My Hot Water Heater was leaking from the valve onto the top of the tank. Now the top of the tank is Erroded quite badly, I think. My question is, is it dangerous now or are those tanks so thick it won't matter. How do I know if it needs to be replaced? What is the danger? Here is a picture of it:

adambration

:confused:

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Originally Posted by CreativeNotHandy

My Hot Water Heater was leaking from the valve onto the top of the tank. Now the top of the tank is Erroded quite badly, I think. My question is, is it dangerous now or are those tanks so thick it won't matter. How do I know if it needs to be replaced? What is the danger? Here is a picture of it:

adambration

:confused:

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The corrosion is most likely lime , calcium build-up and is typical on older water heater valves. Do you have a gate valve or a ball valve at that location?(gate valve will have a round handle & a ball valve has a long strait handle)cant see your pic?

It looks like the damage is to the outer tank, the inner tank looks like it has some rust and corrosion on it but the tank is about 1/8th inch thick so it should be good for a while.
I would save my pennies thought because in the future you will need to replace it.

It is a gate valve, I think. It looks just like the kind of faucet handle you hook a garden hose up to. I think the leak has stopped now that I've tightened the nut, but the top of the tank is erroded away rather than simply having build up. This is what I am worried about, what if the errosion continues and the tank gets a leak or hole in the top?

You have what is called 'electrolysis', which is the result of the joining of two dissimilar metals, namely the joining of copper with the steel nipple inserts of the tank.

Your tank is toast -- Toss the tank.

When you install the new tank, use copper or stainless steel flex connectors instead of hard piping it.