From HVAC to Hot water heater.....6 yr old house and it all falls apart

[Tyrone Biggums]

For sure man!

Any value at a scrap yard in a used hot water heater?

Doubt it. It would probably take a truck bed of 7 or 8 of them to make it worth the trip.

Also I was quoted on a Bradford White. Are these any better/same/worse than sau a GE brand?

Hadn't heard of that brand. I can't imagine there being a huge brand difference between standard dual element heaters that don't have electronic control pads.

[Zippo]

Something to consider while you're working on it: add a timer into the electrical side, it saved me over 25$ a month on our elect bill the first month.

[GeorgeG.]

do you need to let the water cool down before draining? I'm assuming you just connect a water hose to it and let it drain out, just not sure what that would do to my water hose.

[jakesford]

do you need to let the water cool down before draining? I'm assuming you just connect a water hose to it and let it drain out, just not sure what that would do to my water hose.

The water will only be 120* give or take... The hose probably gets hotter sitting in the sun during summer...

[Tyrone Biggums]

do you need to let the water cool down before draining? I'm assuming you just connect a water hose to it and let it drain out, just not sure what that would do to my water hose.

You don't have to, but what comes out will be whatever temperature your thermostat is set at. So it's whatever you're comfortable with. Kill the power to the unit before draining. If air hits the elements while they have power to them, they go out immediately.
Turn off the cold water supply, hook a hose to the drain and open the valve. Open up a bathtub faucet to the hot setting to let some air in behind the water. If that doesn't help the flow any, you may have to open the TP valve as well. Flow is also going to depend on how much sediment is in the bottom of the tank. If it doesn't drain at all, you may have to back flush it to clear a path in the sediment to let the water drain. If so, plan on it taking forever to drain. I had to back flush mine and it took almost two hours to drain a 50 gallon tank.
Once it's drained, close the drain valve (and the TP valve if you opened it) and turn the cold water supply back on to fill the tank. Leave your tub faucet open for 10 minutes or so to clear any air may be in the line then close it. I would wait at least an hour before turning the power on to the tank. I don't know exactly how long it takes to fill a tank and I don't want to found out the hard way by turning the power on to an element on before it's submersed in water.

[2K2 LS1]

Well I got home and on a hunch tried the hot water again.....it read 103 degrees at the shower head and 113 at the sink faucet. I talked to the plumbing supply shop and they said that was a sign of a bad thermostat and not an element. I decided to swap the t-stat out and hopefully bought myself a couple months more use out of the heater. I plan to replace it this spring of so; as we are getting the house ready to sell or rent.

Just checked the sink faucet again after an hour since replacing the t-stat. Water now reads 127 degrees