A friend of mine told me about struggles with black water coming from all the taps in her house. It appears that it may be a water softener issue, but her heater is half-full of gross sediment. In discussing the water heater as a possibility, it really woke me up to my own lack of maintenance.
I found that water heaters should be drained and flushed as much as twice a year?!!! and the sacrificial anode rod
replaced as much as annually?!!! Lovely. We're on year 7 and I've never touched the thing; heck I've never even looked at the water heater, even though I pass it entering and leaving the garage. There was a receipt on top, showing that it was purchased at Home Depot 2001. I bet it's never been drained or had the anode replaced in all this time.
What a great opportunity for a blog post on water heater servicing right? Drain it and check the rod, piece of cake. Let's do it this weekend kiddies!!!
Nope. Because of this stuff I need to deal with first.
Just to spice things up a bit, I just found another little Inheritance from my DIY Predecessors. Instead of the 2 pole, 30 amp breaker, they installed two 1 pole 30 amp breakers. Not cool, IMHO. The two pair in the yellow circle should look like the three in the blue below. It's not safe to turn off or trip half a 240 volt circuit, both should turn off together.
2) Water: To drain the water heater I need to turn off the cold water coming into the tank. It's handy that there is a valve here. Of course this particular valve isn't handy at all. It's completely frozen, crusty with corrosion. AWESOME!! I'm going to look into replacing the parts so I don't have to cut into the pipe and mess with soldering ect. I'll just have see if that's a possibility. (I checked Home Depot; they don't sell the kit, but they referred me to Ace Hardware).
3) Dissimilar metal corrosion: This steel fitting tied to copper on the cold water feed is corroding. Eventually, I suspect we could suffer a breakdown here, probably timed for 5 minutes after we depart for a long vacation. There's nothing like spewing water left unchecked for a week.
I found that water heaters should be drained and flushed as much as twice a year?!!! and the sacrificial anode rod
replaced as much as annually?!!! Lovely. We're on year 7 and I've never touched the thing; heck I've never even looked at the water heater, even though I pass it entering and leaving the garage. There was a receipt on top, showing that it was purchased at Home Depot 2001. I bet it's never been drained or had the anode replaced in all this time.What a great opportunity for a blog post on water heater servicing right? Drain it and check the rod, piece of cake. Let's do it this weekend kiddies!!!
Nope. Because of this stuff I need to deal with first.
1) Electrical: As I understand it, code requires an electrical disconnect:
A) within sight,... or
B) capable of being locked in the open position (power off) position.Our electrical panel is outside, as is common here in Arizona. Technically, we may be ok, since the breaker can be locked out (if I buy a lockout kit). It's fuzzy, the locking means is supposed to be there even if it's not locked. Either way, I don't like it. Electrical code is minimum. I want better in my own home, so I'm going to install a switch.
Just to spice things up a bit, I just found another little Inheritance from my DIY Predecessors. Instead of the 2 pole, 30 amp breaker, they installed two 1 pole 30 amp breakers. Not cool, IMHO. The two pair in the yellow circle should look like the three in the blue below. It's not safe to turn off or trip half a 240 volt circuit, both should turn off together.
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| Alas, this fine, Shakespearean penmanship is not mine to claim. |
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| Crust is good on apple pie, not on plumbing. - AZ DIY Guy |
I'm not quite sure what to do here yet. I'll start researching it.
I suppose I'll start with the electrical. Hopefully, I don't discover anything else shocking. Check in next time as I head towards eventually getting on a regular maintenance program.
PS - Do I at least get points for making it through the whole post without calling it a Hot water heater?
I suppose I'll start with the electrical. Hopefully, I don't discover anything else shocking. Check in next time as I head towards eventually getting on a regular maintenance program.
PS - Do I at least get points for making it through the whole post without calling it a Hot water heater?
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Update: I crossed step number one off the list and repaired the electrical portion. Yes, I found some scary stuff in the process. Check it out! Installing a Water Heater Shut-Off Switch