Yeah, surface rust can be misleading. My uncle's heater looked fine externally but ended up leaking badly inside.
Definitely agree—better safe than sorry, but no need to jump the gun either."Might be worth getting a plumber to inspect internally before shelling out for a new one prematurely..."
Yeah, surface rust is tricky stuff. I've seen heaters that looked pretty rough on the outside but still had some life left, and others that seemed fine but were disasters waiting to happen internally.
"better safe than sorry, but no need to jump the gun either."
Totally agree with this. Getting it checked out properly is usually cheaper than dealing with a sudden flood... Has the heater been making any weird noises or anything like that lately? Sometimes those little signs can clue you in before things get messy.
Had a similar issue last year—heater looked pretty sketchy on the outside, but it wasn't making any weird noises or anything. Still, I got someone to check it out just to be safe. Turned out the inside was way worse than it looked, corrosion everywhere. Glad I didn't wait too long...
"Getting it checked out properly is usually cheaper than dealing with a sudden flood..."
Exactly this. A quick inspection saved me from a potential basement disaster and probably a bigger hit to my wallet.
Yeah, corrosion inside is no joke. Had mine checked out a couple years back after noticing some rusty spots forming around the bottom. Tech said it was borderline—could've repaired it, but honestly, with the age of the heater, replacement made more sense. Glad I did too, because my neighbor waited too long and ended up with water everywhere... Not fun dealing with that mess. Better safe than sorry in these cases.
Yeah, water everywhere is definitely a nightmare scenario. I remember when mine started acting up, it made these weird popping noises—sounded like popcorn in there. Thought my basement was haunted for a sec, lol. Ended up replacing it too, figured better to bite the bullet than deal with a flood later. Curious though, anyone ever try those anode rod replacements to slow down corrosion? Wonder if they're worth the hassle or just delaying the inevitable...
