uruiamme
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| Joined: | Thu Mar 18th, 2010 |
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| Posts: | 5 |
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It turns out that I live in an area with the hardest water on the planet, surely.
The water is so hard, I wash most everything twice - the first time will change the softness enough so that the second time the soap will lather up. Washing dirty hands is a chore. Shampoo works fine the second time (yes, I lather, rinse, repeat.)
Fun stuff, until we have an element go bad. And bad they go. I just had to clean an 80 gallon tank... Sears Kenmore with an Amalloy element style - 1 3/8 inch threads. Both elements were bad. (Commercial kitchen, not our house.) I cleaned out the sediment in the bottom. I had done this only about 2 or 3 years ago, and it has been done every 2 to 3 years since it was new. I emptied the Shop Vac three times. It takes 4 hours or so just for cleaning. There is an old element someone (maybe me) didn't pull out once. I would say there is roughly 25 pounds of sediment each time. I am glad the tank is up on a concrete block now to be able to drain it a little easier.
And yes, the elements won't come out with a regular, cheapo, $7 element wrench. Those things are garbage. My friend and I had decided it was time to grind down an 1 1/2" 6-point socket. The day we did, I went into town and happened across one at a local (enormous) True Value hardware store. This is an old school lumber yard, been there for decades, and easily competes against the new(er) Home Depot in town. The True Value is 50% bigger all told, and their prices on some stuff is better. Well, they had a shiny, flat-edge, 1-1/2" socket for 1/2" drive for $12.95 and made especially for water heater elements. (Actually, they had a bunch.  ) This is the ticket. I didn't even use a cheater, just a long 1/2" breakover bar, and both elements came out quick and easy.
The other ideas.... A 1 1/2" open end wrench (not the 12-point box end) can be made to sort of work in a pinch, but you won't get it to work on a heavily insulated tank. You have to beat the steel down near where the open end would hit the tank. This works about 40% of the time.
If your cheap-o (aluminum, thin-wall, with a hole for a screwdriver) wrench is all you have, try grinding it down closer to the round section. Chop saw it hack saw it square, and leave the extra metal to fold over into the wrench which is too big, anyway. Now grind it square. Where you see it slipping, get it into a vice and smash it to make it smaller. And finally, make those 2 "screwdriver" holes bigger and put in a bolt, a punch, or something like that. Tape it so it won't move. Now take a pipe wrench that grips your bolt (etc.) and use the pipe wrench to turn the cheap-o wrench. Use a cheater. Grapple the relief valve for leverage while you do. This works 75% of the time, but is labor intensive. The cheapo wrench won't last you more than a few years if this is what you have to do. Get a real man's socket.
Note: The Amalloy branded elements may be more expensive than a compatible element... But the lower element on this heater I just replaced was an off brand, apparently. It did not have an inner o-ring like the Amalloy Sears brand element. I like cheap, but don't go for cheap. That offbrand element leaked. It was very rusty down there. So always look for the big seal (all elements have them, or should) plus the little o-ring about an inch inside if your heater uses these elements.
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The red "o" represents the little o-ring on an ASCII Amalloy element.
Last edited on Thu Apr 1st, 2010 05:46 am by uruiamme
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