Well, after 6 years of full time use my water heater finally bit the dust. Went in to my basement yesterday evening and found a hugh puddle of water. After removing everything in the basement and drying everything I started looking for the source. All the pex fittings were good, I had already changed the plastic check valve to brass, at this point my assumptions was correct. The water was coming from under the tank itself. I have a good mobile tech that came right over on Monday morning, we removed the tank and sure enough there was a hole in the bottom of the tank. I had already called several RV dealerships and parts places and no one had my 12 gal tank. My mobile tech had a connection to get one and I drove 2 hour round trip to pick it up for him was he did a couple more service calls while I was retrieving a new tank. These tanks are not cheap, I flush the tank several time a year and always keep a good anode rod in it. The moral of this story for all you folks that keep a lot of stuf in your basement, I would of never known it was leaking if my basement was full of stuf, I always keep a little area open so I can see if I have any water leaks. I really am amazed of this product lasting so long with full time use. So folks, drain your water heaters and flush out the setiment a few times a year and keep an open area in your basement floor so you can see if any water leaks appear . JMHO Bobby A