Hot water tank question

[giles]

J to the rescue.

Here are my thoughts: elements do go bad. Hoping this is all that happened. BUT if you keep tripping breakers, chances are it is because there is moisture from the tank getting to the elements and causing the breaker to trip.

The bottom element had a hole in it, so water was for sure getting inside that one. Hard telling how long it'd been that way and I'm guessing we just over worked the top one as it was trying to do the job of two. Fingers crossed that this job is done for a couple more years.

 

[Joel]

If you're getting hot water and no leaks you should be good for awhile.

 

["J"]

If you're getting hot water and no leaks you should be good for awhile.

X2.... Good job Dave.... Best part? You saved a bunch of money doing it yourself....

 

[giles]

Thanks guys, I'd rather fail at something than pay someone to come out. Lol

 

[Hoytmania]

You don't have to drain the whole whole tank to change a element. Sorry I wasn't around to help out with this one, glad you got it figured out.

For future reference. Hook up your hose and turn off the supply valve to the tank. Start draining the tank. As the pressure drains off, the tank will eventually get into a vacuum and be starving for air. Once this has happened that's when you break the element loose. Be sure to have the new element ready to go. Screw the old one out and slap the new one in. If you are quick enough you will only get a couple glugs of water out of the hole due to the tank being in a vacuum. The hole for the element is the only place for air to get in. Thread the new one in and tighten down with socket, rewire, fill the tank (which shouldn't take much at all), and then power up. You should have a full tank of hot water in about 30-45 minutes.

 

[5Cent]

Hope you got it fixed Giles. One thing to caution, how old is the tank? Yes elements go, as do thermocouplers, but the tanks themselves do not least forever. If 10+yrs old, I would start saving for a replacement. If you don't have a drain pan under the tank with a hose connecting to a drain, 80gals. of water is not fun to clean up!

 

["J"]

Hope you got it fixed Giles. One thing to caution, how old is the tank? Yes elements go, as do thermocouplers, but the tanks themselves do not least forever. If 10+yrs old, I would start saving for a replacement. If you don't have a drain pan under the tank with a hose connecting to a drain, 80gals. of water is not fun to clean up!

Especially with all the sludge you ran into....

Hoyt, when did they start making the tanks too where the incoming water was plumbed too the bottom and swirled the water too keep the sediment from building up? I thought I read somewhere they had started doing that???

 

[giles]

Tank is 4 years old. It's located about 2' away from my sump.

I'm pretty sure the tank is plastic lined. I didn't get any sludge out of it, it was all salt deposits. Flakes

 

["J"]

Tank is 4 years old. It's located about 2' away from my sump.

I'm pretty sure the tank is plastic lined. I didn't get any sludge out of it, it was all salt deposits. Flakes

May want too consider draining it periodically too keep all the crap outta it.... Should make it last longer...

 

[5Cent]

Good deal man, enjoy a job well done!

 

[NAC1989]

You could consider replacing the anode rods every so often too if it has one. Some tanks don't.

 

["J"]

You could consider replacing the anode rods every so often too if it has one. Some tanks don't.

Read once that the big difference in the low end and high end tanks were the quality of the anodes....

 

[giles]

Never heard of it...

 

["J"]

Ones I've seen are on top of the tank and unscrew out of the top, they sit in the water and attract the impurities.....

 

[giles]

Mine must be broken...my kids are out of control and we've been blaming the water...guess we were right! Lol

 

["J"]

Mine must be broken...my kids are out of control and we've been blaming the water...guess we were right! Lol

Not the water, must the genes lmao.....

 

[Hoytmania]

J, to answer your question. I've not seen a residential tank that was plumbed so that the supply was entering through the bottom of the tank. A lot of commercial units will have that though.

The anode rod is simply a magnesium rod that is thread into the tank through the top. It will take on the corrosion first instead of the impurities in the water attacking the tank itself. I don't know of a manufacturer that if you remove the anode rod that you won't void the warranty. Some people have to on occasion though. I have never put any rhyme or reason to it, but sometimes the anode rod will cause a sulfur smell (rotten eggs). Remove it, and the smell goes away.

 

["J"]

J, to answer your question. I've not seen a residential tank that was plumbed so that the supply was entering through the bottom of the tank. A lot of commercial units will have that though.

The anode rod is simply a magnesium rod that is thread into the tank through the top. It will take on the corrosion first instead of the impurities in the water attacking the tank itself. I don't know of a manufacturer that if you remove the anode rod that you won't void the warranty. Some people have to on occasion though. I have never put any rhyme or reason to it, but sometimes the anode rod will cause a sulfur smell (rotten eggs). Remove it, and the smell goes away.

If I remember right, they had recommended changing it Avery couple of years too extend the life of the tank.... Bad thing is in older houses the lower ceilings sometimes made it difficult too remove them....

 

[Iowa_Buckeye]

I just replaced the anode rod in my water heater this evening and made a video of it. By the looks of the old one, I should have done it a few years ago....
It was about a 15 minute job, and $24 for a new rod at Menards. If you do this within a reasonable amount to time of installing your water heater (4 or 5 years?), you can greatly extend it's life.

I figured some here may benefit from this so did a search and found this thread.

 

["J"]

I wonder if a 1/2” impact would have been enough to break the anode loose? I’ve read and heard of this being done, as well as the warranty length based on the quality of the anode. Good reminder, Larry.