Another simple job that wasn't

rrlund · Mar 7, 2012

I had pressed the reset on the water heater a few months ago and got the bottom element going again,but it only lasted about a day. I was waiting til I felt better and it was warmer before I played in the water. Iried to get the element out and it had so much lime in it,it twisted the rods off. Figured if it was that bad,no sense even fixing it,so I went to town and got a whole new one. Nice thing about doing business locally,got the same brand and model as the one that was 20 years old,so I didn't need new fittings or anything,direct change. Only difference was the Energyguide sticker. Said the new one was more expensive to run than the old one. Inflation I guess.

sotxbill · Mar 7, 2012

cost per kilowatt when up???? or new water is harder to heat.

Russ from MN · Mar 7, 2012

That's odd, the new ones are way more efficient than the older ones. With electric the only difference is the insulation, you could add a water heater blanket to it if it is really that bad. Sounds like you should of cleaned it out occasionally.

rrlund · Mar 7, 2012

Trouble is,it's enclosed in the corner of the bathroom and there's no good place to drain it. Made quite a mess today for sure.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 7, 2012

There's a j-shaped fitting you can make with soft copper pipe that helps with stuff like that. Hook it onto the shopvac and go.

rrlund · Mar 7, 2012

Dang it! I didn't even think about the wet/dry shop vac! I made a hose with a valve stem on it and tried to blow the water out the top through the faucet or at least blow the lime away from the drain so I could get it out through a hose into a pail. Didn't work as well as I had planned. Was wishing I had a vacuum pump for a milking machine,but don't have one with a motor on it anymore. I tried pulling the element,was gonna hold a radiator hose on the fitting to get it in a pail. That didn't work either. Just ended up using towels to herd the water toward the holes where the pipes come through the floor.

Real blich of it is,I had to open everything back up again to get to the new one,then take the cover off and adjust the thermostat. Wife said it wasn't hot enough. Darned thing was preset at 110 degrees from the factory. Was in a hurry and didn't think to check that.

Russ from MN · Mar 7, 2012

Most that I've had have a hose fitting on the drain. I run the hose outside and hook an air compressor up to the system. That gets the water out, the scale is another problem. I like the idea of the copper tubing on a shop-vac. I bet they all come set at 110 for liability reasons. If they were at 140 someone would burn themselves and then try to sue the manufacturer. Its not big government, its greedy stupid people and their lawyers!

Dave Sherburne NY · Mar 7, 2012

Why do you have to drain it. I just hook a garden hose to mine and stick the hose out the window. Water comes in the top down thru the dip tube stirs up the stuff on the bottom and out the hose. If you have real hard water do it at least once a month.

johndeereman · Mar 7, 2012

Depending on your water quality good luck on cleaning it out once a month. We got plentifully water but way beyond poor quality changed my water heater in 06 cleaned it first month went to clean it second month couldn't get any water to come out tried putting things in it to make a hole nothing worked even tried air compressor. Old heater was 20 years old and 1/3 full of crystallized junk.

Another simple job that wasn't

rrlund

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sotxbill

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Russ from MN

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rrlund

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Anonymous-0

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rrlund

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Russ from MN

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Dave Sherburne NY

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johndeereman

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