Water Heaters

[WVBill]

I built my house and moved in September of 1999. New water heater at the time, of course. It's propane fired and we have a whole-house filter and water softener in front of it. Well water. Northern Shenandoah Valley location.

I've read that average water heater life is 10 - 12 years, so I'm entering "the zone".

I want to avoid the hassles of water all over the basement floor, and the wrath of my wife for not getting a hot shower if/when this thing fails.

So are there any "early warning signs" of impending water heater failure? Is there anything one can do to indefinitely extend the life of a water heater?

Thoughts?

WVBill

 

[George2615]

For what its worth, I had a 50 gallon propane HW heater. Same setup as you with well water, softener, filter. It gave one indication there was a problem and that was we got scalded while taking a shower one day. I went down and adjusted the temp control and it cycled off. The next day was the same scenario repeated. The burner control stuck on and kept heating. This also resulted in using up a whole tank of propane and lifting the (TP) temperature / pressure safety valve which was piped into the sump pump drain. Fortunately for us when I removed the previous heater from the main floor closet I installed the propane heater in the basement next to the sump pump pit so most of the water went there and was pumped out.
1) Watch for overheating.
2) Make sure your relief valve is piped to a drain not just open.
3) Bottom flush the tank occasionally with a hose since even with a filter you still get sediment buildup in the tank.
4) If your in the zone just replace it.
5) Watch for a sudden increase in propane usage.
By the way, when I bought the propane HW heater I was relacing an electric one since at the time propane was cheaper. Now I've gone back to electric.

 

[Kays Supply]

The controls will give a few signs as mentioned. The tank will just go. It might seep or just gush. As a rule ,the electrics will last a little longer than the gas ones. The flue getting hot seems to speed up the tank failing. The worst failure I've seen was on an electric . The lower element just rusted out and popped out. It flooded the unoccupied apartment below. It dropped the sheet rock and had it coming out the door before anyone noticed.

 

[RonMar]

They make heater drip pans with hose drain fittings on them if you are worried about the tank ultimately leaking. This drip pan could be routed/plummed into the same location as the safety relief is. Since it has an outer caseing, a drained drip pan would/should catch all the water if the pressure tank starts to leak. Water temp issues could indicate problems, but not necessarilly require that the tank be replaced. It may just require a heating element if electric, or a flame control/burner or thermostat if gas depending on the design...

Ditto the poster who suggested an occasional bottom cleanout. I lived in upstate NY and had a lower electric element quit(very little available hot water with only the top element working). I pulled the element and found the heater tank full up to the lower element with lime flakes that had formed and continually fell off of the heating element when it warmed the water. I wound up using a homemade nozzel on a shop vac to vacume them out thru the lower heater element hole.

Personally I wouldn't replace it till it shows some sign of failure, such as a leak, as it might last another 10 years. The thing is paid for, might as well run it till it drops... It is not that old, so there have not been any real screaming improvements in efficiency in that time. Water heaters are usually pretty easy to get.

 

[kenmac]

I built my house and moved in September of 1999. New water heater at the time, of course. It's propane fired and we have a whole-house filter and water softener in front of it. Well water. Northern Shenandoah Valley location.

I've read that average water heater life is 10 - 12 years, so I'm entering "the zone".

I want to avoid the hassles of water all over the basement floor, and the wrath of my wife for not getting a hot shower if/when this thing fails.

So are there any "early warning signs" of impending water heater failure? Is there anything one can do to indefinitely extend the life of a water heater?

Thoughts?

WVBill

Mine is gas fired & has been installed about 20 yrs with no problems. Sometimes you can extend the life by replacing the anode rod inside the tank. I have seen a few flues collaspe some old ones & some not so old gas fired water heaters

 

[Doc_Bob]

Mine is gas fired & has been installed about 20 yrs with no problems. Sometimes you can extend the life by replacing the anode rod inside the tank.

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

 

[kenmac]

If It's installed too close to the floor. I guess u would have to remove the water to remove the anode

 

[JoeL4330]

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

I believe they make jointed rods for just such a problem

 

[ray66v]

Sometimes you can extend the life by replacing the anode rod inside the tank.

Also, replacing the dip tube, at the same time, eliminates a common failure point.

 

[Pilot]

Ours is 16 years old, propane. Recently had the inlet and outlet pipes replaced at the top of the heater as it was starting to leak there. The plumber said he thought the rest of the unit was in good shape & said he had seen them last well over 20 years. Quotes I got for replacement ran close to $1,000, installed, which I thought was way too much.

When we had an electric unit in western Montana we had to clean out the calcium buildup every 3 months; if we waited 4 months the bottom element would burn out.

 

[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