Plumbing and leaking water heater

[Road Pest]

Hi,

I've got a water heater that recently leaked and needed to be replaced apparently.

The plumber originally said the issue was from the top of the tank where the pipes had gone in. Photo I took after it was out.



I asked for a report and photos for the insurer after he had replaced the water heater and all he said was "All we can say is that the tank had signs of over expansion which cause the cylinder to fracture.".

Photo he provided was:



Looks to me like he bumped it moving it to me! I googled over expansion of water heater and nothing came up.

Am I right in thinking that he's giving me a load of BS or is does it sound right?

Thanks,

Pest.

[Road Pest]

BUMP for the evening.

[caziques]

It's not obvious from the photos - but what sort of cylinder was it? ie what was it made from?

All cylinders will fail from old age eventually - I see yours has a temperature/pressure relief valve which suggests mains pressure.

[Road Pest]

caziques said:

It's not obvious from the photos - but what sort of cylinder was it? ie what was it made from?

All cylinders will fail from old age eventually - I see yours has a temperature/pressure relief valve which suggests mains pressure.

Can't find the model details unfortunately. It was about 10 years old though.

[Road Pest]

Boiler in situ...

[Deva Link]

Road Pest said:

I asked for a report and photos for the insurer ...

On what basis would you hope/expect it to covered - I would probably never have thought of claiming for something like this?

[Road Pest]

Deva Link said:

On what basis would you hope/expect it to covered - I would probably never have thought of claiming for something like this?

I didn't to be fair, someone suggested I try. The post was more about whether what the plumber has told me sounds right.

[Gingerbread Man]

Over expansion is why the pressure relief valve is there. If this failed then a fitting would eventually go under the building pressure.

[caziques]

With all the rust evident, it suggests to me a steel cylinder with a ceramic lining.

If this is the case these types of cylinder can easily fail when the ceramic cracks or with certain types of water. (In NZ a sacrificial anode is installed as well to give longer life).

Ten years isn't as bad as some I've heard of - mine lasted 20 years - a couple of thousand earthquakes finished it off recently so I got a replacement paid for but it wouldn't have lasted much longer.