Water Heaters

[GEB]

I just replaced mine about a month ago 40gal propane,
the old one had a install date of 1992.
It sits in my attached garage and started leaking about a gal
of water a day?
Anyway, local guy wanted $700 to do the job, heater and labor. (fair price)
I decided to do it myself, $405 for the heater (Menards) plus about $30 for
install stuff....
So I have a little less than $500 in mine by doing it myself.
Oops, almost forgot I had to feed my brother for his help,
took us maybe 2 hrs.
Gene

 

[WVBill]

Thanks, guys - Mine's in the basement. If it leaks bad it will mess up Christmas decorations (after the season) and other stuff we have stored down there that we can't bring outselves to throw out but haven't looked at in years.

I think I'll just flush it out, replace the anode rod and put a water alarm under it - and wait. tick - tick - tick.....

WVBill

 

[thatguy]

Mine has no room to replace the anode. Not enough room above the rod for removal.
Bob

I have a 'fat boy' water heater (or that is what the builder called it) that is in my crawl space and would have the same problem with not enough clearance...

I will look into the jointed rods, but I reckon unless it was made with one i would have to drain and tip over the heater to get the old one out..

how often does the rod need to be changed?

Brian

 

[JoeL4330]

getting old one out w.o. tipping: raise, cut, raise, cut ...

 

[kenmac]

I have a 'fat boy' water heater (or that is what the builder called it) that is in my crawl space and would have the same problem with not enough clearance...

I will look into the jointed rods, but I reckon unless it was made with one i would have to drain and tip over the heater to get the old one out..

how often does the rod need to be changed?

Brian

Some anode rods have to / need to be changed sooner. But if you look on the tank it will give you a tank warranty 5-10 year etc. That's about how long a factory installed anode rod is good for. A stick of copper makes a good anode rod .But, They will deplete faster than the ones that are actually used

 

[Bedlam]

I was wondering , I see allot of heaters now with single elements on a 40 plus heater. I am assuming these aren't a good thing?

 

[2manyrocks]

The life expectancy of a water heater depends a great deal on what is in your water in your location. There are some areas of the US where water heaters fail relatively quickly, and then there are areas where the life expectancy is longer. There are areas where replacing the sacrificial anode rod will help. It depends on what is in your local water.

The most effective way to extend the tank life is to periodically flush the tank. If you haven't flushed your tank in a long time and then you flush it, however, you are taking a risk that sediment has already compromised your tank and flushing may open a hole.

Water heaters should be installed with a drip pan piped to a drain for that day when, not if, they leak.

It is permissible to install a pipe on the temperature and pressure relief valve to control any water that is expelled from the heater only so long as the end of the pipe is left open and unobstructed so that the actual relief of an overpressure or overheating event is not compromised.

 

[CurlyDave]

I changed the anode on mine about every 4-5 years and it was still going strong after 20 years, when the house burned up. We had very good water.

If you change the anode at high enough frequency you can prolong the life quite a while.

Changing the anode was only about $50, maybe less. This is a great way to reduce costs, and it is a lot easier to change the rod than to change the whole water heater.

 

[kenmac]

It is permissible to install a pipe on the temperature and pressure relief valve to control any water that is expelled from the heater only so long as the end of the pipe is left open and unobstructed so that the actual relief of an overpressure or overheating event is not compromised.

And that this line should / pitched down it's entire length. So many times I see installers run this relief line in the up position. I have also seen installers connect an outside spicket/faucet to this line. I have also seen this line reduced from say 3/4 to 3/8 od tubing, installed with threads on the end so they can install a cap on the end incase it starts to leak... All of which are no, no's. The line should be the same size as the outlet of the relief valve & terminate with nothing on the end