leaking hot water tank/heater

[bunchito]

Hello, We have a 1974 Coachman "Sportsman" camper with 57.000 miles on it  and I believe that the hot water tank has rusted out. Since we have limited finances, we were considering buying a used hot water tank but I am not sure if it is a lot of work to remove the old tank and if we can get a replacement tank. The original tank was made by "Mobile Temp." I saw a company online called Arizona Salvage that sells used hot water tanks. Also, we are assuming that the hot water tank is the problem because no matter what you do (ex run the kitchen sink or add water at the opposite side of the water tank, water pours out underneath the area just below the hot water tank.  I though w could travel and just not use the hot water tank but even if we are willing to fore go  not using the hot water tank we are still out of luck because the leak will not let us retain any water for flushing the toilet, washing dishes etc.  Should we consider getting a used hot water tank? Do we have to take out cabinets to get to the old one and install the replacement? Any suggestions regarding buying a used hot water tank?  Thank you so much for any advice.  Btw we are near Albany, NY  The RV places here charge about $125.00 per hour to work on RV;s if anyone knows anyone that is in our area that is really affordable, we'd appreciate knowing that as well.  Many Blessings, Debra aka Bunchito

 

[WILDEBILL308]

You should be able to take the heater out from the out side. You will need to get access to the back on the inside to take The lines loose. then cap the lines. I would check the lines as they may be leaking and not the heater. I had one that was not winterised properly and the lines were cracked.
Bill

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Check the water lines first - they are on the back of the heater as Bill described.

If it is the tank itself, you could bypass it if you don't want to spend to replace. You may already have bypass valves in place - they are often provided to assist in "winterizing" the RV by bypassing the heater tank to save on antifreeze and/or to drain & flush the tank while the rest of the system remains in use.

Finding a used heater of that same brand may be challenging because it is not a common one.  Another, more common, brand (Atwood or Suburban) may not fit the same opening. But all you can do is ask...

There is a list of RV Salvage yards in the RESOURCES section of this site.