Water heater pan has water in it

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What’s gone wrong? DIY for someone who’s never seen the guts of a water heater?

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It's either leaking or if you don't have a drain for the pressure relief valve it could have come out of it I suppose.

Probably leaking though.

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Is it in your attic?

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Luckily, no and the foooring is concrete. Still don’t want overflow though.

Is 8 yrs a typical lifespan? AO Smith fancy pants unit.

I caught some water in my pan recently. Went downstairs and turned on a hot water faucet and went back to observe. It was leaking from the very first fitting coming out of the heater that connects to Pex.

If its leaking, I’d drain it and have someone check it.

So I pulled the clear tube from the overflow pipe and stuck it in a bucket to see if that's the source of the water.

That's such a weird setup.

That pan should be plumbed to drain outside.

The clear tube is probably a thermal expansion valve. This is different from a pressure/temperature relief valve.

The thermal expansion valve can be substituted for thermal expansion tank in a pinch. These are for when the water is heated and then expands because I don't fricking know why ask a scientist.

The TEV is made to operate frequently and not malfunction from mineral deposits. A P&T relief valve is only made to function in an emergency.

Now where the water in the pan is coming from is the mystery. Def keep a very close eye on it until you can determine the cause. Looks like everything is plumbed into a drain so that leaves a leaking fitting or a rusted out tank. Depending on the water source tanks can last decades or just a few years.

ETA.: I see the pvc is plumbed to the pan and not to drainlines. I'd guess the pressure/temperature valve is failing. But it could be the thermal valve is just doing its job. Though that vale should really be plumbed to a drainline though.

Pour a little 50/50 clorox down the pan drain.

It's hard to tell but it looks like the the pvc line on the pan goes through the baseboards. If not, there is some crackheadary afoot with whomever installed it.

A drain line would be nice.

Some revelations

- the clear tube is at least 1 source of water in the pan. a bucket now is collecting water from the tube. can't tell what the tube is hooked to as the heater is too close to the wall.

- the heater is still under warranty!...until 3/24
it's a 10 yr warranty from date of manufacture