My water heater is 4 years old and it's a "Whirlpool Retard" 50 gallon, you know the model that came with left handed threads on the thermocouple and the class action lawsuit! It also has a single aluminum anode and after reading the forums I'll be glad to get it out of my water system.
When the regulator died last week and I drained the tank a ton of light blueish crystal stuff came pouring out of the tank. Laying on the ground it almost looked like the foam they make boggy boards out of, but when you pick it up it squishes to almost nothing and feels kind of slimy. I had already replaced the copper flex line from the hot side to the wall because of pin hole leaks. Right below the recirculating pump a small section of 1/2 inch copper started leaking. When I pulled it apart it almost looked like Swiss cheese because of the corrosion. I live in the Los Angeles area and the city gets our water from local wells. A local plumber told me that now the local regulations require schedule "K" copper pipe because of the water. I also have soft water. I attached a picture of the crystals.
I'm going to get two magnesium anodes to replace the aluminum one. I'll need the segmented ones because I only have 30" of clearance.
Do you think doubling up on the anodes will help reduce the amount of corrosion in the copper piping close to the heater?
Great site, good presentation and tremendous knowledge.
Thanks, Jim...
Attachment: Blue_Crystals.JPG (Downloaded 6 times)
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