Hot water tanks

RNeumann · May 20, 2018

drizler said:
Its a good idea especially if you are on a well to try to think to flush it once a year. I know nobody dies it but its so simple and all you need is a garden hose for a drain. Then get a new annode before the warranty comes up and change that. You don’t even have to drain the tank to put an annode in and its dirt easy.

Good idea!

One of the issues with draining the tank is the tiny hole in the drain- often smaller than a pencil. If one were to go all out they could change out the existing valve for a full port ball valve. This is easier done before it has water in it. But with the tank depressurized and all valves closed it won’t lose much if you work fast. Scale builds up too- most of my experience is on municipal water.

kenmac · May 20, 2018

don't see many BW water heaters around here. See more Rheem than AO but I have had no more issues with one over the other. A few yrs ago, all brands had issues. Much like the HVAC industry is going through with their leaking coils .

PILOON · May 20, 2018

Our condo mandates all tanks be changed every 10 years.

Our tank* leaked a 5 yrs 1 month. Warranty is 5 years.
Neighbor's tank also leaked just out of warranty.

Both leaks caused much flooding damage and that on different floor levels. (water tends to go down)

*it was in appropriate catch pan but the leak occurred at drain valve and shot water upwards beyond the catch pan, either way the catch pan did not align with the floor drain.
No matter as the installation was so badly done that a wall had to be cut open in order to extract/replace the tank.

Because it is a condo only a licenced plumber can do the change that I have done dozens of times for clients.
So that $350. tank cost $1000. installed!

kenmac · May 20, 2018

PILOON said:
Our tank* leaked a 5 yrs 1 month. Warranty is 5 years.
Neighbor's tank also leaked just out of warranty.

yep. 5 yr warranty, usually has a 5 yr anode installed. 10 yr warranty has a larger, or sometimes 2 anodes installed

So that $350. tank cost $1000. installed!

about the going rate for a standard ''swap out'' the more the work on the install, the more it cost

drizler · May 21, 2018

Just so you know. When it comes to huge buildup of calcium and sediment and that tiny drain there is a simple enough solution. Just cut the power and pull the lower element (electric). Then you can reach right inside with any bent wire ect and or a pressure nozzle on your garden hose to loosen and help loosen it up. I once cleared calcium scale so deep on my rental that the element was literally encased in scale. It was 2’ deep and flushed right out. Not fun but it works.
Another FYI is how cheap water alarms are. I just picked up a couple on Ebay and they were dirt cheap. Like under $5. A very good investment if you do like me and run it till it leaks.