your help. I eventually had to remove the heater to find it. It was a crack in the tank on the bottom right near the heating element and relay box.

[howson]

Thanks for the follow-up!