Jump to content

heating elements on a hot water tank.


tomO

Recommended Posts

I'm draining and cleaning out the water tank , Lime scale is crusted on the element, does anyone know if you can clean the element off and reuse it or is it toasted. Thx in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would recoomend just buying a new one. They are like $15 dollars and at least you know it will work and heat up your water. I have never cleaned mine because they were so corroded, rusted and mangled it wasn't salvagable.

 

Dirk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Put a new one in for the low cost. It's a pain to drain the tank again, so you might as well do it while it's open.

However, if it's just a crust, try soaking it in CLR over night. You will be able to tell after that if it's good to use it again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Flush out the sediment as able then replace the element. The element that is covered in scale has generated hotspots and will fail soon. If you try to clean it then you will knock off the scale and corrosion and the porcelain casing will be compromised. You also can look into a water softener to stop the scale build up and all of the other benefits it provides.

 

Art the plumber

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok thx to all of you. I hadn't cleaned it out for a couple years and I wont do that again I bet I sucked out 25 or 30 lbs of scale with the shop vac and some homemade specialty conections to get as far into it and around the sides as I could. Once again thx.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recent Topics

    Popular Topics

    Upcoming Events

    No upcoming events found

×
×
  • Create New...