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| Worth saving a older tank | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 02:58 pm |
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1st Post |
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undee70ss Member 
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What I have is a 1991 State WH. It was in the house when I bought it in 2002. It has given good service till recently, it runs out of hot water quick. I did the tests (found on this site) and the problem points to a bad or broken dip tube. Is this worth trying to repair, or would it be better to replace it? I don't know it was serviced before 2002, but since then every yr I completely drain the tank, let the cold run while the drain is open to flush it out. Looks like it has a AL anode ( I have not removed it) and the burner is clean (for its age). Since pics are worth a 1000 words, I included some. Any advice is appreciated. http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/DSC00149.jpg hex head http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/DSC00152.jpg hex head http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/DSC00153.jpg hex head http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/DSC00154.jpg http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/DSC00155.jpg drain valve http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/DSC00156.jpg heater info http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/DSC00157.jpg heater info http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/DSC00158.jpg drain valve http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/DSC00159.jpg drain valve http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/DSC00160.jpg burner http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/DSC00161.jpg drain valve under cover http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/DSC00163.jpg
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| Posted: Mon Feb 11th, 2008 12:44 am |
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2nd Post |
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elenano Member 
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Actually, it was made in June 1993. I could tell that from the label. Since you're being thorough, there is one more picture I'd like to see. Tilt your camera so that it doesn't photograph the burner so much as the roof of the chamber above the burner. If that looks good and you aren't experiencing rusty water, I think it would be worth it to try to take out the anode and replace it. But I want to see that last picture. It's the most important one. Randy Schuyler
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| Posted: Mon Feb 11th, 2008 06:49 pm |
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3rd Post |
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undee70ss Member
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elenano wrote: Actually, it was made in June 1993. I could tell that from the label. How can you tell??? elenano wrote: Not having any rusty water, just running out of hot water quick. For a shower, it starts off plenty hot for 2 to 3 min, turns lukewarm 3 to 7 min. 7+ the shower valve is at full hot. Better be out at 10+ or its going to get cold. Before you could get 30 min before you had to get out. (with a full hot tank) elenano wrote:
I took several. It is somewhat diffcult to photograph given the small opening and the gas lines/thermocouple line in the way. Using a flash (even on the lowest setting) made the pics too bright to see anything, so I tried to backlight it using a small flashlight. http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/water%20heater/DSC00187.jpg http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/water%20heater/DSC00186.jpg http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/water%20heater/DSC00185.jpg http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/water%20heater/DSC00184.jpg http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/water%20heater/DSC00183.jpg http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/water%20heater/DSC00182.jpg http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/water%20heater/DSC00181.jpg http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/water%20heater/DSC00180.jpg http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/water%20heater/DSC00179.jpg http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x285/undee762/water%20heater/DSC00178.jpg
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| Posted: Tue Feb 12th, 2008 02:33 am |
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4th Post |
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elenano Member
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As to the date of manufacture, there was an F93 in the serial number. F for June (sixth month), 93 for 1993. The combustion chamber roof is not immaculate, but it's mostly OK. A lot of white condensation marks, a little rust. I'd put a new anode and dip tube in and see what happens. If you want to play it safe, leave the hex anode alone and put in a combo rod (provided you can remove the hot nipple). That way, if the tank goes kaput pronto, you can transfer the combo rod to its replacement. On the other hand, putting in a combo means battling that dielectric union. It will probably be simpler to just cut the copper plumbing and solder on a male adapter and use a copper flex line. Randy Schuyler
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| Posted: Thu Feb 14th, 2008 10:08 pm |
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5th Post |
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undee70ss Member
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elenano wrote: As to the date of manufacture, there was an F93 in the serial number. F for June (sixth month), 93 for 1993. I see you have that info on how to tell on a page that I didn't see before. I decided that I can't break anything thats already broke and ordered one of your kits. I took a chance and tried to loosen the hex head anode and got it to move (needed the big boy breaker bar) I did not take it out as i didn't want to deal with a leak till I have the new parts. If, for some reason i have to replace the tank, Ill just have to make sure the new one also has a hex anode. Thanks for your help. I never knew exactly how water heaters worked till I visited this site.
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| Posted: Tue Mar 18th, 2008 04:06 pm |
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6th Post |
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undee70ss Member
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Just a update, received the kit, new dip tube, drain valve, T&P and anode installed, (been installed for several weeks) and now I have hot water like a new tank would deliver. The dip tube was split all the way to the top (when I tried to remove it, it fell to the bottom, and had to fish it out the drain valve opening, doing that was "fun") and the anode was completely gone, only the hex plug remaining. I guessing the tank suffered some damage without the anode (a little bit of brown water came out when I flushed it with the new parts) but hopefully I can get a few more yrs out of it. I was worried that the tank was leaking as it kept dripping water just after filling (somewhere on the bottom and on burner) but I guess it was just condensation from filling with cold water (which is extra cold this time of the yr) and it stopped after the tank started to warm up. Thanks for the great info on this site, your kit, and your replies. I am a bunch better educated on hot water heaters. Thanks Greg U (undee762)
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| Posted: Fri Mar 20th, 2009 06:16 am |
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7th Post |
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undee70ss Member
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Just another update, a little more than a yr later, the tank finnally gave out, leaking from the tank on the bottom. I guessing the old tank went a little to long with no anode. Quoted from another thread......................................... elenano wrote: As to heaters, I am intrigued by Bradford Whites. They use magnesium anodes, and if you got one with optional top and side temperature/pressure relief valve ports, you could add a hex anode, since their primary one is a combo. This is the brand I went with. The local retailers only had Rheems and GE's (which I didn't like) so I had a local plumber install this one. they didn't have any BW's with with optional top and side temperature/pressure relief valve ports so its only the basic 40 gal tank. Hopefully with regular flushing and anode changes it will last a long time.
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