06-27-2011, 06:50 PM
Mike V wrote:
In our unit block, two water heater let go and caused quite a bit of damage to the units underneath.
We fitted catch trays to all the water heaters after that.
Somebody's got to be really cheaping out to not have catch trays hooked to drainpipes under the water heaters in a high rise. That's a disaster waiting to happen. Sounds like stephen's condo has a whole slew of water heaters that are about to pop because nobody bothered to change the anode rod. Just think how much money could be saved by installing new rods rather than replacing all those heaters.
If it were me I'd pull the anode rod (or have the plumber pull it) and look at it. If it was 100% gone then I'd replace the heater. If there was still anode material left then the tank could be presumed OK and I'd just remove the rod. The water heater company probably knows that this would be a valid way to go but they'd rather sell new water heaters and bill the extra labor for removal/installation rather than get the much smaller amount of money for changing a rod.