Suburban water heater lifespan

[Sylvain]

Hello everyone,
A few weeks after buying our 2013 13QBB last summer I had a look at the waterheater anode.  It was very corroded.  I believe the previous owner never replaced it.  There was also a lot of debris inside the WH.  I cleaned it carefully and replaced the anode.  While cleaning the inside of the tank, I noticed there was some blue ceramic debris which are probably from the inside coating of the tank.  Is this something I should be worried about?  I'm afraid the tank will rust much faster now that the ceramic coating seems to be damaged.  I'm not sure about the thickness of the steel they used.  Maybe it could last many more years, maybe not, who knows??

Thanks

[DavidM]

The porcelain inside coating does look blue from Suburban's cutaway pics. So the blue particles you are seeing are probably just that. I suspect the coating is flaking away at the nozzle inlets where accelerated corrosion due to the zinc being mostly gone for many years caused it to flake off.

Who knows how long it will last, but you can be comforted by the fact that any leakage won't hurt your aluminum floor. So I would just keep using it and when you see leakage, replace it.

David

[Sylvain]

Thanks David, you're saving me a lot of money!  My only concern is that this thing is going to fail while we are on vacation!  I wonder what's the average lifespan of those Suburban WH?

[DavidM]

Sylvain:

Relax man. If it fails while you are camping there will be a tiny leak. At worst you will have to shut off the water pump when you are not using water so the leak doesn't drain down your water tank. If you are at a campground with hookups then that even doesn't matter. But once you see a leak (if you watch for it) then it probably will be so small that it doesn't matter. You will have lots of time to finish your camping trip and then you can schedule a replacement.

David

[Sylvain]

You're right!  Thank you David.

[Merlin]

At the end of the 2017 camping season, I sort of "power-washed" the inside of my Suburban WH through the anode replacement hole. Note: don't do this. A whole lot of the blue lining and Ca deposits and unrecognizable stuff came out. I used the "opportunity" to replace my gas-only unit with a gas/electric unit. I can report it's a simple operation on the 16TBS because access is so good. So, when yours starts to leak or cause water issues, don't let anyone charge more than a couple hours labor. 

[Pinstriper]

Merlin you need to post a video of pulling out the wh and installing the new.



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[Sylvain]

At the end of the 2017 camping season, I sort of "power-washed" the inside of my Suburban WH through the anode replacement hole. Note: don't do this. A whole lot of the blue lining and Ca deposits and unrecognizable stuff came out. I used the "opportunity" to replace my gas-only unit with a gas/electric unit. I can report it's a simple operation on the 16TBS because access is so good. So, when yours starts to leak or cause water issues, don't let anyone charge more than a couple hours labor.

Thanks Merlin,
I read your post about your WH replacement.  Great information!  When the time comes to replace mine, I'll do it myself for sure just like you did!