I purchased my boat with a soft subfloor in the aft cabin and around the bottom of the cabin steps, presumably from a leaking water heater. At some point during the last year the leak started again at one of the elbow fittings. The floor was now noticeably worse, so I went ahead and ripped out the aft cabin subfloor, and cut out the section of soft subfloor in the galley. Some sections were so wet they disintegrated upon removal. Thankfully the teak floor was fine, so I just replaced the subfloor with new epoxy coated marine ply. I took pictures throughout the process if anyone has interest in seeing it.
Which leads me to my question. I've owned several of these Seaward 6 gallon water heaters over the years and I know they don't last forever. I'm working under the assumption that this one will eventually leak. Unfortunately the current layout in this boat causes the water heater to leak onto the subfloor -- and unless I keep a constant eye on the water heater, could leak for quite awhile before I would notice. Has anyone made any modifications so that it would more easily drain down into the bilge? I'm thinking about drilling some holes in the shelf that it sits on, but I need to get a endoscope to see what's under there. Thoughts? Other ideas?
Which leads me to my question. I've owned several of these Seaward 6 gallon water heaters over the years and I know they don't last forever. I'm working under the assumption that this one will eventually leak. Unfortunately the current layout in this boat causes the water heater to leak onto the subfloor -- and unless I keep a constant eye on the water heater, could leak for quite awhile before I would notice. Has anyone made any modifications so that it would more easily drain down into the bilge? I'm thinking about drilling some holes in the shelf that it sits on, but I need to get a endoscope to see what's under there. Thoughts? Other ideas?
