3 SuperStor Tanks Failed in five years. Can’t get an understanding of what is happening

[Mkooz12]

Hello all- I’m new here and would really appreciate any advice or thoughts on what may possibly be going on with our water/filtration/ water heater situation. We have installed three SuperStore 60 gallon tanks since 2018, and all have failed/leaked in that time. The most recent one was installed this past January and is leaking currently.

We are on a well out in western New England near the NY state border. The neighborhood has notoriously hard water, but nothing crazy. Most neighbors are managing with a softener alone.

Current setup for water treatment coming into my house is a small screw in Smart Water filter, leading into a brand new CareClear Pro whole house filter and CareClear Pro water softener installed this past May (2023), which replaced a 5-year old system that I had put in originally back in 2017 to solve any hard water problems we may encounter when we moved in. When the first two water heater tanks failed we assumed that maybe those were not working correctly and replaced them (whoops).

We have had multiple water tests over the last few years performed by seperate companies/labs and everything has come back negative and “within range”, but I can provide more detailed data if it would be helpful.

On the recommendation of the company who installed our furnace and water heater, I hired two separate well companies in spring 2023 to come out and inspect the well and test the water after the last tank failed, mainly to see if our drinking water was somehow contaminated and that we shouldn’t drink it. That water test came back negative. One well company also shocked the well, and put a brand new cap on it as ours was about 30 years old (house was built in 1987) to provide a tighter fit compared to what we had years prior. We were hoping that these changes would possibly fix the issue.

Since that time, I’m looking at a 9 month old Superstor tank that is slowly leaking once again. The tanks do have a lifetime warranty, but the supplier may not be as willing to provide another one since this is somewhat unprecedented in terms of frequency and how quickly they are failing.

Has anyone experienced or even heard of anything like this? Should I be concerned about the water my family is consuming? Would a different brand of tank be worth exploring? I’m just at a total loss of what to do next, and since we are fairly remote, there aren’t many options for us to turn to locally at this point.

Thanks in advance for any professional help or friendly advice you may have on the matter.

Best wishes.

 

[Reach4]

As somebody who was curious, I searched. It seems this is an indirect tank water heater, such as this one: https://www.homedepot.com/p/SuperStor-60-Gal-Indirect-Water-Heater-Storage-Tank-SSU-60N/313277760

Dang, expensive, unless "$2703.45 /pallet" is for more than one. I guess that lifetime warranty could explain a high price.

Mkooz12, what was the failure mode? I think you are talking of leakage of water outside of the tank, rather than failure of the heat exchanger inside.

Regarding your water tests, what do they show regarding hardness, pH, iron, and other negative factors? pH, plays a factor in corrosively. There are other factors. These factors can be affected by filtering including softening. I would want to test the pH of the water that goes to your WH out of your filtering.

I suspect that you have an H2S (hydrogen sulfide) problem, because that is a big thing that can be improved with effective well sanitizing. https://terrylove.com/forums/index....izing-extra-attention-to-4-inch-casing.65845/ is my well and plumbing sanitizing write-up. It includes some discussion of measuring pH. Sanitizing is much easier in warm weather.

A well cap should seal well enough to keep out bugs, but should normally not block air.

I did not search out your brands of filters. I am guessing that one is a water softener, and one is something else.

Rheem Marathon electric water heaters are a plastic, so will not corrode. I was trying to find if they had a plastic indirect water heater, but I did not find one.

HTC has some gas water heaters with stainless steel tanks. Guess that feature did not go into their indirect water heaters.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Fitter30]

Stainless or single or double walled? Didn't tanks go back to manufacturer with a note or call so then would look at them? Has your water been tested for ph less that 7?

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169433214022958&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwj0_KOWzqiBAxVbkYkEHcbADkEQFnoECAkQAg&usg=AOvVaw1_lRlLhHJRKr7aJCFTcn7m

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

you probably have a grounding issue inside your home to eat up 3 water heaters so quickly...

1. check your ground for your breaker box to see if it is still got good contact...

2 just install a new ground somewhere near the heater --if you are in the basement just drill
a hole into the floor and drive in a copper pipe and ground the heater to the pipe....

most electricians are drunks and will tell you I am nuts and will just glance at the grounds and
tell you that you are ok..... also you could have a crossed wire somewhere that is throwing current
into the plumbing system...that eats up the heater...

This grounding issue has been the cause of many of my most nasty
water heater problems.....

I suggest you just go to lowes and buy a bunch of grounding clamps for 3 bucks each and a roll of heavy duty wire and go nuts with it..... Ground the well , the heater and the breaker box....
It honestly cant hurt and its pretty easy to do....
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the second thing I have had kill off some nasty heaters was a current spike in your power grid
that throws surges into your home and eventually into the plumbing system,,,, you would have
to talk to the utility company and see if they have a surge protector for your meter