Water heater troubles!

[fire house 6]

Hello everyone! Wondering if any one has had any troubles with their hot water tanks leaking! Was enjoying dinner with the family and noticed a small puddle of water coming from under the kitchen cabinet. Opened the panel and noticed more water and found that it was coming from an elbow joint at the tank. Seems like the caulking is dried up and a small hole/crack formed allowing a small amount of water to leak!

Any suggestions or advice on how to fix the problem? I did speak with an RV service rep. from the dealer that I purchased and he said that I could use any silicone based product to put around the joint to reseal.

Does this sound like the right thing to do or are there other suggestions?

[Jagiven]

I question anyone who would tell you to fix a leaky pipe with silicone sealant (aka caulk).

You say the leak is from the elbow. Is this the threaded pipe connection? Or from a crimped Pex connection? If it is the threaded connection, it be fully disassembled, and re assembled with new thread compound or with plumber’s Teflon tape.

If you use silicone sealant on the outside of the pipe to fix the leak, the water pressure will push through and the leak will be back and now you will have a mess to clean up before doing it correctly.

[Doug]

Sounds like a threaded connection with thread compound.
The right way to fix it was stated above. Just unscrew it, clean it off, put some thread tape or compound and put it back in.
The only quick fix I have had success with is Plumbers Epoxy Putty. It will hold up to pressure.

Doug

[Monehue12]

Dougtoms01 seems to be right. The Epoxy Putty for plumbing is awesome, works great, and is always a quick fix to many solutions.

[Doug]

I used Epoxy putty to mount my bowed shower curtain in my home to new tile I put up.
I didn't want to drill into my new tile.
Been up for about 5 years, still good.
I used it at work for a lot of different applications. It's sandable and paintable. Even used in on some small steam systems we had to fix temporarily.
Doug

[fire house 6]

Thanks guys! I will have a closer look to see if it is a threaded connection! Thanks again!

[fire house 6]

Thanks for the heads up. Took a closer look yesterday, it was a threaded connection. The plastic male end going into the tank had NO compound or teflon tape on it. Not sure why? What I did notice is that the factory 'putty' on the exterior of this connection was dried up and really not a lot of it applied. So, I added teflon tape to the end going into the tank, tightened it down and added plumbers putty to the exterior of the connection. Hope this fixes it! Thanks again!