A question for all the plumbers and Plumbing Savvy members

[Anthonyr]

Here's a water heater question for all the plumber Savvy members. Is it possible for a water heater tank to be leaking sporadically from the physical tank not the pressure relief valve or any other plumbing around it but the actual tank leaking sporadically. Or is it more likely that if the tank was going bad it would continuously Leak with a steady flow of leaking water

[The Blur]

Probably condensation on very humid days.

[Paté]

I would look around the bottom seam and check for rust. How old is it?

[Anthonyr]

The tank is 9 years old and a technician came out today and said the tank is fine it's probably your pressure relief valve. Only problem with that is the pressure relief discharge line has a bucket underneath that would catch any water which brings me back to my previous conclusion that tank is leaking and came to his conclusion that maybe he did not see any water on the floor so did not proceed to investigate any further. There was a good amount of water on the floor and can't imagine where else it would have come from but for 2 days the floor has been dry again quite the mystery

[Barnslayer]

The tank is 9 years old and a technician came out today and said the tank is fine it's probably your pressure relief valve. Only problem with that is the pressure relief discharge line has a bucket underneath that would catch any water which brings me back to my previous conclusion that tank is leaking and came to his conclusion that maybe he did not see any water on the floor so did not proceed to investigate any further. There was a good amount of water on the floor and can't imagine where else it would have come from but for 2 days the floor has been dry again quite the mystery

Contact FastPhil.

[FastPhil]

Who?

[StrongBeach]

Is the tank directly and vertically exhausted to the roof ? A roof leak might be the the source of the leak.

[Anthonyr]

no definitely not an exterior leak....if it where to be "going " is it possible that I could just be a leak here and there and progressively get worse

[Anthonyr]

Jeez that was fast.Phil. I was just looking up your name to message you.

[FastPhil]

I've replaced hundreds of hot water heaters and have never seen any leaking sporadically. Remove the burners cover and inspect the inside on the bottom. Sometimes the leak could be on the inside in the flue and the water will drip down on top of the burner. If the heater is off for a while it may start to come out but when the heater turns on the water evaporates. Sometimes you can hear it sizzle when it drips on the hot burner

[spider]

I look for mushrooms on the Sheetrock.

[bberetta1]

They don't usually just leak when the tank goes bad. The entire bottom of the tank lets loose in epic fashion. As in 40-50 gallons of water in your basement type of leak. Ask me how I know.
If it's already 9 years old, better to just replace it. It doesn't have much longer anyways.

[NYDeer]

My old boiler would leak when it went cold. You could try turning off HW heater overnight and see if the leak shows up by morning.

[Anthonyr]

staring at it now and the whole floor is dry. two nights ago was wet. I pulled the cover off and went under neath and there is rusting around the inner bottom around the circumference.

[OH UNCLE PAUL]

They don't usually just leak when the tank goes bad. The entire bottom of the tank lets loose in epic fashion. As in 40-50 gallons of water in your basement type of leak. Ask me how I know.
If it's already 9 years old, better to just replace it. It doesn't have much longer anyways.

actually if you replace the anode and flush it as needed you can get a lot more than 9 years out of it.