D'oh! Water heater leaking...and maybe more

CJ Martin

CJ Martin

Member
Oct 4, 2006
762
Great Mills, MD
Boat Info
2002 320DA
Engines
350MAG Horizons / V-drives
:smt013

I finally recommisioned my fresh water system last weekend and on the way I noticed the bilge pump came on for a couple of seconds as we came off plane. Now I think I know where some of that water is coming from...I found a puddle of water coming from under the water heater. All the hoses are tight, and the puddle is fresh water.

For now I've shut off the hot water heater supply at the manifold. It's a pretty slow leak, as my water tank was still reading full a week after filling. In fact it is slow enough that I am suspecting a second leak, as there seems to be a fair amount of water under the port engine. I need to do the taste test and see if it is salty. If it is, it is likely the new raw water pump is leaking. I did check all the hose clamps but didn't find any loose.

So is five years a typical marine hot water heater lifespan, or am I just lucky? Looks like it will be a bear of a job, have to pull a riser for sure and probably the manifold. :smt021

-CJ
 
It's possible the heat exchanger is starting to go. From what others have said on CSR and on other boating forums, the pipes corrode right where the hoses from your engine attach to the hot water heat exchanger. If it's salty water under the heat exchanger then that's probably what's leaking.

At any rate if it ever totally fails when you are on the water you will be in a heap of trouble unless you have a fitting onboard to splice the two hoses together that come from the engine and go into the hot water heater.

You might want to read this posting.
http://www.byowneryachts.com/forums/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1076&highlight=water+heater
 
If its fresh water it is not likely to be the heat exchanger since you are in brackish water and the heat exchanger should by heated by the coolant side of the engines water system if you have a closed cooling system.

Five years seems short to me.......I've had 2 boats in 20 years, kept each 10 years (so far) and I put a water heater in the old boat in the 10th year and it was sea water cooled in salt water.

I'd first check everything for leaks first.......pop off, heating element, drain fitting as well as the regular hot and cold and heat exchanger fittings.

The worst that can happen is a day's hard labor if you have to replace it....a new stainless steel heater isn't that expensive unless you go to the dealer.
 
Thanks Frank, will do. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. The water appears to be seeping out under the left front corner of the water heater, so I'm not too hopeful it will be something easy.

What I think I can do short of removing the tank (which at a minimum will require removing a riser to gain access) is to try and open up the tank housing and see what the inside of the tank looks like.

Never a dull moment.

-CJ
 
You are right, it is always something. At this point, if I were you, I'd just try to eliminate the tank as a source of the leak. If it is the tank, the only logical step is to replace the whole heater......and those new water heaters with the stainless steel case are really cool looking!
 
Thank you all for a good string of posts. I will make an addition to my 'to do' list. I just took out a spare water hose before splashing yesterday. I better make sure I don't need it, and that I also have all the hardware on board to bypass the hot water heater and cabin heater if necessary.

With FWC, I would be in trouble if my hwh sprang a leak.
 
This morning I used a shop vac to get as much water out of the bilge as I could so I'd have a reference point. There wasn't that much in there to begin with - less than 5 gallons. We took a short run up the Patuxent and dropped the hook. I checked the bilge then - no new water. I should point out I have my water heater supply shut off at the manifold.

Returned back to the slip and again, no new water as far as I can tell. there is a bit of water still coming from the water heater but I'm guessing that's just what is left in the tank.

At this point, it's looking like the water heater is the source of my leak. Boatfix has the same model for ~ $250...now we'll see how long the wife can live without hot water on the boat.

-CJ
 
Update: Looks like I may have gotten lucky.

I was able to crack open the water heater "box" to gain access to the fittings leading into the actual water tank. Once I had the box open, I found it was full of fiberglass insulation - not unexpected. Then I noticed the fiberglass was bone dry. Hmmmm...

I pressurized the hot water side and could not see any leaks from the fittings. looking around the water heater I found water dripping behind and forward of the water heater. The source of the leak turned out to be the brass cap on the hot water side of the water manifold. Tighted the cap (being very mindful that the manifold itself seems to be plastic) and the drip stopped. Had a beer, did some other work on the boat and an hour later still no drips. :smt038

-CJ
 
Hey Chris,
Isn't it nice when the fix turns out to be something relatively simple, and cheap (time and bloody knuckles not included)

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