I bought a house a couple months ago and have been fighting water heater issues since day one. First it was the thermal overload. I figured that out and adjusted the thermostats. Then the breaker was tripping. Once we moved in and started using hot water more, the breaker started tripping less for whatever reason. Lately, it started tripping very frequently, and water stayed hot for way less time. So I decided it was time to truly investigate. I assumed it was a dead lower heating element.
I opened the breaker, closed the fill valve, and opened the drain. Once water stopped draining, I removed the wiring from the top element and removed it. Water came out.
WTF, this should be drained... I shoved it back in to plug the hole and investigated the drain. I got my oil pan out and straightened a wire hanger and shoved it in there, ready to catch whatever came out.
I was not prepared for this. So much goddamn scale. I don't think this water heater has ever been flushed. I'm still hard at work, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that I've been working for hours to get this shit out. There was scale and brine sludge up to the lower element, which had corroded it apart. That's like a foot of this shit.
New elements are in and wired up (I found a pack of two elements and two thermostats for only like $35) and I'm continuously filling and draining while alternating between using the wire hanger and a small pipe cleaner to fuck the drain hole.
I've never looked forward to a hot shower more than I do right now.
Edit:
My wife cooked a delicious steak, potatoes, and asparagus dinner, paired with a nice Cabernet Sauvignon. I took 400mg ibuprofen for my back and then enjoyed an aged, cold Mad Elf Ale in a hot shower. The breaker has not tripped. I'll call this a success. I didn't fully flush all the crap out because I ran out of time, but I'll plan on doing a monthly flush until the chunks stop coming, and then I'm thinking a semiannual PM to flush it unless somebody recommends otherwise? I'm gonna also buy a new magnesium anode rod and replace the existing one within the year because it doesn't look like this one has ever been replaced. Magnesium because I'm on a water softener and I plan to have all of the hardness out of the heater soon enough, so hardness shouldn't be an issue.
Is that the same as a heat pump water heater? They typically need a lot of air around them to work properly and my water heater is in a small closet next to my gas furnace in a townhouse, so that's not really a great option for me.
Eventually, I'd like to upgrade my heat/AC to a heat pump though. They're much more capable and efficient than they used to be. Modern ones heat fine even when it gets down to 0°F, which it occasionally does here around this time of year.
I believe so.
Some of them have systems so you can ventilate them to the outside of that is helpful.
I guess it depends on the location in your house.