How do Know if Your Water Heater is About to BURST?

Hello. Steve here for FurnaceUSA. Have you ever wondered how do you know for sure that your hot water tank needs to get replaced?
There's the obvious way to know, which is there's water all over the floor. But the problem is you don't want to wait that long to figure it out if you need to replace your tank, 'cause at that point in time, it could be an insurance claim, it could be damaged floors, it could be a damaged house. It can run into a lot of money if a hot water tank damages a house.
It's better to know in advanced. If you really wanted to be proactive, just change the tank at 10 years, or sometimes less, in certain parts of the country, depending on your water conditions and stuff like that. If you wanted to be proactive, change it way in advance. But the problem with that is, sometimes your hot water tank can last, in certain areas, 20 years. If you want to be able to monitor it yourself and to see if it's started to show slow signs of leaking, there's certain ways that you can tell.
Tanks usually break in one of two ways. They either go, they flood your house, or they get little early indicators where they get little tiny pinholes throughout the tank, and those pinholes they start seeping out, just a little bit of moisture, start seeping out in and around.
On this tank, there's a little bit of rust around here. You'll see there's a little bit of rust around here. In this one, there's actually a little tiny bit of water in the pan, so this tank has to go. I'm gonna zoom in a second here, and we can see a close up.
First when you look at that, what you're looking at there is there's a little bit of moisture inside the tank. A little tiny pinhole, so it hasn't actually sprung a leak. When tanks spring a leak, you're obviously gonna see water all over the floor, which you don't see right here. However, when you see stuff like this, it's got a little tiny pinhole, and that pinhole started to percolate out.
Now if you look over here, it's gotten a lot worse than that. That same moisture, probably multiple little pinholes, the moisture is coming up, it's leaking throughout the tank, and it's coming up and coming out all those different areas. Those are some real obvious signs that you got a pinhole leak. When you start to see that, the problem is, it can mean that you're heading towards a blowout. That means you want to get rid of the tank.
A more obvious sign, looking down here, is the water in the pan. When you see stuff like that, that's a real good indication that you have a more significant leak. Another way that you can check is you can take the cover off, and just put your fingers down at the bottom of the tank. If you feel moisture down there, that means that the leak is internal. 'Cause sometimes, and not every time, when you see water in the bottom of the pan like this, doesn't mean that you have a leak. Sometimes it just means that you have water coming in there from the blow-off tube, or you have water coming in from the air conditioning system into the pan.
The other thing that you can look for is bulges inside of the tank. For this, you literally need to put your hand on the side of the tank and feel it. What it is, is a whole bunch of rust on the inside that you can actually feel, because this is actually not the tank. This is just a wrapper. This is just the outside of the tank.
If you look right here, this is just an outside shell. On the inside is where the actual tank is. That's where the rusting happens, inside there. But sometimes, that rust can start pushing [inaudible 00:04:02] and bulging this side of the tank out. When that happens, [inaudible 00:04:07], so you can literally feel the side of the tank. I don't feel any rusting or any screaming bulge in this tank. But there's definitely that little rusting up there.
Those are the best ways for you to tell if your hot water tank is starting to go, but other things that you may want to try is running the hot water tap into a big bowl. You can look through it and you can see if it's starting to go brown. Sometimes you can't always tell, in the shower or whatever else. But if you fill a bathtub up with hot water and you start to see a little bit of brown in it, you know that the tank is starting to go, especially if it's only coming on the hot side instead of the hot side and the cold side.

[cookieman]

Replaced mine 1 week ago. The one I removed was installed in 1996. Worked fine for the 3 years I’ve lived here. Water just wasn’t that hot anymore one day. I estimate there was 40lbs of deposits inside. Royal pain in the rear to remove, we couldnt even drain it we had to cut the lines and tip it over it was a mess.

[bellarosamariaboutique]

My furnace area is clean and renovated. Looking at that tank, I would replace the whole thing, it looks disgusting and rusty. I had a hot water tank that erupted and it was 8-years old. With my new hot water tank, I would get it replaced every six years if needed. After experience the tank erupting like a volcano with steam and water sprinkling the top and water gushing out the bottom, and gas odor filling the air. It was a scene, I will never forget. I immediately called 911 and had to evacuate to the front. Next time I have to shut off the hot water on top and turn off the gas that's connected to the hot water tank. Even if I flush the water every year, the sediments stay on the bottom. I have hard water that causes mineral deposits and erosion to form. So it's good to inspect the hot water tank every year to see if its functioning. I had it flushed twice and honestly, the sediments remained on the bottom. So flushing is no use, I would let a licensed plumber to do it if needed.
It is expensive, it cost me $2, 000.00 to replace a 40 gallon and the plumber fills out the application for the permit, and I fill out my part and pay the application fee. Then schedule an appointment with the town inspector to come and do thorough inspection and places a red card if passed. I keep copies of everything and even take a photo of the sticker. As a homeowner, I have to be responsible and in charge of my home to see that every maintenance is up to par.

[johnnymichaelangelo]

Just replaced my tank last night .. 26 years old survived 3 floods still worked fine until bottom finally split from rust..

[alphacentauri]

Just had mine replaced! I noticed water in the pan, rust around the bottom, rust on top seeping out of the hot water pipe. This is one of those potentially dire outcomes if you wait so I immediately had it replaced....didn't even bother shopping around for pricing because you replace them every 10 or 12 years anyway. If you see any hint of rust, replace it right away!

[CerebralAssassin]

Ya I wish I would have watched this video earlier. Just woke up to a swimming pool downstairs. 🤦‍♂️

[trudywarner]

So, I had furnace repair men here last fall. They put in a new furnace and told me they "updated" my hot water heater vent. I have all kinds of rust on top of my hot water heater! I never knew it was a bad thing! Yesterday, I discovered I had no hot water. AND water all over the floor under my hot water heater! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 How could they "update" the vent and not tell me it was about to go bad!??? There are SO MANY profanities going through my head right now!

[MsZXSpectrum]

In my case, my Aquamax 390 was overheating regardless of the setting on the Gas Control Valve. I found out that the pressure relief valve was not working. I replaced the valve, and now the temperature of the water is OK as set. Had I not checked this I am sure one of these days the tank would have exploded.

[KhalidNova]

I’m surprised a lot of videos don’t mention this, but plastic drain valves found on todays water heater can have build up and leak!! A YouTube shorts talked about the exact same symptoms I had, , , boom! 10$ fix!

[thermalrain_yt]

Mine is 8 years old. It has a lot of corrosion around the cold water out it looks like. Also the thermostat has a bunch of rust coming out and draining down the front.
I probably need a new one but hopefully it's just a faulty thermostat. I'm betting it just needs to be replaced though.

[raymondclark]

My home is on a slab. The heater was sitting on the floor and seeping out the bottom.
The water was going under the tile and surfacing in the bathroom about 6' away.
Drove me nuts for about a year til I saw steam coming out the top

[KJTB]

What does it mean when water is coming out of the water heater pipe that points downward to the ground?

[DOK_MOVIES]

As unfortunate as it is, chances are If you are watching this video it is time to replace your water heater.

[pdxraves]

What about a bulge in the top of the a newer water tank?

[matthewmillard]

Have you ever heard of a gas water heater or furnace smelling like lamp oil?for some reason i smell something like lamp oil when I open my furnace room door. Sometimes the smell seaps out and i smell it at the topof my steps when opening tje basement door. The amell is definitely coming from from furnace room. I have had people look at it and they smelled it as well. I cant seem to find anybody that knows why this is. Im planning on checking chimney and turning off the gas. I don't think it's the chimney because I have two carbon monoxide alarms down my basement and none went off. I figured if I turn the gas off I might be able to figure where the smell is coming from. Any suggestions. Ty

[LogCabinHomestead]

Good informative video, thank you for making it!

[Rose-wxct]

My water tank is 25 years old...and it is still working but im thinking i.may change it

[deezimmo]

I had little leaks at the top that were self-sealing from all the built up calcium, that and it sounded like boiling rocks in operation. The water heater was also 20 years old..I did not see the bulge in the tank until the plumber pointed it out as it was towards the back of the tank; as he was replacing the old one. I happened to get to the plumber during a slow time..I think I averted a disaster.

[jonathansgarden]

Mine is rusty and 31 years old. I think it's time to replace haha

[ppumpkin]

When I removed the plastic cap to the anode I felt a little moisture, but no pooling water. After I removed the foam some moisture appeared on the plastic cover in the form of droplets of water. I was able to change the anode, it was in good shape and saw no rust. I replaced the anode, but did not replace the foam insulation. I checked it for a few days and the anode head was dry so I replaced the anode cap. A day later I saw a drop of moisture inside the anode plastic cover. Isn't it possible that this small amount of moisture is just condensation around the tank, since it's heated it would rise to the only open space on the top.

[elsiepersall]

Mine is 11 years old and perks when reheating. It’s time - hereafter I will flush yearly .