- Joined
- Sep 5, 2006
- Messages
- 20,593
I recently replaced our 10-12 year old hot water heater, that was making noise and not heating well with a new 50 gallon one. (yes I did it myself!)
We don't have a water softener and our water is hard water, as the bedrock here is limestone. (good for big deer racks and big boned race horses)
Anyway after I unhooked it and was rolling it out of the basement (it was really heavy) I could hear sediment rolling around in the bottom, so looking online I found a site that showed me how the heat separated the calcium from the water causing it to settle to the bottom and collect eventually building up to the point it covered the heating coils, causing it to rattle and shake and stop heating.
The drain in a factory hot water heater is really small and won't let all the particles out, so I took it out of the new one and put in a straight pipe and a ball valve and now I can open it up and eject the white chunks of calcium into a trap I made than strains it before it goes down the basement drain.(put a clear hose over the end to the trap and I can watch the white chunks coming out until they slow down) This should make anybodies electric hot water heater (if they have no water softener) last years and years longer. I'm really pleased with the way it's worked. Here's a link about how to do it. (I didn't follow their directions exactly or buy anything from them, I got what I needed at the local hardware store)
http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/WHRpages/English/Longevity/sediment-in-hot-water-heaters.html
We don't have a water softener and our water is hard water, as the bedrock here is limestone. (good for big deer racks and big boned race horses)
Anyway after I unhooked it and was rolling it out of the basement (it was really heavy) I could hear sediment rolling around in the bottom, so looking online I found a site that showed me how the heat separated the calcium from the water causing it to settle to the bottom and collect eventually building up to the point it covered the heating coils, causing it to rattle and shake and stop heating.
The drain in a factory hot water heater is really small and won't let all the particles out, so I took it out of the new one and put in a straight pipe and a ball valve and now I can open it up and eject the white chunks of calcium into a trap I made than strains it before it goes down the basement drain.(put a clear hose over the end to the trap and I can watch the white chunks coming out until they slow down) This should make anybodies electric hot water heater (if they have no water softener) last years and years longer. I'm really pleased with the way it's worked. Here's a link about how to do it. (I didn't follow their directions exactly or buy anything from them, I got what I needed at the local hardware store)
http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/WHRpages/English/Longevity/sediment-in-hot-water-heaters.html
