BLOG: Our Five-Year-Old Hot Water Heater Broke

[m00npie]

I was off work last Friday and so Susan and I had planned a day trip to Tulsa. While getting ready that morning I hopped in the shower and noticed there was no hot water. In one of our older houses we owned a hot water heater with a pilot light that was constantly going out, although we haven’t had that problem in either of our last two houses. I got pretty good at relighting it and wasn’t too worried about restarting this one before we left for the day. A few minutes later Susan discovered the real problem, which… (read more)

Source: https://www.robohara.com/?p=14482

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Things could have been worse. Back in the late 90s after Susan and I moved back from Spokane, we had the hot water tank in our house completely fail. The bottom of the tank rusted through, sending 30 gallons of water into both the garage and our bedroom, completely soaking the carpet and making a big mess.

I know my industry doesn't always get it right. And I know that the Earth has gravity. And that won't change. But the water heater industry..... you guys, you gotta come up with something better than this. "Inevitably rusting away and spewing water everywhere" isn't good enough. How do you even make any part of it out of something that will rust? God. These things were invented by the aliens from Signs.

(I have had one that was going to do the same thing, it just happened to be in an area I was around a lot, so I saw the start of the leak.)

Also. At my house in Thornton, Colorado I needed a new one. Back then I was not as understanding about the awful nature of the average bottom-feeder contractor. They put one in the room that it went in and the guy says to me, "Oh, huh, I have to give you a charge for a custom installation on this because of where it is."

My dad had been in my house before that had happened a couple of years earlier and remembered what the little room looked like. "That was the easiest water heater to get to I've ever seen. If that is a "custom" installation then they all are," he said.

[AArdvark]

We could all switch over to the tankless style of water heaters, except that they are twice the price and more difficult to install. Until the industry fixes those two things we all have to suffer with 100 year old technology

[Flack]

The hot water heater we owned two houses ago was awful. It was installed in a corner "closet" in the garage right next to an exterior door and the pilot light must have blown out 100 times. That hot water heater sat on the ground, so to relight it you had to lay down on the cold, dirty concrete and use a fireplace lighter or a long match to light the gas pilot light. Every single time I did it, I was afraid the thing would blow up in my face. That's the same hot water heater that eventually failed and flooded our bedroom. My buddy Andy helped me replace the tank. When i went to sell the house, the home inspector said that regulations had changed and hot water tanks could no longer sit on the ground -- now they had to be elevated. This is the story of my life. It was up to code when I bought the house, they changed the code, and then I end up on the hook for upgrading it.

If hot water heaters were guaranteed to last 20 years then -- and I'm not saying it's the best solution in the world -- but if they told us, look, four to five times in your life, this thing's going to fail and flood your house. We could plan for that! But having things that cost four figures that fail every five years is not ideal.

Semi-related, I think it should be against social media rules to suggest actions to take or solutions that you have not successfully done yourself. To say "you should sue the homebuilder," you must have previously successfully sued a homebuilder for something similar. Someone said I should call the homebuilder and find out who installed the hot water tank and then call the BBB on that person. That sounds like a great use of time.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

We could all switch over to the tankless style of water heaters, except that they are twice the price and more difficult to install. Until the industry fixes those two things we all have to suffer with 100 year old technology

Ok, what if instead of having the water touch a substance that can make it rust, we have the water touch something that doesn't rust? And then if we want to use rustable metal for the rest of it for some reason, we do that? Like, water inside plastic inside a brass shell? Wikipedia tells me that brass does not rust.

I know that industry has thought of these things. I don't really think I stumbled upon a solution. It is weird that we all just live with, ope, your stuff is going to get wet every 5-16 years.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Semi-related, I think it should be against social media rules to suggest actions to take or solutions that you have not successfully done yourself. To say "you should sue the homebuilder," you must have previously successfully sued a homebuilder for something similar. Someone said I should call the homebuilder and find out who installed the hot water tank and then call the BBB on that person. That sounds like a great use of time.

This would be the one rule I would pass if I were ever Emperor of the US. The useless advice and problem fixing given to someone who is describing a thing what happened.

I believe in the government allowing free speech except in this case.

[AArdvark]

To prevent the tank from rusting or your heater element from corroding, the brilliant plumbers and chemists of long ago created a sacrificial rod for the water heater tank. The idea was that the anode rod would corrode first, leaving the metal of the tank (and element if you have an electric water heater) alone - saving you from dealing with a rusty behemoth that randomly springs leaks. This works because the anode rod possesses a lower, more negative, electrochemical potential than that of the water heater's steel composition. The negatively charged electrons create a higher voltage to flow from the anode rod to the steel tank causing the anode rod to corrode instead of the steel water heater tank, or other exposed metals such as electric elements. The anode rod is "self-sacrificing" and will continue to corrode until eventually it must be replaced. When there's no sacrifical metal left on the anode, the tank can rust out - which is why it is so important to change yours regularly.

Has anyone actually changed theirs in the history of living indoors?

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

The anode rod is "self-sacrificing" and will continue to corrode until eventually it must be replaced. When there's no sacrifical metal left on the anode, the tank can rust out - which is why it is so important to change yours regularly.

It ... it just corrodes away silently. Right? There's no indication that the thing is gone?

The smoke alarm industry managed to perfect having their devices all emit a shriek as they die between the time I go to bed and 5AM. Why not hot water heaters? I'd change it that day if it made a screeching sound.

[AArdvark]

Heh, the same article says to...drain and flush out your water heater yearly.

There should be a holiday for that. A National Flush out day where millions of people go to their basements and open petcocks.

Even if there was such a day I wouldn't do it, I'm not not that religious


THE
PLUMBING PROTESTANT
AARDVARK

[Flack]

Good news, we just drained ours. Well, it drained itself.