10mo ago

Element in water heater died; less than two months old.

I changed out both elements in my electrc water back in late August. Had to change the bottom one out again today.

58 comments

Have you checked your sacrificial anode? If it’s gone, this will keep happening.
- Anodes protect against corrosion. They don't do anything for hard water scale.
  
  That's not entirely true: sacrificial anodes attract and collect calcium and magnesium as well as preventing rust.
- I have never heard of this before. Thanks for mentioning it.
  
  The sacrificial anode is there to protect the steel tank. It lasts a long time. This is a hard water problem as everyone else is saying, and a water softener would solve the issue.
  *Edit: check the very bottom of your tank since you have the elements out. It most likely has a pile of calcium and other minerals sitting on the bottom.
  -a plumber
- Anodes for the anode gods!
  
  Rust for the Rust King!
- Was hoping someone remembered what that thing was called
You really need to invest in a system that softens your water.
- Or just a good filter system.
  
  You can’t filter out ions of calcium like that. A huge reverse osmosis system for the entire home would be prohibitively expensive. I used to live in an area with very hard water and everyone had water softeners. You only need to buy the salt every few months and it’s not too bad. RO filters were only connected to a tap on the side of the sink in the kitchen - those membranes aren’t cheap.
I'm guessing the inside of your tank looks just like this and swapping new heating elements in isn't going to fix that. Maybe try flushing it out first?
- With vinegar or some other descaler
  
  I'm not sure of vinegar is quite powerful enough. Somehow this seems like bigger problem
Hard water makes the anode rod dissolve faster
Have you inspected the anode rod?
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=hot+water+heater+aluminum+anode+rod&t=canonical&iax=images&ia=images
Also check out sites of sediment build up
https://www.waterconnection.com/water-heater-sediment/
Yikes! Hard water?
That's why you should have a gas water heater if you have hard water. Electric units get wrecked by scale, regardless of a water softener.
- But it’s a greenhouse gases contributor - electric is better. Check that anode commented below.
  
  Anodes protect against corrosion. They don't do anything for hard water scale.
  
  Electric ain't better if you have to replace it constantly. Think of the emissions to produce these parts.
  
  Heat pump would be best
  
  I'll quit using gas the day shipping vessels go back to being fucking wind powered
- Came with the house. Changing it out would not be fun.
Another casualty of the auroral storm. Darn those cosmic rays!

58 comments