18 Year Old Water Heater

thescreensavers

thescreensavers

Joined
Dec 21, 2009
Messages
989
Location
WPB, FL
So my house has a Rheem Water Heater (82V80-2) MFGed on 3/2006.

3 Years ago Replaced the Sacrificial Anode
2 Years ago the Dielectric Nipple Rusted out flooded my garage, Fixed that.
Now, the Water was not Hot when its cold out, Just installed new elements/thermostat, hopefully fixed.

I cleaned the inside as much as I could in a reasonable amount of time with a Wet Vac and peaked into the tank.

To my complete surprise the thing looks mint, I was expecting to see a rust mess and looking through both element holes I could not see anything that looked bad.

Knock on wood I get few to many more years of service from this water heater.

PXL_20240112_181210508.jpg
 
thescreensavers said:
So my house has a Rheem Water Heater (82V80-2) MFGed on 3/2006.

3 Years ago Replaced the Sacrificial Anode
2 Years ago the Dielectric Nipple Rusted out flooded my garage, Fixed that.
Now, the Water was not Hot when its cold out, Just installed new elements/thermostat, hopefully fixed.

I cleaned the inside as much as I could in a reasonable amount of time with a Wet Vac and peaked into the tank.

To my complete surprise the thing looks mint, I was expecting to see a rust mess and looking through both element holes I could not see anything that looked bad.

Knock on wood I get few to many more years of service from this water heater.

View attachment 198128
Click to expand...
Thats impressive. From talking with installers now 10-12 years seems to be the longevity for most new water heaters.
 
97prizm said:
Thats impressive. From talking with installers now 10-12 years seems to be the longevity for most new water heaters.
Click to expand...
That's only because people buy cheap water heaters and don't maintain or fix them. Just R&R.

This is a model that an installer or plumber is happy to perpetuate.

Our Rheem lifetime is totally serviceable. The vessel itself will last forever.
 
yes sir take care of things and they tend to last, my electric water heater is closing in on 20 years now.i did replace upper and lower elements ant thermos twice.
 
DemoFly said:
That's only because people buy cheap water heaters and don't maintain or fix them. Just R&R.

This is a model that an installer or plumber is happy to perpetuate.

Our Rheem lifetime is totally serviceable. The vessel itself will last forever.
Click to expand...
Cheap? The tanks are basically the same. There's only a small handful of companies who make hot water heaters and dozens of different brand name plates are put on .
The biggest difference is the amount of insulation around the tank and the warranty period which the consumer pays for. Water conditions and routine maintenance are the biggest factors affecting tank life.
 
Last edited:
thescreensavers said:
So my house has a Rheem Water Heater (82V80-2) MFGed on 3/2006.

3 Years ago Replaced the Sacrificial Anode
2 Years ago the Dielectric Nipple Rusted out flooded my garage, Fixed that.
Now, the Water was not Hot when its cold out, Just installed new elements/thermostat, hopefully fixed.

I cleaned the inside as much as I could in a reasonable amount of time with a Wet Vac and peaked into the tank.

To my complete surprise the thing looks mint, I was expecting to see a rust mess and looking through both element holes I could not see anything that looked bad.

Knock on wood I get few to many more years of service from this water heater.

View attachment 198128
Click to expand...
I would try placing a clamp on the inlet and outlet pipes of your tank with a heavy copper jumper between them. That likely will add more life to your tank and stop those dielectric couplers from rusting out.
 
kkreit01 said:
Ours is 29 yrs old. Haven't touched it other than the dip tube recall when it was about 4 yrs old. Our furnace and A/C are also original.
Click to expand...
Mine is coming up on 26 years old next month. Other than flushing it out when I remember I haven't done anything. I probably should replace it as PM, but we're flip flopping on selling the house and I don't want to put any money into the house unless I have to.
 
I have a 6 year old reem and want to change the rod... I have limited space to remove it and will have to cut it a bit to get out. I see replacement type the are flexible to install....Will this type of rod work as well??
 
This thread gives me a little hope.

I just bought a house with a water heater that, according to the serial number, was made in 1993. The house was built in '94.

We haven't moved in yet, but it makes hot water.

The first thing I noticed was a plastic drain spigot at the bottom. Should I dare to touch it, or even look at it directly?

Also, I have never changed an anode rod, but there's plenty of room to do it. Is the old one (what's left of it) likely to come out? The pipes are something white like PVC.

I was planning to leave the heater alone and replace it soon instead of waiting for it to fail. We'll see how it does when we move in, but I might consider doing a little maintenance if that's realistic.

(If anyone comments and I don't answer, that's because I'm in the middle of packing.)
 
Will the sacrificial anode come out easily? What happens if you put a big enough wrench on it to make something happen?

I would like to replace my gas water heater with a heat pump water heater. Waiting for a big sale.
 
Donald said:
Will the sacrificial anode come out easily? What happens if you put a big enough wrench on it to make something happen?

I would like to replace my gas water heater with a heat pump water heater. Waiting for a big sale.
Click to expand...
I take mine out as I use a water softener. First time it was after installed. Second time before install. They are extremely tight and hard to loosen. The new install I laid the water heater down on it's side so I could get better leverage.

Wrapping any water heater with some reflective bubble wrap will make a big difference in standing heat loss.
 
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