I had a leak scare a couple weeks ago that turned out to be a dripping drain valve, but since this WH is 14 years old, has a very rusty combustion chamber, and the cold inlet valve is stuck open, I figure it's time for a new one.
I was able to get a great deal on a Bradford White 40 gallon WH. Since this isn't an emergency and I have some time, I decided to upgrade it a little before I do the install.
I've already replaced the drain valve on the new water heater with a ball valve and have a couple questions before I go any further:
Bradford White has something called their "Hydrojet Technology" which apparently consists of slits up and down the dip tube to create turbulence which supposedly helps control sediment. This doesn't sound like it performs the same function as your curved dip tube, so I'm unclear on if it would be advisable to replace the dip tube or not.
Also, I gather your .84" dia. combo rod is going to be beefier than the stock combo rod in this WH. Is that the case?
State Water Heaters, now a subsidiary of A.O. Smith, first came out with a "self-flushing" dip tube in the 1990s. Naturally, everybody else had to follow suit. We seriously doubt they do much to control sediment, and I believe there was a Consumer Reports test at one time that was unable to show any significant difference.
My anode is thicker than BW's, unless you got a 12-year-warranty tank, but I would not replace theirs. Just mark on the tank the date you installed it and check the anode in five years. Then think about replacing. Otherwise, it's a waste of a good anode.
The only thing I'd add would be a curved dip tube to really control sediment buildup.
