Plummers & DIY's - Water Heater ?

[Mooseknuckle]

So I go to the trouble of replacing the elements in the Water Heater at Thanksgiving (good time for failure, eh). Now I think that the thermostat has an "S" load of scale on it; its causing the heater to warm the water to the temperature of a Hot Pocket. Thus the safety switch trips and OOO that a cold shower at 5 in the morning.

Today I come home to find its heated to the point the pop off valve it blowing off hot water (yea for the laundry floor - thank the Lord its off the garage).

My question; is it better to replace the heater or the themostat. It a 50 gal Reliance thats about 8 years old and we have hard water. It was quite the M.F.'r to get the bottom element out because to the amount of scale. Looks like 350 to 500 bucks is about the range for middle of the road.

What about a tankless? It 40' min of pipe from tank location to house.

Thanks
SJG

 

[sledin]

I would get a new water heater.As for a tankless,there is a good chance you will have to upsize your gas line to meet the btu demand.

 

[big_wally81]

i work at a plumbing shop and i am not sold on the tankless heaters yet. the fire really hard and dont think you can expect much life from them. time will tell i guess. i think that you should definately replace the heater, with all the scale you have in there you have probably lost a ton of water capacity.

 

[MountainPowder]

I just replaced the elements in mine this weekend as well. For the price of the thermostats I think I would give that a try myself.

I know what you mean about the hard water, I could not believe how much build up there was and sitting at the bottom!

 

[BigAl]

So I go to the trouble of replacing the elements in the Water Heater at Thanksgiving (good time for failure, eh). Now I think that the thermostat has an "S" load of scale on it; its causing the heater to warm the water to the temperature of a Hot Pocket. Thus the safety switch trips and OOO that a cold shower at 5 in the morning.

Today I come home to find its heated to the point the pop off valve it blowing off hot water (yea for the laundry floor - thank the Lord its off the garage).

My question; is it better to replace the heater or the themostat. It a 50 gal Reliance thats about 8 years old and we have hard water. It was quite the M.F.'r to get the bottom element out because to the amount of scale. Looks like 350 to 500 bucks is about the range for middle of the road.

What about a tankless? It 40' min of pipe from tank location to house.

Thanks
SJG

Here's the salesman talking-"You need a water softener!" Without a softener I would not recommend a tankless heater. It won't last a year. Getting back to your thermostats, they shouldn't be covered scale because they are mounted outside the tank. Take them off one at a time and let them cool. Turn the stat to it's lowest setting. Then hold the back side of the stat against the bulb of a trouble light. As it heats up you should hear the stat click. This ussually means the stat is OK. No click, replace the stat. If you have an amprobe you could test for a continuity through the stat. Cold=reading. Hot=no reading.

 

[Mooseknuckle]

Thanks everyone,

My intent, now that the room is dry, is to try and determine if the thermostat is indeed the issue. Al, your suggestion is exactly whats going to happen. I believe the thermostat is junk; as it doesn't stop the flow of juice to the elements. Only throwing the breaker will quiet the beast. Then off to "town" to see about price and availability of a new thermostat. Perhaps one of them new fangled electronic ones, but then again, I swear I have every bastard piece of equipment ever manufactured. I could never be just that simple.

 

[brushwolf]

Let me see, An eight year old water heater that is full of scale because you have extremely hard water? Fix or replace? REPLACEMENT is a no brainer here.

 

[Nikolai]

I would replace it.

 

[Bad Daddy]

There is a drain at the bottom of the tank, and you should drain it once or twice a year to get all the sediment and crap out of the tank.
If you have never done it since the water heater is new, dont start now, because it either won't drain, or it will start to leak, from all the crud sitting on the bottom.
The crud can make the heater less effiicient, too... maybe that is the problem..

x2 on the water softener.

The tankless units are good, but you'll need a big one if there is more than two people living in the house. Otherwise, you'll get the cold shower if someone turns on the hot tap elsewhere in the house. Small water passages in the tankless units will scale up too, but the benefit is, you can rebuild them. Hours of fun!

 

[Mooseknuckle]

Proud owner of a new thermostat! It even snapped right into place-wooohooo!

Thanks for all the help. When I replaced the elements, I made up a little gizmo to go on the shop vac and cleaned the tank pretty well. Now with new elements and a new thermostat all I have left to do is dial in the temp to just the right spot.

Pretty easy fix all in all; I'm a mighty handy guy, but I hate -HATE- electricity. I guess I'm one of the special ones that get to have the joy of having everything shock the $h!t out of me. Carpet, P/U Bedliners, ballons; ZAP!! Come home from work and its; "Hey hows daddy's little guy, come here little man and give daddy luvs" - ZAP!!!! - an he's crying and my top lip feels like someone has snapped me with a rubber band. Did I mention I hate the North Wind too?

Thanks again for all the advice.