DIYbanter - View Single Post

wrote:

I almost certainly dont need to say this, but I cant help thinking
theres just that remote possibility: if you unscrew that element theres
gonne be a whole lotta water gushing out.

I was wondering if someone would say that the tank needs to be
emptied before the element is removed.
Emptying is not a trivial matter, unless you have a tap somewhere
that is below the level of the element.
My plumber has installed my cylinder without any means of
draining it. He said that it's easy enough to unscrew the inlet
pipes and attach a hose. Doesn't sound that easy to me.
Once I turned off someone else's inlet tap, and it had not been
turned off for 20 years so it wouldn't go on again. So it pays to
turn taps off and on every few years.

Copper tanks can buckle
during element unscrewing, so it should be loosened a little while
full, then emptied then unscrewed. I would use a fair bit less force to
do it up than it took to unscrew, or it'll never come out again.