Hey folks, dealing with a bit of a rusty situation here (literally). My water heater's showing some corrosion around the bottom edge and I'm debating whether it's worth patching it up or if I should just bite the bullet and get a new one. Curious what most people tend to do in this situation...quick poll:
- Patch it up, save some cash
- Replace it, not worth the hassle
- Um...there's corrosion on water heaters? 😅
Feel free to share your experiences, horror stories, whatever you got.
Corrosion at the bottom edge usually means trouble brewing inside. Patching might buy you a little time, but honestly, once rust starts, it's hard to stop it completely. Had a neighbor who tried patching his heater—worked fine for a few months until one night...boom, basement flood. Not fun. Have you checked if your anode rod's been replaced recently? Sometimes that's the culprit behind early corrosion issues.
I get the caution about patching, but honestly, corrosion at the bottom doesn't always mean the tank's doomed. Had a similar issue a couple years back—noticed some rust spots forming around the base. Instead of immediately replacing, I drained the tank completely, flushed out all the sediment (you'd be surprised how much gunk builds up), and replaced the anode rod. Turns out mine was almost completely eaten away, which explained the accelerated rust.
After that, I sanded down the rusty spots, applied a rust converter, and sealed it with a high-temp epoxy. It's been holding steady for almost two years now, no leaks or floods yet. Sure, it's not a permanent fix, but it bought me enough time to budget comfortably for a replacement.
Not saying patching is always the best route, but sometimes a thorough maintenance check and a bit of DIY can stretch the lifespan more than you'd think.
Interesting approach, hadn't thought about the anode rod being a factor. Makes sense though, since it's supposed to prevent corrosion. Did you notice any improvement in water quality after replacing it? I've been debating whether to swap mine out proactively, even though there's no visible rust yet... just curious if it's worth the hassle.
Replacing the anode rod helped slow down the corrosion for me, but honestly, once rust starts showing up visibly, it's usually a sign the tank's days are numbered. I patched mine once, bought me another year or so before replacement became inevitable.
