Last couple of days we have had no hot water in the morning but hot water in the evening. Got home today and no hot water.So I looked at the hot water heater and there is water pooled around the line on top the has the valve on it.

I'm pretty mechanically inclined but have no clue when it comes to water heaters. Is there something I can do or is it time to replace it?

Not seeing water pooling, but an electric hot water heater is no big deal to change. Gas- call a licensed Plumber.

swamp first thing is check the breaker, throw it and reset.
since it is electric if it is over 5 yrs old then the elements may need changed out, not hard to do but you will have to drain the tank first. hook up a hose to the faucet on the bottom, then crack one of the water lines on top to let air in so it will drain. wnen empty you can pull and replace the heating elements. pull them first and see if they are coated with calcium/lime or whatever.

plan on a half day minimum to do all this, draining can take a while.

if it is over 8 years old you might want to just replace the whole thng

The water is pooling at this connection. From what I can take its the cold water connection. I don't think the heating element going out would cause it to pool there. Then again I'm not a water heater expert.


Its a Reliance 808 if that means anything

you have a leak in the fitting then, how much water? just a little might even be condensate.

how old is the unit?

I also see a drip on the faucet side, spot under, have you tried to tighten the connections? were these just redone or something? the one in the last pic even looks a little cross threaded, that would make it leak.

Crisis solved


The pipe nipple was loose. So I retaped them and tightened them back up. There was a reset button on the upper thermostat so I pushed it to reset it. I guess it tripped from getting wet where the water was dripping down onto it.

The leaks will not cause you to not have hot water. Looking at the shape the heater is in its time for a change

The leak tripped the thermostat. I reset the trip button and it works fine now.

If those leaks just started, then you probably haven't fixed anything by tightening the post. Go back and check it after a couple of hours and see if it is still seeping. Leaks from the top almost always mean new water heater.