Rheem Pro leaking at 8yrs

[Skyjumper]

I installed two Rheem Professional 50gal WHs 8 yrs ago. Today one of them started leaking. I know very little about water heaters, but I'm not happy I only got 8yrs out of these. I'm guessing the other will go soon enough.

Are the 12yr heaters at HD better? or are you just paying for a warranty?
what can I do to make these things last longer? I'm on well water with a softener. I tried replacing the anode a few years ago but couldn't get the old one out.

 

[Terry]

Sorry to hear that. I've never had one fail that soon. Normally I'm thinking something like 12 years.
From the inner tank? Or are you sure it's not a connection somewhere?
Braided supply lines tend to fail early. And expansion tanks should be changed when the water heater is changed.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Breplum]

12 yr WHs typically have two anode rods, plus you are paying for the warranty, that's all.
No reason to think the other WH will go anytime, soon, or otherwise.
I've seen many units go 6-7 years of all brands and also seen outrageous age of over 18 years.

 

[Skyjumper]

99% sure its the tank leaking. the connections are dry. water leaking from under the unit. and of course I didn't install a pan. lesson learned.

even if the only upgrade is a 2nd anode rod, that's worth the extra $70. I spent days trying to replace mine and had to give up on it. I will cut this thing in half when I get it out the house just to see how bad it is inside.

do the electronic anodes really work like they claim? that would also seem to be a no-brainer, assuming you can get the anode out when the unit is still new.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

You did not mention if you installed a thermal expansion tank on the heater... ?
normally a 6 year Rheem heater will last about 7 to 10 years without a thermal tank on them

A few years back, I decided to just install a 2 gallon thermal tank on all my installs just to maybe squeeze a few more
years out of the units... This is just my little experiment to see if their is an increase in the life span
of the units..... they claim it helps a lot..... I will see for myself if I am still around in 10 years

I have a 75 gallon Bradford in my home which is now 10 years old and it has a 5 gallon thermal tank on it
and has done some heavy duty work and performed better than I expected it to do even though its rumbling now....

I decided to change this 75 gallon unit out tonight because we are going on vacation next month or so and I expect that
the heater will expire while we are out of town leaving the grown up kids staying here without hot water...

its murpheys law that it will go bad while we are out of town...
its telling me to be pro-active or pay the price..




Also, I have spoken to Rheem about why they dont just install a larger anode rod in their units to insure that they
go double the life span but they really dont see why they should screw themselves out of future sales...

 

[John Gayewski]

When you install your new unit take the anode out and install it back with tape and dope.

Wh life is all about water quality and anode upkeep.

When you cut it in half let us see.

 

[Skyjumper]

You did not mention if you installed a thermal expansion tank on the heater... ?
normally a 6 year Rheem heater will last about 7 to 10 years without a thermal tank on them

thermal expansion tank?? never heard of them until just now, I guess that answers the question...

 

[Sarg]

Just to mention ..... the OP stated he's on a well and expansion tanks are not usually installed because the well system pressure tank serves the same purpose.
And two items I will always do in the future on new heaters is break the factory seal on the anode rod before installation so it can be changed down the road and I also replace the crappy drain valves which are usually the compression type that will not pass any sediment when flushing the tank. I install a 3/4 ball valve made for flushing and it also reduces the drain time by two thirds.

 

[Skyjumper]

excellent comments here, thank you all.

one more ask --- I'd like to put a pan under the other still functional WH and keep it in use. any tricks to do this? obviously I need to disconnect the water/gas pipes and the flue. I'll drain the tank to lighten it. then scoot it out of the way, place the pan, and heave it into the pan? when I originally installed them I just scooted them into place and made the connections, no lifting. if I had 2 helpers, 2 of us could lift and the 3rd could slide the pan under.

 

[Fitter30]

excellent comments here, thank you all.

one more ask --- I'd like to put a pan under the other still functional WH and keep it in use. any tricks to do this? obviously I need to disconnect the water/gas pipes and the flue. I'll drain the tank to lighten it. then scoot it out of the way, place the pan, and heave it into the pan? when I originally installed them I just scooted them into place and made the connections, no lifting. if I had 2 helpers, 2 of us could lift and the 3rd could slide the pan under.

Heater in a basement? Harbor freight has a cable winch for $20. Look at this vidio.