Seaward F600 hot water tank 6 gallon in my 1998 Beaver Contessa Viano

[Corey Osborne]

Help

Looks like my water tank is leaking and it appears its coming from underneath the tank, so I am assuming the tank seal or weld  is leaking.  I have checked all connections in the front of the water tank.

Questions is this repairable? If not is there a better for longer lasting option than replacing with the same model by seaward f600? 

I do have hurricane installed as well but not as familiar how this interacts with the water tank.

all feedback welcomed.

[Gerald Farris]

Corey,
You can either replace the tank or just replace the whole hot water heater, depending on how confident you are with the rest of the hot water heater (heating element controls and wiring). The usual reason that the tank starts leaking is because of a lack of maintenance in replacing the anode rod. However, if you stop and think that it is a 17 year old hot water heater, how can you expect on to last much longer? If the hot water heater in your home failed after 17 years, would you complain and look for something that would last longer?

Gerald

[Corey Osborne]

thanks Gerald I would plan to replace the whole thing however wondering if there was better option of newew different unit or if this a solid unit to go ahead and get the same model for an easier replacement process.  I am pretty amazed that it made it that long and I have only had it for a year so highly likely that the rod wasn't replaced either at all or often enough.

[Gerald Farris]

Corey,
In my opinion, the hot water heater that you have is still the best one for your application, and it is still in production, primarily for marine applications.

Gerald

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Cory,
I replaced the tank and anode a year ago or so Cost about $400 from Rixens. Installation was straight forward. I also replaced the old copper heat exchanger as the PO had disconnected it (suspect leak due to freezing) with the "brick" form factor. Cost was ~$280. System working great. I've got hot water using shore power (50A) w/o having to use Diesel and have it when dry camping or on 30A with the Hurricane. I had a Hydro hot in my last coach and have found the Hurricane much better and more reliable (so far). Only downside I see is that if you are on 30A and need air you might not have enough amperage available to use the water heater.
Steve

[Tom and Pam Brown]

Corey, if you go to the website for Seawod they have scratch and dent specials.  I paid $175 for mine and was brand new with no obvious scratch or dents.

[Dick Simonis]

I replaced the one in my PT and bought it from Defender Marine.  They are very common HW heaters for boats.  I like them a lot but figure a 5 year life.

[Joel Weiss]

I replaced the tank and anode a year ago or so Cost about $400 from Rixens.

If that was the price without installation then Rixen charged you full MSRP.  They're available online for ~$250.

[Corey Osborne]

thanks everyone for the quick and insightful info.  can you advise what the copper tube and plate mounted up top of the water heater is?  I assume this has to do with the hurricane system.  Also is seems straight forward replace all lines and wires as you see, beyond the obvious drain, disconnect power and replace as is?

[Joe Hipp]

Howdy Corey, I had to replace the hot water tank in my 1999 Beaver back in 2005.  Had it shipped to Florida and with help from the Beaver Community in Florida installed it.  It is still working ten years later, and I'll knock on wood.  The cost was minimal then.  Good luck.

[Grant Ralston]

Cory, the copper plate atop your tank may be the external heat exchanger that helps heat the domestic water with the boiler coolant.  The photo is our heat exchanger that is outside the Seaward tank.

[Corey Osborne]

Thanks again looks like a pretty straight forward swap though so I will be ordering one and doing the best I can from the campground. and of course I will be back here asking for help if I run into anything.

[Corey Osborne]

a couple questions, is there anyway to just shutoff the hot water tank off and not disconnect the whole coach, my coach is in Parker, AZ right now and being 115 degrees out makes it brutal to have to turn the whole coach off to replace the hot water tank.  There is a switch in the bedroom that appears to control the hot water heater, along with the hurricane switch on the cabinet in the kitchen.  any thoughts on this would be grateful, if I must disconnect full power to coach I may have to leave the wife and dog at home to make this repair. 

[Joel Weiss]

You should have a breaker in the main panel that is dedicated to the hot water tank.  Turn off that breaker and you shouldn't have to disconnect anything else.

[Corey Osborne]

so quick update, got the water tank installed with no issues, I have filled the tank and bled the water lines, I did lose through install about 4 oz of coolant what I need to know is from the attached picture which reservoir of the two are for the hot water tank and what type of coolant if different then that of what goes into the radiator for the motor.  also is there a bleed process to get coolant back into the heat exchanger or will it flow as normal and pull from reservoir once the system starts back up?