Water heater was still working!

[NIsaacs]

Here is a couple of pictures of the sediment that was in my hot water heater, about 8-10 inches in the tank and above the heating element by about 6-8 inches. I changed the thermostat because the water was too hot on the lowest setting, the new one wouldn't control the heat either so I figured the sediment was insulating the tank at the thermostat and installed a new heater. My guess is the electric bill will go down. I am the curious type so I had to cut a hole in the tank and look:-laf

Nick

 

[rscurtis]

You could have also pulled a Mythbusters and launched it like a rocket.

 

[Regcabguy]

My twenty year old one here required a coat hanger to drain. Wish I had the money for a whole house water filter.

 

[fest3er]

My brother's 25 y.o. gas water heater started leaking. But it still heated the water. It was heavy even after draining. So we cut it in half. It wasn't sediment. Found in the bottom a 12" thick solid 'block' of limestone that had built up over the years.

 

[rbattelle]

My twenty year old one here required a coat hanger to drain. Wish I had the money for a whole house water filter.

A whole house filter won't necessarily fix the water heater sediment problem. Most of the stuff you find at the bottom of a water heater is dissolved minerals in the water that fall out of suspension when the water is heated. A water filter won't remove dissolved sediment (unless it's reverse osmosis).

I have a whole-house 1-micron water filter. All it ever traps is ultra fine dirt particles that discolor the filter.

-Ryan