On Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 5:00:05 PM UTC-5, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 6 Aug 2015 09:44:06 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

On 8/6/2015 1:14 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 05 Aug 2015 23:51:55 -0500,
wrote:


It depends on he water PH. I once lived in a house with well water that
was very acidic. It actually ate copper pipes, and water heater elements
had to be replaced every 3 or 4 years.

I worked for a guy who lived in a town that had very high calcium in the
water. In 3 years, his water heater was half filled with lime particles.
The lower element was buried in it. I tried to flush out all the lime,
but it was not possible. That 3 year old water heater had to be
replaced. Everyone in that town has that problem.

So, this question has no answer.....

You're right. I guess I meant in absence of history or neighbors sayin
that WH wear out soon, he shouldn't assume it will happen soon.

And since they sell elements many places and it doesn't take more than
an hour to put one in, there's no rush.


I read some where that if you crank out the drain
valve from the WH, and put in a full flow ball
valve, you can drain a lot more crud than what
the angle valve (provided) does.

That's at most only if there is crud to drain out. Mine had hardly any.

There have been a lot of posts over the years about that valve.

There are some water heaters that have a dip tube designed to swirl the water around in the bottom of the tank as the cold water enters. The swirling water keeps the sediment from settling in the bottom up the tank. Is that the type of heater you have? ^̮^

[8~{} Uncle Water Monster