My water heater has two control panels: one for the upper thermostat and one for the lower thermostat. The other day I opened the panels in order to adjust the thermostats, and I noticed that in the lower panel, there was some orange residue.
Please see pictures below. The residue seems too orange to be rust. Is this harmless, or is it something I should investigate further?
Best Answer
That is rust from the cover you took off. It is harmless. If the water heater is in a laundry room, some water probably got splashed on the tank and ran down behind the cover. The covers are never painted as good on the back as they are on the front so they rust easier there. The great news is there's no sign of rust inside by the thermostat and heating element. If it really bothers you, you can rub it down with some emery paper and spray some Rust-Oleum on it.