Signs of upcoming water heater failure

[mlafleur]

Hi,
Are there known signs that the water heater is about to give up the ghost? Mine is the original unit in a 2004 Georgetown, and I'd like to know if I should do a pre-emptive replacement instead of waiting for a failure while on the road?
Thanks,
Maurice

[TowPro]

I have never seen a water heater fail. Frozen yes, but not fail

[Bama Rambler]

I don't think there are any telltale signs of the vessel about to fail. Once it starts leaking it has already failed.

You may get some signs of the LP side starting to have problems like the flame going out before the thermostat shuts it off or it failing to light when heat is called for. Basically the same on the electric side, shutting off early or not coming on when called for, but those items don't require replacement of the entire water heater.