"PeterD" wrote in message
...
Now, a stainless tank I could see... Most tank damage is however due
to the effects of a blown element, the voltage from the element to the
tank causes it to quickly eat a hole in the tank.

The technology exists to prevent this. Ground fault detection circuitry has
been available in the marine industry for decades. When you consider that I
just got a flyer advertising an entire Dell desktop computer for $299, the
price of this circuitry would be, at most, a few dollars added on to a hot
water heater. Given the enormous number of hot water tanks sold annually,
economy of scale would keep it cheap.

As far as prevention of galvanic corrosion / electrolysis, if I had a
stainless steel tank I wouldn't be averse to checking and periodically
replacing a sacrificial zinc anode. Come to think of it they could put
screw-in zinc anodes into a regular hot water tank too which would
completely negate any galvanic potential if the zincs were properly
maintained.

Dave