This was a Sears electric water heater, 50 gallons, with upper and
lower thermostats and heating elements.***

This second WH was bought about 13 years ago.

Now that it is open I see that:
THERE IS NO SACRIFICIAL ANODE. This accounts for why I couldn't
figure out a few years ago how to remove and replace it. I thought
EVERY electric water heater had a sacrificial anode to combat
electrolytic destruction of the metal case, so as to prolong the life
of the case, by postponing leakage. WHAT GIVES? This is especially
displeasing since I have another Sears WH to install later today or
tomorrow. SHOULDN'T EVERY GOOD ELECTRIC WATER HEATER HAVE A
SACRIFICIAL ANODE?

The cold water input tube is made of plastic. It reaches almost to
the bottom of the tank and then curves around in a 270 degree arc.
This I'm sure makes the water swirl around when cold water enters the
tank and is the reason they advertise turbo-swirl action. (Which I
think they somewhere explain keeps the sediment from forming a
mountain, but rather a mesa. I think they are more tactful than I
am here)

There is NO hot water output tube, and no evidence so far that there
ever was one. The water rises to the very top of the tank, and leaves
through the pipe that comes out of the top.


The glass lining is not very apparent. Before cutting it open, both a
friend and I stuck our fingers in the hole for the heating element and
felt the inside. It felt like metal, making us wonder where the glass
was. Now that it is open, about 95% of the inside seems to have a set
of black streaks on brown, like some sort of cheetah skin or some wild
cat. It feels like metal. On closer inspection, 5% of the surface,
especially part of the "ceiling", the top, seems to be plain light
brown and smooth, and feels like a cross between glass and a plastic
surface. And the patterned area rubs off after a few rubs with my
finger, showing the plain light brown underneath. So the light brown
must be the glass and the streaks must be deposits from the water.
The glass shows no sign of breaking, even next to where I sawed around
the circumferance. Although I haven't yet reached the bottom of the
tank.

Both the lower element and the drain are about 7 inches** from the
floor (or in my case, the pan the WH sat in.) OTOH, the water still
in the bottom of the WH is 1 1/2" deep, even though the drain valve
was 7 inches above the floor. That must be because when I tip the WH
in one particular direction, water leaks out though the same hole that
made me get a new water heater. (I think there was a leak, but I
can't quite remember now. It's been 8 months.)

**For the new water heater, bought 8 months ago, the drain valve has
been moved to below the bottom heating element. It's now only 4 inches
high instead of 7. I don't know if this is good or bad. It seems to
mean that one can drain the sediment BEFORE it is as high as the
heating element. Why did they make it the same height in the first
place? (But I'm not going to do any sediment draining.)

**The valve on the new one also doesn't point straight down, more like
"Southeast", if Up were north. I thought this was an assembly error,
but maybe it was to make it easier to attach and route a garden
hose???????

In the bottom middle of the water is a 3" circle of sediment. I have
to cut another big section from the sides to reach this part, but the
sediment seems no more than a half-inch, maybe 3/4 inches deep. As
such, after at least 12 years, it was more than 5 inches from fouling
the lower heating element. Bearing in mind that the tank is only 3
inches wide at the half inch deep mark, but 16" wide at the 4? inch
deep mark, or in area the ratio of 9 to 256 I guess with my water,
which is city water almost entirely from reservoirs and is neither
hard nor soft, the sediment would not have reached the heating element
for 300 years.

The water heater never had the sediment drained out. It never had the
valve at the bottom opened until I tried to drain the tank prior to
replacing it.



The WH is 21 1/2 inches in diameter, but that is at the top which is a
little bigger than the middle because there is a rim around the top
(and the bottom). When the outer metal shell is cut off, and the stiff
foam is removed, the water heater is 16" in diameter.

The foam is covered underneath and above with a continuous sheet of
clear vinyl. It's 2 1/2 inches thick all around Except about 6 inches
where the heating elements and thermostats go, where it is filled top
to bottom with a soft fiberglass batt.

Also, the top and bottom of the water chamber are semi-spherical. The
top lid is put on so there is at most 1" of foam the top most point of
the sphere. Maybe less. I haven't gotten those parts apart yet. I'm
sure the bottom is also less than 2 1/2" but I don't even have an
estimate of that yet.


*** Its arrangement of parts, its owners manual, and its component
parts (heating elements and thermostats) was almost identical to the
house's original water heater that it replaced. That one was made by
A.O.Smith and was 65 gallons (for a 3-bedroom moderate-sized
townhouse.) In fact that is why I bought my WH from Sears. A.O.Smith
doesn't seem to sell one at a time, and Sears's was the only one I
could find which had the hot and cold water pipes at the same distance
from each other as the previous WH. (So I'm compulsive. Sue me.)

On Jan 16, 4:16�pm, mm wrote:
This was a Sears electric water heater, 50 gallons, with upper and
lower thermostats and heating elements.***

This second WH was bought about 13 years ago.

Now that it is open I see that:
THERE IS NO SACRIFICIAL ANODE. �This accounts for why I couldn't
figure out a few years ago how to remove and replace it. �I thought
EVERY electric water heater had a sacrificial anode to combat
electrolytic destruction of the metal case, so as to prolong the life
of the case, by postponing leakage. �WHAT GIVES? �This is especially
displeasing since I have another Sears WH to install later today or
tomorrow. �SHOULDN'T EVERY GOOD ELECTRIC WATER HEATER HAVE A
SACRIFICIAL ANODE?

The cold water input tube is made of plastic. �It reaches almost to
the bottom of the tank and then curves around in a 270 degree arc.
This I'm sure makes the water swirl around when cold water enters the
tank and is the reason they advertise turbo-swirl action. �(Which I
think they somewhere explain keeps the sediment from forming a
mountain, but rather a mesa. I think they are more tactful than I
am here)

There is NO hot water output tube, and no evidence so far that there
ever was one. �The water rises to the very top of the tank, and leaves
through the pipe that comes out of the top.

The glass lining is not very apparent. �Before cutting it open, both a
friend and I stuck our fingers in the hole for the heating element and
felt the inside. �It felt like metal, making us wonder where the glass
was. �Now that it is open, about 95% of the inside seems to have a set
of black streaks on brown, like some sort of cheetah skin or some wild
cat. It feels like metal. �On closer inspection, 5% of the surface,
especially part of the "ceiling", the top, seems to be plain light
brown and smooth, and feels like a cross between glass and a plastic
surface. �And the patterned area rubs off after a few rubs with my
finger, showing the plain light brown underneath. �So the light brown
must be the glass and the streaks must be deposits from the water.
The glass shows no sign of breaking, even next to where I sawed around
the circumferance. �Although I haven't yet reached the bottom of the
tank.

Both the lower element and the drain are about 7 inches** from the
floor (or in my case, the pan the WH sat in.) �OTOH, the water still
in the bottom of the WH is 1 1/2" deep, even though the drain valve
was 7 inches above the floor. �That must be because when I tip the WH
in one particular direction, water leaks out though the same hole that
made me get a new water heater. �(I think there was a leak, but I
can't quite remember now. It's been 8 months.)

**For the new water heater, bought 8 months ago, the drain valve has
been moved to below the bottom heating element. It's now only 4 inches
high instead of 7. I don't know if this is good or bad. �It seems to
mean that one can drain the sediment BEFORE it is as high as the
heating element. � Why did they make it the same height in the first
place? �(But I'm not going to do any sediment draining.)

**The valve on the new one also doesn't point straight down, more like
"Southeast", if Up were north. �I thought this was an assembly error,
but maybe it was to make it easier to attach and route a garden
hose???????

In the bottom middle of the water is a 3" circle of sediment. I have
to cut another big section from the sides to reach this part, but the
sediment seems no more than a half-inch, maybe 3/4 inches deep. �As
such, after at least 12 years, it was more than 5 inches from fouling
the lower heating element. �Bearing in mind that the tank is only 3
inches wide at the half inch deep mark, but 16" wide at the 4? inch
deep mark, or in area the ratio of 9 to 256 I guess with my water,
which is city water almost entirely from reservoirs and is neither
hard nor soft, the sediment would not have reached the heating element
for 300 years.

The water heater never had the sediment drained out. It never had the
valve at the bottom opened until I tried to drain the tank prior to
replacing it.

The WH is 21 1/2 inches in diameter, but that is at the top which is a
little bigger than the middle because there is a rim around the top
(and the bottom). When the outer metal shell is cut off, and the stiff
foam is removed, the water heater is 16" in diameter. �

The foam is covered underneath and above with a continuous sheet of
clear vinyl. It's 2 1/2 inches thick all around �Except about 6 inches
where the heating elements and thermostats go, where it is filled top
to bottom with a soft fiberglass batt. �

Also, the top and bottom of the water chamber are semi-spherical. �The
top lid is put on so there is at most 1" of foam the top most point of
the sphere. Maybe less. I haven't gotten those parts apart yet. �I'm
sure the bottom is also less than 2 1/2" but I don't even have an
estimate of that yet.

�*** �Its arrangement of parts, its owners manual, and its component
parts (heating elements and thermostats) was almost identical to the
house's original water heater that it replaced. That one was made by
A.O.Smith and was 65 gallons (for a 3-bedroom moderate-sized
townhouse.) �In fact that is why I bought my WH from Sears. A.O.Smith
doesn't seem to sell one at a time, and Sears's was the only one I
could find which had the hot and cold water pipes at the same distance
from each other as the previous WH. (So I'm compulsive. �Sue me.)

the sacrifical anode, or what remains of it is likely mixed in the
crud in the bottom of the tank

On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:00:44 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:



?*** ?Its arrangement of parts, its owners manual, and its component
parts (heating elements and thermostats) was almost identical to the
house's original water heater that it replaced. That one was made by
A.O.Smith and was 65 gallons (for a 3-bedroom moderate-sized
townhouse.) ?In fact that is why I bought my WH from Sears. A.O.Smith
doesn't seem to sell one at a time, and Sears's was the only one I
could find which had the hot and cold water pipes at the same distance
from each other as the previous WH. (So I'm compulsive. ?Sue me.)

the sacrifical anode, or what remains of it is likely mixed in the
crud in the bottom of the tank

I don't know.

Where would it have been attached? There is no sign of an attachment
place in the top of the WH or the bottom. They are both smooth except
the top has a hole for the input and a hole for the output.

And there is definitely no hole in the top of the WH where one can
unscrew it from the outside and replace it.

I don't think there is any place on the sides either. Do they ever
put it threre?

On Jan 16, 7:23 pm, mm wrote:
On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:00:44 -0800 (PST), "

wrote:

?*** ?Its arrangement of parts, its owners manual, and its component
parts (heating elements and thermostats) was almost identical to the
house's original water heater that it replaced. That one was made by
A.O.Smith and was 65 gallons (for a 3-bedroom moderate-sized
townhouse.) ?In fact that is why I bought my WH from Sears. A.O.Smith
doesn't seem to sell one at a time, and Sears's was the only one I
could find which had the hot and cold water pipes at the same distance
from each other as the previous WH. (So I'm compulsive. ?Sue me.)

the sacrifical anode, or what remains of it is likely mixed in the
crud in the bottom of the tank

I don't know.

Where would it have been attached? There is no sign of an attachment
place in the top of the WH or the bottom. They are both smooth except
the top has a hole for the input and a hole for the output.

And there is definitely no hole in the top of the WH where one can
unscrew it from the outside and replace it.

I don't think there is any place on the sides either. Do they ever
put it threre?

With many Sears items, you can go to their website for parts ordering,
etc. Many times there is a drawing to identify parts. Perhaps, if
there was an anode, it will be identified and placed in the drawing.

On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:18:16 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Jan 16, 7:23 pm, mm wrote:
On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:00:44 -0800 (PST), "

wrote:

?*** ?Its arrangement of parts, its owners manual, and its component
parts (heating elements and thermostats) was almost identical to the
house's original water heater that it replaced. That one was made by
A.O.Smith and was 65 gallons (for a 3-bedroom moderate-sized
townhouse.) ?In fact that is why I bought my WH from Sears. A.O.Smith
doesn't seem to sell one at a time, and Sears's was the only one I
could find which had the hot and cold water pipes at the same distance
from each other as the previous WH. (So I'm compulsive. ?Sue me.)

the sacrifical anode, or what remains of it is likely mixed in the
crud in the bottom of the tank

I don't know.

Where would it have been attached? There is no sign of an attachment
place in the top of the WH or the bottom. They are both smooth except
the top has a hole for the input and a hole for the output.

And there is definitely no hole in the top of the WH where one can
unscrew it from the outside and replace it.

I don't think there is any place on the sides either. Do they ever
put it threre?

With many Sears items, you can go to their website for parts ordering,
etc. Many times there is a drawing to identify parts. Perhaps, if
there was an anode, it will be identified and placed in the drawing.

Good idea. I'll try that.