mobilehomerepair.com

so my water heater went out.

not too big of a deal. I caught it early.
I didn't have time to fully dig into it but it looks like the leak is toward the top. as when I drained it, it still had a lot of water in it.

got the carpet pulled up. the water soaked up. fans on the areas drying it out.
will need to get under the belly later to pull insulation.

I don't think I have any major resulting damage.


I'm about to head to lowes to buy a new water heater.

checking online they have a replacement mobile home style heater which will be plug and play,
then a standard water heater that i'll have to modify the connections to. I can do the plumbing.

in addition as I set the new heater up. I'm going all the way and putting in a frame for it to sit on. putting in a pan and having the pan drain out to prevent this from happening again.

is there any advantage to going to with a standard water heater than a mobile home one?

only advantage I can find is that if I can standard I can get a much bigger heater or things like wifi. but I have no interest in any of that stuff.

the options are mobile home 40 gall heater. or a standard 50 gal heater.

thoughts?

I think you will find a big price difference the two. Do some quick measuring and see what fits. I went with a 40 gal standard unit.

Greg

Buy a standard. Install a pan, run out pressure relief line and pan drain separate through skirting/foundation

Went to lowes


389 for 40 gal mobile home
359 for 40 standard

I bought a 50 standard for 389

Got home and dummy me like a morron didn't measure. I couldn't get it into the space.

So I went back and tried to get a 50 gal tall skinny one. Out of stock.

Got a 40 gal standard skinny

Installed it and dummy me picked up the wrong size shut off valve.

I've got to go out of town tomorrow for work so I just straight piped it for now so the family will have hot water.


Luckily all the subfloor (plywood not particle board) has dried out nicely.

You found out my criteria the hard way: it ain't price, it's what'll fit. I also have a hard time finding pans small enough;, no strike that. I have never found pans small enough

Regarding water heater pans.
If you are unable find a pan that fits use shower pan lining material or TPO/EPDM roofing material.
Above materials are all durable. Drill hole for drain in bottom of material and use a 3/4 inch MIP PVC adapter with lock nut and bushing.
Fasten pan material aprox three inches up sidewalls (tack/staple) around back, slide water heater in and then tack up front.
You may need to slice/drill holes for water lines. Just caulk around those.
Remember, this is a non pressurized drain and the water/leak will take the path of least resistance.
Pans fit on 90% of jobs. If you own a park that is mostly pre HUD stock/homes then using a rubber membrane as listed above is probably the only way to go.