Water Heater Maintenance,
Smelly Hot Water Solutions,
Troubleshooting and
Anodes
The Corro-Protec powered anode is the ultimate solution to rotten-egg odor in water heaters. There are three variants: SKU22 for tanks of 10-39 gallons, $158.95 SKU23 for tanks of 40-89 gallons, $161 SKU24 for tanks of 90-120 gallons, $171 SKU25 for tanks of 10-120 gallons for tanks with outlet anodes, such as Bradford White, $189.95 |
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This site comprises 250 pages of information on water heater maintenance, safety and troubleshooting, and it's been around for more than 20 years. Key sections comprise:
- Water Heaters 101 -- Learn all about how water heaters are made and work, and water heater anodes, dip tubes, drain valves, T&P valves, pipe nipples, safety, tankless, choosing a heater, and emergency preparedness
- Water Heater Maintenance -- Learn how to prefit/retrofit a heater for longest life, what tools you need, and what things you need to do to make it easy to service a tank going forward
- Water Heaters in Apartments -- Residential and commercial tanks and recirculation systems. Maintenance here can save money, water damage and grief
- Troubleshooting -- A glossary of water heater terms, questions often asked in our old forum, The Tank, indexed, and a section called Quick with answers to common problems
- Smelly Hot Water -- We know as much or more as anybody in North America about this problem. We know what works in which situations and what doesn't work at all
- Anodes -- Some are sacrificial anodes, some are powered anodes, some are for maintenance, some are for odor. All are important.
- News About Water Heaters -- Mostly recalls of products
- Fun Stuff -- How can anything about water heaters be fun? You'll see.....
There is a lot of free information here, but we also offer economical consultations that can save you time, money and grief. Our focus is solving problems, not merchandising. It might be something you buy, but it also might be something you do
Water Heaters 101
This used to be called Water Heater Basics and that's how we often think of it. It's a giant section, so we won't describe it all right here, but key topics include:
- Water Heater Sediment or Scale
- Sacrificial Anodes
- Powered Anodes
- Safety
- Tankless Heaters
- What Kills Water Heaters
- Choosing a Water Heater
Water Heater Maintenance
Now an offshoot of WH 101, these topics are:
- Know-How, a step-by-step guide to prefitting/retrofitting a water heater
- Preventive Maintenance Tasks, which includes additional chores to make it easy service a heater
- Tools, telling you just which ones you need
We used to sell the Water Heater Workbook by Larry and Suzanne Weingarten. Although we don't any more, we still highly recommend it. Check the link to learn more.
Water Heaters in Apartments
If you can save money maintaining ONE water heater, think how much you save maintaining a thousand! Or commercial tanks that cost thousands of dollars. Includes pages on:
- Optimal setup of commercial and residential tanks
- Inspections
- Optimal setup of recirc pumps. If those are plumbed improperly, they'll airlock and burn out.
- How to service a commercial water heater
Troubleshooting
This section has a variety of resources. One requires explanation. For 19 years, we ran a problem-solving forum called The Tank. Eventually people stopped posting there, so we removed it, but at the end, there were 5,000 topics and 20,000 posts. Tanklets takes the most important of these and continues in static HTML pages with a subject index. Look there first for answers to problems.
- Tanklets
- Not Enough Hot Water -- A common complaint with several causes
- Quick -- Quick tips, fixes and caveats
- Lingo -- Our glossary of water heater terms
- Smelly Hot Water -- We know its several causes and fixes
- Consulting -- Read anything on the site for free, but if you need to ask, you need this
- Peroxide Fix -- A cheap but temporary solution to smelly hot water
We offered parts and guidance for sale for 30 years, but all things come to an end, so we are mostly out of business. But if you need a powered anode, consider buying it through our site. It will be filled by Corro-Protec, the manufacturer, but we will get a commission. The price is the same whether you buy it here or there. The difference is that the commissions will help keep this site on the Internet.
Everybody has opinions. A few are able to get theirs published. I got tired of having mine bounce around inside my head. Read if you dare. Not about water heaters, anyway.
What Our Customers Say About Us
After I ordered and paid, Randy contacted me to suggest lowering the payment because I had ordered the same item 2x and didn't need 2 manuals, then he refunded me extra money. Who does THAT? While installing the parts, I contacted him a couple more times with questions, he was always helpful and responsive. In short, it's great to do business with someone who simply cares about quality and customer service. -- Elizabeth, Yelm, WA
I ended up using one of the sizing tools you recommended. It suggested around 50 gallons. I was able to find a 30 gallon that would fit so I went with two of them. It was actually smaller than the electric options I looked at so everything worked out well. The $30 for your consultation is far and away the best $30 I have ever spent. In no time, you had me comfortable with the direction to take and you suggested options that my plumbers never thought of after two visits and many days of “research.”
After two plumber visits, their only advice was that they were unable to find a water heater that would fit the space, told me not to waste time maintaining my water heater in the future because water heaters only last ten or so years anyway and they have now stopped returning my calls. This is after they came out on a second visit with a water heater that wouldn’t fit the space. After that visit, their plan was to come out with a 22” diameter water heater which would be about 26” with the controls, even though the space is only 22” deep. They were going to “squeeze it in somehow.”
It is so refreshing to get advice from someone that provides the truth. It makes me realize how rare this is these days.
Thanks for the superb advice and for taking the time to create such a great site. -- Doug, Lake Bluff, IL
