Another water heater failure! 6 years

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askolover

askolover

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The gas water heater that was in this house when I bought it lasted around 20 years. The next one GE Smartwater (made by Rheem) lasted 10 years. The next one (Rheem) had a 6 year warranty and lasted 6 years 2 months. All of these had tank failure. I spent another $130 and got one with 9 year warranty. Same brand from HD...Rheem. I have no complaints about the performance. They've all given me wonderful hot water. I know it's the water softener causing the tanks to fail. I don't want to void my warranty on this one but in a couple of years I'm going to install one of those powered anodes and give it a try. I already have one that I was going to install in the just replaced water heater but it conked out before I could get to it. Today I'm going to pull the anode out of the old one and see just how much is left. All total for new heater and some misc fittings and a new gas connector was $818.99 with the heater being $709 itself. I started to change to AO Smith from Lowes since my parents first gas water heater was that brand, installed in 1989, and lasted almost 30 years! But they don't have a softener. I've seen a few videos of AO Smith water heaters not firing due to the air intake under the bottom getting clogged with lint and dust and must have the burner removed and then be blown out with compressed air. I have 4 cats and the heater is in the closet beside my washer so it's not easy to get to. The Rheem's have air intakes around the sides at the bottom and also have a filter inside. I can take the long wands of my Kirby and reach back there to vacuum the side holes easier than the bottom of an AO Smith. Bradford Whites are supposed to be the Cadillac of water heaters, or so I've read, but they have to be professionally installed. I'm not paying someone to do something I can do myself easily.

Funny, I've been "watching" the drain pan lately. There was no water in it last week. Today it was half full. So off I went to HD. Now it's installed and already hot. This 9 year model has a more powerful burner. I sure wish I could get one of those Monel heaters from way back when. It would last forever.

Rant over.
 
"I sure wish I could get one of those Monel heaters from way back when. It would last forever."

I'd love to find an NOS one, truly a "Buy It For Life" purchase.
 
A.O. Smith....

.....is what my plumber always installs. I find that they last just about as long as the warranty does.
I have softened water and did not know that contributes to tank failure.
My water heater is in the garage and I have never had to clean the intake filter or experienced failure to fire.
My plumber tells me that the water heaters are all built the same - all one is paying additional money for is the length of the warranty.
 
A house I had built in 1983 had an A O Smith, but thats back when they were made in the USA, not Mexico. It was still working when I moved out in 2000. I had a water softener from the day I moved in, as the water was 21 grains hard. That didn't seem to shorten the life obviously. Bradford White seems to be a preferred brand by plumbers, and made in USA. They can be purchased from some plumbing supply businesses and self-installed. A coworker did just that this year at his house.
 
Our first water heater

When I moved here the water heater was a 1959 Sears Gas. I installed a new Kenmore 12 year warranty electric unit in 2003, the Sears was still working. 44 years. I wanted electric for two reasons. It is in my garage and a new installation requires 18" above the slab. Not enough room. Also in 2003 it looked like gas prices were rising. New installations here in Calif. require a permit. I did not get one and did the installation myself. To do it correctly is over $1000. Maybe next time I will get the Heat Pump unit with giant rebates. No softener here although the pipes are there and used to be one before me.
 
Water Softener

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is the issue with having a water softener?  Two years ago we replaced a 20 year old water heater.  The insurance company installed one that says a Rheem Professional.  In this house the water is softened before the water heater.</span>
 
What is the issue with having a water softener?

They eat up the anode rods but if they're regularly checked and replaced, it's not an issue.
 
Anode rods

Overly soft water is corrosive (wh anode rod). The trick is to have softner set just to the point of occasional spots on glasses from the dishwasher (w/o using rinse aid). This also prevents glass etching from progressing.

I had a brand new wh leak in about a year, of course warranty picked up but still had labor to pay.

When my last wh blew, was just about to bed but took some leftovers to place in the freezer doenstairs - thankfully the wh had just started spraying within itself. Only had about 2 full shop vacs to dump.
 
The water heater (30 gal) in this house is about 40 years old. I replaced the anode rod about five years ago. It was about 50% gone.

 

The water here is naturally reasonably soft (sierra mountain water) so no softener is needed.

 

The heater does tend to bump and grind while heating, which I assume is from debris at the bottom of the tank. But, no leaks. I drained it about five years ago, some debris. I guess they don't make them like that any more.

 

I have a spare 20 gallon heater just in case. A neighbor was selling his house and the realtor made him replace the water heater he'd installed about 7 years earlier. I've never hooked it up but I figure it would be fine in an emergency. I might scout around for a replacement 30 gallon before the California ban on gas powered heaters takes effect.
 
Does anyone have any experience with heat pump water heaters? We just bought a condo in Palm Springs, CA with a 27 year old gas w/h on a riser in the garage (next to the washer/dryer). We could replace like-for-like, but I'm curious about using a heat pump w/h. Never had the guts to in Michigan (too cold tap water to be reasonable and don't need more cold in the basement), but the desert is a different story...warmer tap water, less need for temperature rise, seasonal use, etc.
 
I've had a GE heat pump WH in a second home for about 10 years. Very happy with it, no trouble so far. Cost $100 bucks or so after rebates and tax credits. Very cold town water,  and a cool basement besides, so recovery is slow but ok. In my basement location it does double duty, replacing a dehumidifier. Too bad you'll lose that advantage in a garage location, but still considerably less to run than a standard electric.

 

What's the consensus on anodes in naturally soft water? Is it worth the hassle of replacing it? A guess on how often might be worthwhile? Same advice for gas or electric?
 
Well, as far as anode rods go, if you're handy and have a very big wrench, it shouldn't be too difficult to pull the anode rod yourself. I recommend getting a spare in advance just in case.

 

If more than 50% of the original is gone, I'd recommend replacing it.

 

Make sure the water heater is braced well before wrenching on it. The last thing you want is for the water and gas connections to be damaged.
 
Greg, you ever thought about a Gas tank-less? That's what Dad  put in at the farm and its wonderful.Water heaters don't last at the farm because, the well water has sooo much mineral content  in it.Its very clean water but, very different water almost tastes carbonated.

My Dad got a Rinnai , I don't know much about them save for knowing I want one but I don't have gas at my place.  I am getting a Tank-less electric when mine goes. There is only one size electric tank that fits in my place a Bosch 38 gallon  and there $$$$ as hell.
 
 
Tankless gas requires a large incoming gas line, a typical whole-house unit has a 200,000 BTU burner.

Tankless electric likewise requires a large circuit, mine is on 120 amps ... 60 amp breaker x 2.

So, replacing a tank with tankless typically requires other infrastructure upgrades, it isn't a simple, direct swap-out.
 
The only positive of water heaters lasting 7-10 years is the sediment build up in some installations ruins usefulness of the water heater. If you ever watch videos of water heater grinded open, some worse case scenarios have the tank literally half full of scale or sediment.

 
@dadoes: Yup, and typically the power company wants to know about it. Most pole transformers are already maximized (overloaded) taking advantage of the thermal inertia of the oil. 100 extra amps on a pole pig already being driven at 200-300% during peak periods can simply pop it.

Truth be, tankless water heaters aren't for everyone. I've heard of many cases where due to the unlimited hot water people take longer and longer showers which off set the savings. A long hot shower with music is very therapeutic from personal experience lol, some only realize this when the hot water never runs out.

Also- if you loose power during a shower goodbye hot water. You don't have any way to finish up as you would with tanked heater. Even a sub second voltage dip from the utility could leave you without hot water for up to several minutes.

Stick with a tank, IMO its the best overall.
 
Tankless water heaters are not maintenance free....https://www.waterheaterrescue.com/water-heaters-101/tankless-water-heaters.html
My neighbor from Germany got one several years ago....she hated it and went back to a tank.
Today I took my impact wrench and pulled the anode....it was gone! I don't know how often it needs to be checked. I've been thinking about turning the water softener back a little. It's on standard settings and only runs every 12 days for two people.
 
"Today I took my impact wrench and pulled the anode....it was gone!"

How old is your water heater?
 

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