New Bradford White Electric water heater nightmare

We are dealing with a host of issues since purchasing our brand new manufactured home from Legacy a little less than a year ago. The latest, the water heater. We have been handed off a number of times from Legacy to the Home Store to Bradford White to Locke. No help whatsoever from any of them. We noticed water leaking outside around the concrete pad. Underneath there is a pipe hanging down leaking water. We called a plumber. Examination of the tank revealed a rusted out surface of the entire top of the tank. It is a 2011 manufactured tank and was installed last December. We are concerned about the safety in using the tank. The plumber said it needs a complete replacement. Since we cannot get any help my husband is planning on purchasing a whirlpool tank from Lowe's and having the plumber install it at our own cost and then filing a small claims suit against these companies. We are extremely frustrated with the service, or lack of service from these companies. I appreciate any information you may be able to give about this water heater issue.

Under a year....your builder should be taking the lead on this for you. Naturally, he will be getting his plumbing sub involved. Bradford White has a much better reputation than this. We can't tell from your description...( photos please!) but no way a tank rusted out or failed in a year. Almost surely caused by some kind of install error. Has a plumbing contractor, or a BW rep...looked at this and told you why it has failed? or why they won't replace it????

We don't recommend the Whirlpools from Lowes, but on an electric, it is probably OK. Be careful on the legal front.....you must exhaust ALL your administrative remedies or a judge may not rule in your favor. Again....this should be in the builders lap.

If it needs to be replaced the plumber will receive a new water heater from a BW dealer, and he will receive $150.00 from BW to install it. It should not cost you ANYTHING since it is less than a year old. Lawsuits only make money for lawyers, and there is no need for one in this instance. More important is WHY it failed, because if it is not corrected, the same thing will happen to the new one. My initial reaction is that there is an electrical grounding problem in the house.

marma-rogers said:

We noticed water leaking outside around the concrete pad. Underneath there is a pipe hanging down leaking water. We called a plumber. Examination of the tank revealed a rusted out surface of the entire top of the tank.

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Most tanks provide corrosion protection on the inside of the tank but very little protection on the outside. It sounds like there was a leak that went unnoticed for too long and it precipitated corrosion of the outside surface. If that is the case, the blame is with the plumbing, not the tank.