Kitchen Gas Appliances - Water heater leak

I have an 11-year-old 50 gallon gas water heater made by Smith. The pilot light went out in the early morning hours last night and by late morning the tank was completely cold.

I think I know what happened there. New this year is a vent pipe to outside air that's about four feet from the pilot light. We had our first windstorm of the season last night, so I think that explains the pilot light.

My question concerns the very small trickle of water I saw coming from the base of the heater when it was completely cold. It disappeared after the heater had been operating again for only about 30 minutes or so. I assume things tightened up again due to the heat going back on.

Is this normal? Or should I be viewing this as a problem in the making, and thanking my lucky stars that I got advance warning?

PS -- The place where the hot water outlet pipe connects at the top of the water heater was also a bit wet when cold, but that too cleared up just like the trickle at the base.

Thanks.

-- Russ

Hello Russ. Welcome to my Gas Appliances forum and our Do-It-Yourself Web Site.

I would highly recommend watching the water heater for more water leakage. After 10 years of service, a water heat tank is living on "Borrowed" time.

I would suggest you start shopping around for a replacement tank and banking some "Pocket Change" in the process...:)

I am not a firm believer that wind is always the primary cause for pilot outages. As tanks age and rust, tiny pinholes develope in the interior and exterior of the tank. It's from these tiny holes that water leaks develope.

Heat does expand the metal but sooner or later the rain begins falling and the droplets extinguish the pilot flame. At this time the tank is history. Tank replacement is necessary.

It's also possible the thermocouple is worn out. Replacement may cure the problem if there isn't any pinhole water leaks. be sure the pilot flame is all BLUE and burning HOT. If not, clear the dust and lint out of during thermocouple replacement.

The thermocouple is the element that the pilot flame heats.
This element is located in the pilot assembly where you lite the pilot. The other end screws into the gas valve.

The only differences between T-couples is their length. Be sure to purchase one of the same length as the existing one. Replacements are available at all hardware stores. The package contains a various assortment of holding clips and complete installation instructions.

Use the reply button if you have further questions. The REPLY button will continue this topic in this location. Check the archives in this forum for more information, if needed.

Regards & Good Luck
Gas Appliances Forum Moderator
Tom_Bart Company Enterprises.....TCB4U2B2B
Energy Conservation Consultant & Natural Gas Appliance Diagnostics Technician.
Alway's consider the warranties and future service needs for any major appliances your considering to purchase. Price isn't always the best guide for long term appliance investments.

Tom,

Thanks very much for the info. Very useful. I've decided to start reading up on water heaters and watching for reasonable deals in the marketplace. I didn't see anything particularly alarming about product recalls for gas water heaters at the CPSC web site, and couldn't find any data comparing repair records among brands, so your advice (in other posts) about buying for efficiency and warranty seems sound.

About the pilot flame: it's mostly blue, but with brief "shots" of yellow every 2-3 seconds. Strangely enough, this seems to increase to every second or so when I put the two doors back on. I didn't see any evidence of water dripping from pinhole leaks above the flame.

About the two "combustion air" pipes leading in from the outside. These were put in last spring when I had the furnace replaced. I asked at the time if this wouldn't make the area much colder in the winter. "No, not really," the man said. Not true. There's quite a draft, even when it's above freezing outside. My previous furnace didn't need them. The guy told me that some parts of Colorado don't require them, but now I'm suspicious about his advice. Is it really necessary to have two 6-inch diameter drafty holes? At the very least, wouldn't just one suffice (since I had none before)?

Thanks again.

-- Russ

Hello: Russ

Combustion of any fuel requires oxygen. Air has to enter the closet, room or enclosure where the gas appliances are. The two air ducts are required for proper combustion air.

Therefore, regardless of were in the entire world one resides, does not matter. If an appliance that burns a fuel is within any enclosed structure, there must be an air supply, regardless of outside weather conditions.

There may be two air supplies {Ducts} because of the air volume needed to support the combustion and or one is used as an intake, while the other allows warmer air within the enclosure to escape.

Using the principle of needing oxygen to support combustion {Burning} the service person whom installed your ducting for the heater was correct. However, the part about not required in all parts of the state is rediculous....:D

YELLOW? Pilot? Cleanout the pilot assembly and insure an all blue flame. There may be orange flames because orange indicates dust burning.

So opening the door, wind drafts, etc, which creates a draft stirs up dust which in turn gets burned, causing some orange flames. This is perfectly okay and very normal.

Yes, it makes sense that stirred up dust would cause intermittent yellow in the pilot flame. I'll clean as you suggest, and also continue my search for a reasonable deal on a new water heater.

Thanks again for your responses. You're providing a very valuable service, not only for getting jobs done but also with respect to safety.

Take care,

-- Russ