Bob F wrote:
"Percival P. Cassidy" wrote in message
...
On 11/18/08 11:35 am wrote:
DONT MESS WITH ANODE ON SUCH A OLD TANK, IT CAN CAUSE LEAK
As a first-time homeowner in the USA, I had not realized that water heaters
typically have such a short life. My home in Australia had a 25-yr warranty
unit.
Here we have a Ruud gas water heater which looked new enough when we moved in
5 years ago that I thought no more of it.
Now you have me worried. I looked up this unit and found that it had only a
6-year warranty which expired 6 years ago already. I knew nothing about
checking the anode until reading these messages, so I'll do that ASAP.
And I see that manufacturers state that life is related to water pressure.
What is considered reasonable? The last time I checked ours at an outdoor
spigot it showed 80psi.
I assume that a new one is going to have to be installed by a professional?
Typical cost?
If you can do routine plumbing, doing it yourself is not a big deal.
Some building codes require pressure regulators. I think the default
setting is 50 PSI. Some codes require valves to keep water from the
house from flowing back into the mains. In this case, an expansion tank
can protect a water heater by reducing peak pressure.
According to the University of Illinois, water heaters last 13 years on
average. Since many last only 6 or 8, many must last a lot longer. One
plumber says they can easily last 20 years if routinely flushed.
I get a white bucket and connect a length of garden hose to the drain
valve at the bottom of the water heater. I shut off the water heater
and its cold-water supply. Then I put the end of the hose into the
bucket and open the drain valve.
There are two reasons I shut off the cold-water supply. First, I don't
want a mess if I have trouble with the drain valve. Second, shutting
off the supply valve occasionally can keep it in working order.
I turn on the supply valve to flush water from the bottom of the tank
into the bucket. If it's not running clean by the time the bucket is
full, I dump it and flush again. If it had much rust I'd replace the
tank's anode.
Some modern water heaters don't need flushing.
Where water is hard, a water softener can make a water heater last longer.
The last time I replaced a water heater, I had to call a plumber because
I didn't have a crimper or expertise for working with polybutylene pipe.
He charged $100 to make a couple of connections. He was
disappointed that I'd already bought the new water heater. Records show
that he was the one who installed polybutylene in this house, and it was
after widespread problems had come to light. I'm glad I didn't have him
supply the new water heater.