How much torque can one apply to a fitting, say an anode screwed into a
hot water tank, before getting into the area where one needs to be
concerned about the integrity of the tank itself?

I suspect that it's new water heater time, or close to it, but I was
pleasantly surprised when I removed the anode from another tank of
similar age (in the same house) and found it well corroded but not so
much that it would indicate that it had been without protection for any
length of time. So I'd prefer to simply inspect this one, replace if
indicated, and keep on using it if I can, being a cheap
bas^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hfrugal person.

I had a 18" long, 1/2" drive breaker bar on it and it was flexing to the
point where I was concerned about snapping the bar. (I may or may not
have been using an unapproved extension on said bar...) I have a
beefier 3/4" drive bar but I'm wondering if a person of average or
slightly more than average strength can actually break the tank by doing
this.

I've been pretty lucky so far, I've R&R'd two drain spigots, one T&P
valve, and one anode without busting anything, as well as R&Ring the
spigot and anode on a one year old tank in the garage. This is
hopefully the last part I need to break loose to provide me with peace
of mind, although you just know that now that I've said that the other
T&P valve will fail

nate

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