One WH leaking - replace both?

Bon · Dec 20, 2009

I have a pair of Bradford-White 50-gal water heaters. They are 6-year warranty models and are 6 1/2 years old. One tank just began leaking. My conundrum is: Should I replace both WH's at the same time or just wait for the second one to fail? I'll be doing the labor so I won't save on installation by doing one or both. They're plumbed in series and have a recirculation loop. I'm leaning on replacing both so I can do the entire job once. Comments? Wisdom? Experience? Thanks!!

Doherty Plumbing · Dec 20, 2009

Bon said:
I have a pair of Bradford-White 50-gal water heaters. They are 6-year warranty models and are 6 1/2 years old. One tank just began leaking. My conundrum is: Should I replace both WH's at the same time or just wait for the second one to fail? I'll be doing the labor so I won't save on installation by doing one or both. They're plumbed in series and have a recirculation loop. I'm leaning on replacing both so I can do the entire job once. Comments? Wisdom? Experience? Thanks!!

Well 6.5 years is a pretty short life time and they *should* out last that. I'd think that you got unlucky 1/2 what are the chances you get unlucky 2/2. So I'd probably only replace the 1 tank. Hell the non-leaking tank might out last the new one you put into replace the leaking one!

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

hj · Dec 28, 2009

heaters

The dynamics of a series installation, and that is the only way I install them, is that the initial one will usually fail several times before the second one does because the precipitation of minerals, which is a primary cause of failure, will occur in the first one.

One WH leaking - replace both?

Bon

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Doherty Plumbing

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hj

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