Engineering malpractice

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JR.
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Engineering malpractice

Post by JR. »

I have been wrestling with this for a while... After my last hot water heater tried to kill me by energizing my shower water I have gained some discipline about keeping my sacrificial anode in place and functional.

The obvious design trade off is just ship the hot water heater with enough anode to last for the warranty period, then if/when the heater fails they get to sell another new one. I shopped these when I bought my current one new and there were versions for sale with longer warranty. The logical difference between these is just a fatter anode rod. Apparently a few dollars of anode media can translate to significantly higher price points.

Being aware of this, I decided to replace/update my anode pretty early on. I was unable with a decent sized breaker bar and pipe extension to break it loose... More recently I hired my plumber to break it loose. He brought along a young strong back to hold the heater steady while he confirmed that they were not any better than I was at breaking it loose by hand.

His next plan was to borrow an air powered impact wrench from a tire shop and return, but that was a couple months ago. :lol:

This week I borrowed an air powered impact wrench and 100+PSI compressor from my next door neighbor. After two days of banging on the anode I still could not make it budge. I hit it two hundred times just today, before giving up. Life is short.

Long story shorter, this is good engineering for selling more heaters (perhaps unneccesarily). It is not hard to imagine some relatively inexpensive remedies.

#1 ship with a 20 year anode

#2 A second or third, same sized threaded hole with a nylon plug that can be easily removed and a new anode installed if needed.

#3 Mount the anode on a removable plate/port that can be easily swapped out.

#4 Engineer in a way to hold the heater tank secure while applying torque to the anode.

JR
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mediatechnology
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Re: Engineering malpractice

Post by mediatechnology »

I was pretty sure (gut instinct) that you weren't ever going to get it out.
Every one I've ever seen had major thread lock/goop oozing out of the threads.

The dominate water heater failure mode I've seen, besides rusting out, is the plastic drip tube splitting and lowering the amount of hot water available due to mixing.
I've never known anyone who has changed an anode rod. Maybe that's why.

Speaking of engineering malpractice my wife's phone's glass back is glued on to the frame making battery changing difficult.
Once you get the glass back unglued by heating and prying the battery also has to be heated and unglued.
The battery, glued to a small separator layer, has to be pried against the back side of the display glass to be lifted off the glue.

Based upon comments from an experienced phone tech 3 of 5 amateur attempts at replacement usually result in broken glass.
We decided to wait until her old battery completely dies to install the replacement I bought.
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terkio
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Re: Engineering malpractice

Post by terkio »

Changing the anode.
Can't you just destroy the old one and fit a new one someplace, all it needs is electric contact with the tank's metal.
I think any chunk of zinc is a good enough anode.
I know of a heather that blew up because of the pressure relief valve.
The manual, from a new heather, the very same model says it should be operated every 6 months, I guess to break the beginning of it getting stuck.
The same manual lengthly tells about the anode, colors, waters, changing it, but nowhere tells where it is.
PS The anode of this heather is not with the thermostat assembly, it's location is unknown, may be forever.
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JR.
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Re: Engineering malpractice

Post by JR. »

terkio wrote: Tue Sep 24, 2019 3:33 pm Changing the anode.
Can't you just destroy the old one and fit a new one someplace, all it needs is electric contact with the tank's metal.
I think any chunk of zinc is a good enough anode.
I know of a heather that blew up because of the pressure relief valve.
The manual, from a new heather, the very same model says it should be operated every 6 months, I guess to break the beginning of it getting stuck.
The same manual lengthly tells about the anode, colors, waters, changing it, but nowhere tells where it is.
PS The anode of this heather is not with the thermostat assembly, it's location is unknown, may be forever.
I am not about the destroy the old one... 1-1/4" socket...

In theory I could drill and tap a new hole in the steel tank... :lol:

I might borrow a big dog 3/4" impact wrench like they use for taking tanks, or bridges, apart.

But I am losing energy for this project (they win).

JR
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KMN
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Re: Engineering malpractice

Post by KMN »

https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tool ... 63644.html

Maybe one of these? I love mine. I use it for trailer hitches, bridge girders, etc.
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JR.
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Re: Engineering malpractice

Post by JR. »

I already had more than 24" leverage from my 1/2" breaker bar with length of pipe slipped over the breaker bar handle.

Banging on it with an impact wrench for a couple days did nothing so I do not expect an oversized crescent wrench to do anything.

=====

OK on the subject of engineering malpractice... Along the lines of no home improvement going unpunished, I now have the sissyphian task of cleaning pine straw, leaves, and small branches out of my rain gutters that they clog up.

A few weeks ago I climbed up on my ladder and flushed out the gutters with my garden hose, but I had to move the ladder multiple time to clear clogs at almost every support strut.

I recently purchased a hose extension wand, so I can spray water into the gutters without the ladder. I noticed the water overflowing my front gutter in yesterday's 3" rain, so I fired up the hose wand, and it worked more or less, all except for right at the gutter downspout that I had to unclog by hand.

The bad news is that where the hose threads into the bottom of the wand was leaking a significant spray of water, soaking me, since that is exactly where I had to hold it to reach the gutters. :roll:

Today I added a couple extra rubber hose washers into the connection and wrapped some teflon tape around the hose's threaded end. Not completely water-tight but good enough.

When the gutters clog and overflow they no longer move the water away from the house... I fired up my sump pump a couple hours ago for the first time since I put up the gutters.

I need to keep my gutters clean flowing to be effective. :oops:

JR
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JR.
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Re: Engineering malpractice

Post by JR. »

Yesterday after reducing the spray of water leaking from the bottom joint to a mere dribble, then the spray nozzle adjustment unscrewed completely off never to be found again... The bare nozzle sprays water out at 90' angles so pretty useless without the missing piece... today I hacksawed off the end so water just sprays out straight and that might work... we'll see next time.

JR
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mediatechnology
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Re: Engineering malpractice

Post by mediatechnology »

Water seems to be a recurring theme in this thread.
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JR.
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Re: Engineering malpractice

Post by JR. »

mediatechnology wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 3:35 pm Water seems to be a recurring theme in this thread.
water is a recurring theme in my life, living on low ground in MS where it rains from time to time.... :lol:

see entropy for another wet episode...

JR
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