How not to repair your water heater

**master plumber mark** · 03-06-2011, 03:13 PM

I have not been around since jan of last and I was suprised when I logged on and
actually accessed this forum.... Either I have snuck on or was never banned in the first place......

I had to post this picture of what not to do to your water heater..

this fellow basically flooded out the second floor of his home after his repair
broke loose after two weeks......
.

EVERYONE ENJOY..

**Gary Swart** · 03-06-2011, 07:10 PM

Have any detail on what the guy did? Maybe he should have had some of the miracle stuff ole Billy Mays used to tout! Maybe he was lucky it just flooded the house. Good to see you back. I don't know anything about your being banned from the forum. The only one I can recalled being banned was that crazy-ass redneck. Can't recall his name off hand.

**Hillbilly Man** · 03-06-2011, 08:08 PM

Originally Posted by Gary Swart

The only one I can recalled being banned was that crazy-ass redneck. Can't recall his name off hand.

Twasn't Me!

**Terry** · 03-06-2011, 11:09 PM

Huh? Even I don't know who that would be.

So someone patched a leaking tank, thinking it would last much longer then the tank that had already sprung a leak?
Now that guy could be called crazy.

**Gary Swart** · 03-07-2011, 12:09 PM

Guess the guy I'm think of wasn't banished, but he got cut off by so many users, he finally quit, and no, Hillbilly Man, it wasn't you.

**Terry** · 03-07-2011, 01:21 PM

You're thinking of Southern Man

I love his avatar.

hj · 03-08-2011, 05:20 AM

The dogs in his avatar look like they have "Doggy Dentures".

**ballvalve** · 03-08-2011, 11:38 AM

Good try goob, but he used silicone instead of JB weld. And he made a hundred new holes with all the bolts. And I doubt ASHRAE or OSHA or would be too pleased.

And thats a guy that really needs a thermal expansion tank.

I fix plain outdoor well tanks all the time with a bit of grinding and epoxy and a proper lag bolt or expander and washer. Or brazing. Never had one blow out. the well guys use wooden plugs whitttled and pounded in.

I DID braze a small leak on a 1500$ solar exchange tank/ water heater, and it went another 15 years before it leaked elsewhere. Wouldnt try it in an attic, however.

For a nice clean center of tank leak, a few long hose clamps, neoprene washer, epoxy and a backer plate can make a fairly easy and "safe" repair.

I hear the screams already.

**Terry** · 03-08-2011, 01:38 PM

Patching a tank in an outdoor shed is one thing, patching a water heater on a second floor is just nuts.
I wonder if the insurance company ever saw a picture of the water heater patch?

**Hillbilly Man** · 03-08-2011, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by Terry

You're thinking of Southern Man

I love his avatar.

Oh Ya...
I members him.

Wot wuz his Avitar be4 the Dawgs?

I member he had wun he wuz reel partial ta

Originally Posted by ballvalve

Good try goob, but he used silicone instead of JB weld. And he made a hundred new holes with all the bolts. And I doubt ASHRAE or OSHA or would be too pleased.

And thats a guy that really needs a thermal expansion tank.

I fix plain outdoor well tanks all the time with a bit of grinding and epoxy and a proper lag bolt or expander and washer. Or brazing. Never had one blow out. the well guys use wooden plugs whitttled and pounded in.

I DID braze a small leak on a 1500$ solar exchange tank/ water heater, and it went another 15 years before it leaked elsewhere. Wouldnt try it in an attic, however.

For a nice clean center of tank leak, a few long hose clamps, neoprene washer, epoxy and a backer plate can make a fairly easy and "safe" repair.

I hear the screams already.

Soundz like a damn awfull hacked up mess.

**ballvalve** · 03-09-2011, 09:24 AM

Not everyone has as much money as Walt disney, cant afford a new tank. And you sound like you could whittle a mean plug from a willow branch on the front porch rocking chair. Lube em up with some ear wax before you pound it in.

And a tank with plugs and bolts in it is GREEN, ECO-rated, saved from the chinese steel mill.

As Borat would say, even in Tahikistan, that picture is "How you fix a water tank......NOOOOOOOOT!"

**oreo** · 03-12-2011, 06:29 AM

Haha..

I must admit, I did repair a tank with JB weld some years ago.

After about 3 weeks, the tank started leaking again, so I figured the JB weld had let loose. In fact, the tank had popped another hole.

And this was on a rental

**drizler** · 03-21-2011, 04:51 AM

You know, if I had to plug something like this, say until next pay day and in a basement concrete floor hey why not. Just spare the stupid screws and are those tack welds?? This dude welds worse than he reasons....... The one thing I know that would have held that plate is a nice fat pad of 3M marine 5200 to hold that plate on there. With what he has he it might as well have been cottage cheese. PRICELESS