Mildly Infuriating @lemmy.world lazylion_ca @lemmy.ca 12 hr. ago

Element in water heater died; less than two months old.

I changed out both elements in my electrc water back in late August. Had to change the bottom one out again today.

55 comments

Another casualty of the auroral storm. Darn those cosmic rays!
This is a hard water problem
- How do I change it to easy water?
  
  Hire Phil Collins
  
  No, a hard problem about water
- I'll take some hard water
  
  Absolut
  
  Yeah you will
You really need to invest in a system that softens your water.
- Isn’t that exactly what a water heater does?
  
  You are technically right that the water heater softens the water a bit by precipitating the minerals around the heating element and thereby removing them from the water. But that is energy inefficient and expensive, since you normally don't use a water heater to soften your water but rather to get warm water. So putting another system in front of the heater that softens it first is better than replacing the heat element every so often.
  
  Chicken fried water heater?
  
  A water heater heats your water.
  
  no a water heater heats the water.
  
  a watersoftener removes dissolved minerals from water
- Or just a good filter system.
  
  You can’t filter out ions of calcium like that. A huge reverse osmosis system for the entire home would be prohibitively expensive. I used to live in an area with very hard water and everyone had water softeners. You only need to buy the salt every few months and it’s not too bad. RO filters were only connected to a tap on the side of the sink in the kitchen - those membranes aren’t cheap.
Have you checked your sacrificial anode? If it’s gone, this will keep happening.
- Anodes for the anode gods!
- I have never heard of this before. Thanks for mentioning it.
  
  The sacrificial anode is there to protect the steel tank. It lasts a long time. This is a hard water problem as everyone else is saying, and a water softener would solve the issue.
  
  *Edit: check the very bottom of your tank since you have the elements out. It most likely has a pile of calcium and other minerals sitting on the bottom.
  
  -a plumber
- Anodes protect against corrosion. They don't do anything for hard water scale.
  
  That's not entirely true: sacrificial anodes attract and collect calcium and magnesium as well as preventing rust.
- Was hoping someone remembered what that thing was called
  
  that is a high fantasy wizard ass sounding name for a plumbing part
I'm guessing the inside of your tank looks just like this and swapping new heating elements in isn't going to fix that. Maybe try flushing it out first?
- With vinegar or some other descaler
  
  I'm not sure of vinegar is quite powerful enough. Somehow this seems like bigger problem
Yikes! Hard water?
That's why you should have a gas water heater if you have hard water. Electric units get wrecked by scale, regardless of a water softener.
- Came with the house. Changing it out would not be fun.
  
  Maybe with that attitude. You are willing to swap a heating element but not running a gas line? It ain't shit but playing with black pipe and dope like a white girl with daddy issues.
- But it’s a greenhouse gases contributor - electric is better. Check that anode commented below.
  
  Heat pump would be best
  
  Anodes protect against corrosion. They don't do anything for hard water scale.
  
  Electric ain't better if you have to replace it constantly. Think of the emissions to produce these parts.

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