E Z Peaces wrote:
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.
Your plumber did nothing wrong by installing polybutylene pipe. The
massive problems with polybutylene was because of improper installation,
not defective material. Many plumbers first action was to throw away
the installation instructions...they knew every thing already. Improper
assembly and crimping of the connectors was the problem.
I continue to use polybutylene in my home and have NO problems...but I
did take time to read and understand the instructions that came with the
connectors and crimper.
You may have one of the brighter plumbers.
Boden