I have 2 water heaters both installed in 2008 when we built our house. We had 1 tank start leaking bad, more like gushing, in May 2012. It was replaced and covered under the 12 year Kenmore warranty. (it is a 55 gallon power miser 12 yr warranty heater). Just this past weekend the 2nd one did the same thing (gushing out the bottom element hole). There had also obviously been water at the top under the blue metal cap, because there were rust streaks down the side of the unit. There was water in electrical junction box on top the insulation inside was soaked.
The warranty tech. had to call in to get cleared to replace this unit. The guy on the phone told him they were replacing too many water heaters, that could have been fixed or were not covered. So he told him that he has come up with a series of test so they could cut back on free replacements. They tried to test if the house and water heater was grounded or not and indicated the tank welds are rusting due to electrolysis. We are on a well with a pump and expansion tank and the guy on the phone said that the water is electrified coming into the water heater, but can't get back out because there is a plastic fitting. They also drained the tank completely via a hose and then sprayed all the fittings and top and bottom elements with soapy water. They then refilled the tank to see where bubbles came out. The bubbles came out from under the blue metal cap that covers the entire top of the water heater,) and under the blue plastic piece where the cold water enters the tank. The guy on the phone said "well that shows you where the leak is, the top of the tank".
The tech ran tests with a meter on the outlets and the expansion tank and said the outlets were not grounded and the expansion tank electrified with fluctuating power (-.6 to + 11 without the pump running) and went down when the pump kicked on.
I came home and checked all the same outlets and the tank as he did and everything was grounded fine and we did not get a reading on the tank at all.
He indicated the water is electrified from the well. we have no other issues with the water (except it is hard and we do have filters and a water softener) or other plumbing.
Is it possible this could be causing the water heaters to fail? He indicated the water could be causing cancer by us touching it, dangerous to drink and an electrocution hazard to bath and shower. (the pipes are all grounded properly to the electrical panel).
The warranty tech. had to call in to get cleared to replace this unit. The guy on the phone told him they were replacing too many water heaters, that could have been fixed or were not covered. So he told him that he has come up with a series of test so they could cut back on free replacements. They tried to test if the house and water heater was grounded or not and indicated the tank welds are rusting due to electrolysis. We are on a well with a pump and expansion tank and the guy on the phone said that the water is electrified coming into the water heater, but can't get back out because there is a plastic fitting. They also drained the tank completely via a hose and then sprayed all the fittings and top and bottom elements with soapy water. They then refilled the tank to see where bubbles came out. The bubbles came out from under the blue metal cap that covers the entire top of the water heater,) and under the blue plastic piece where the cold water enters the tank. The guy on the phone said "well that shows you where the leak is, the top of the tank".
The tech ran tests with a meter on the outlets and the expansion tank and said the outlets were not grounded and the expansion tank electrified with fluctuating power (-.6 to + 11 without the pump running) and went down when the pump kicked on.
I came home and checked all the same outlets and the tank as he did and everything was grounded fine and we did not get a reading on the tank at all.
He indicated the water is electrified from the well. we have no other issues with the water (except it is hard and we do have filters and a water softener) or other plumbing.
Is it possible this could be causing the water heaters to fail? He indicated the water could be causing cancer by us touching it, dangerous to drink and an electrocution hazard to bath and shower. (the pipes are all grounded properly to the electrical panel).