I was the exact same way. I could justify watching ads to support the people I watched, but then I learned how little compensation a creator actually gets from one view and decided my time was more valuable. Plus I just got too used to never seeing ads and could never go back.

This video sums up the sentiment you’re describing nicely.

I’m finding the American regulations bizarre as well.

Yeah, the top element failing is less common. I suppose it could have been a dry firing and it just held on until recently. Whether it’s that or a defect, the fact that it’s been changed means that will likely be the end of your troubles. If you don’t have problems with the water already you probably don’t have to worry.

I’ll try and explain what I can, but take it with a grain of salt since I’m far from an expert.

I’m in Canada where water heaters are required to be set at 140°F by code. I’m just learning from this thread that in the US the temperature setting required on water heaters is lower for some reason, which seems at odds with preventing Legionella bacteria from growing. The manufacturer of the water heaters I install produces them for both America and Canada. The only difference I can see from the website is the thermostats are set at a lower temperature for the American ones. I don’t imagine running your specific tank at a higher temperature would matter either. I believe all electric water heaters are just glass lined steel tanks with the elements and fittings connected. Nothing that stands out as something that a little more heat would cause to fail.

With your tank only being a year and a half old I don’t see how maintenance could have prevented that element failing. It sounds to me like you just got a bad element from the manufacturer. They are a relatively cheap mass produced part so some duds would be expected. The good news is they won’t break the bank should you need to replace one again. There are water heaters of varying quality too, so I imagine cheaper ones would tend to use cheaper components.

If you have really bad water and there was lots of minerals settled in the tank (like up to the bottom element) then you might want to look at water treatment options, which would start with a water test to know what you’re even dealing with. I can’t give any advice in that department though.

Hope that gives more answers than questions lol.

Yeah I’ve come across a number of homes where people have turned the temperature down for children and the elderly. The proper thing to do is add a mixing valve that adds some cold water to the hot once it leaves the tank. That way you can maintain the temperature at 140°F, which the source in the other reply identifies as the proper temperature to prevent Legionella.

Sounds like you had a good idea of what you were doing. I suppose I was making too many assumptions after reading your initial post! As long as you got the job done.

With a 7 year old heater and that much sediment/deposit it’s definitely water quality. Where I am water heaters can run for 15 years on city water without a flush. I know there are many types of water treatment options for different scenarios, but that’s about the extent of my knowledge. Luckily, it sounds like that’s your area of expertise.

The 140°F setting is coming from memory so it’s possible that I’m off or that it isn’t a universal setting. I would tend to stick with the manufacturer’s recommendations. I know it’s possible to buy higher temperature rated thermostats then the ones we use though.

I don’t know how equipped I would’ve been, I’m still just a helper lol.

Congats and good luck with the new home too!

EDIT: Just checked the spec sheet of the water heater brand I install. The Canadian models are set to 140°F, but the American ones are set to 125°F. I wonder why there are different standards?

I’ve been working installing and servicing water heaters for the last 2 months, so I have a little knowledge to share. I’m still learning so I may get some things wrong.

We use a transfer pump to drain tanks because gravity draining is super slow and will become even less effective as the water level drops, especially when there is also sediment plugging things up. In both cases you need to let air into the tank so a vacuum isn’t created. You can do this by opening a hot water tap somewhere in the house or by flipping the lever on top of the pressure relief valve. You might have a vacuum breaker on the cold water line above the tank, but I’m not sure how well that can supply air to the top of the tank as the water level drops. I would use one of the other options instead of relying on that.

You say you’ve installed the new elements, but are still trying to remove the sediment through the drain valve? Why not get the water level down and use a shop vac through the element holes?

I’m assuming the tank is fairly old if it has sediment like you describe. Around here homeowners insurance will tell you to change them every 15 years. If an old tank leaks and the water destroys anything in your home it may not be covered. If your tank is in rough shape you’d probably want to change it proactively anyway, they will fail eventually.

A note on changing the temperature setting of the thermostats. You’re not supposed to tamper with them. The ones I install are set to 140°F. I’ve been told this is a WHO standard to ensure nothing can grow in the tank. Aside from that, by lowering the temperature you are just decreasing the amount of hot water that’s available and you will run out quicker.

I could probably go on, but this is already information overload lol.

EDIT: typo

Try not to cry when the door hits your bony ass on the way out

Someone will be smuggling microfiche behind the iron curtain…wait wrong century.

Trudeau really is just going to tow the party line to his proverbial grave. I can’t remember the last time I saw a positive story about this party.

Tesla about to drop the Flintmobile

Windows is becoming more of a shit show everyday, comically so. Glad I finally installed Linux Mint today. I’ve used Windows exclusively up until now and just quit cold turkey, putting Mint on my daily driver. I was hesitant to upend my computer habits by swapping OS, but I should have done this ages ago. I’m sure I’ll run into some kind of issue sooner than later, but I’ll take a technical problem over one manufactured by a corporation’s greed any day.

Lock and load brothers

PowerToys is so useful. It’s the main thing I will miss if I ever switch to Linux. I’m sure there is software to replace most of the functionality on Linux, but I’ve yet to get the motivation to look into it.

You’re no fan of us? Cause our movie and TV shows are so amateur?

Edit: I guess they’re aren’t many Classified fans on Lemmy

On the point about why they didn’t use cows instead of humans as an energy source. I think I’ve read that in the original conception of the Matrix, the humans’ brains were meant to be used for computation for the machines, rather than the humans being energy sources. This was changed since computers were new to the general public in 1999 and it was believed the concept would be too confusing.

So true. I find it so disheartening seeing century old images of Canadian cities with street cars. I’ve even seen photos of small towns in New Brunswick that had street cars. Not only is it possible to do proper public transit nowadays, we could have had it all along.