Electric water heaters failing fast

[H2Power]

Hot Water heater problem

Background:

House purchased in 2019. Two electric hot water heaters, one on east and one on west side of house. Both were installed in 2018. In 2021 we had a plumber install Grundfos recirculation pumps together with valving on far end of water runs to allow for instant hot water delivery at taps. The house is a ranch with long line runs and without the recirc system the hot water delivery took a very long time. The recirc pumps were programmed to run 24 hours. The house has a salt-based water softener system which seems to be working as designed. House is supplied by city water.

Problems:

In 2022 within a couple of months of each other, both water heaters failed and were replaced due to leaks. In 2025, right at 3 years (or less) both water heaters failed again due to leaks. I described the short life span to the plumber. He tested water and did not find issue. I shared the water test results with water softener company, and they also stated water was within normal range. Both water tanks were replaced under warranty, and on the plumber’s recommendation the OE tank anodes were replaced with powered anode rods. I agreed to flush the tanks every six months. I also set the recirc timers to run only during peak use times in the morning and evening, so for a total of about 8 hours per day.

Now, at almost the 6 month mark, one of the tanks is already leaking with rust colored water in the drain pan. So I assume it has failed due to corrosion once again.

Any recommendations on diagnosing or solving the problem appreciated.

 

[Fitter30]

Call their tech dept. Have ever tested the water softness? Tech it might help them.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

Your pumps are making the heaters work way too hard.....if they are not on
a timer then you are also going to weaken your copper water lines or pex lines over time

What brand of heaters are you talking about??
I have had many issues with Bradford White water heaters over the years
not being able to handle water softeners and the sodium in the water.... it seems
to eat them alive..... The Rheem heaters seem to be able to handle soft water better

Take note that your plastic water softener control can break the grounding across your plumbing system
back to the city water ground or the breaker box....
This poor grounding issue turns your water heaters into the "back up ground" for the system....and mixed with the sodium it turns the water heater into something akin to a charged potato battery... and it quickly eats the hell out of the steel.

I know this sounds like a load of horse shit but I see it all the time in Indiana....

it might be wise to install some extra grounds directly to the green ground nut on the lines going into
the heaters and run this ground wire to your incomming city water line -----or drill and install some ground rods directly into the concrete floors by the units... and ground it directly that way

I have had to do this with a few "peskey" troublesome heaters that burnt out and leaked on me only after a few years..... I had to run an extra ground wire from the top green ground nut on the top of the heater
all the way to the city ground and install a clamp and attach it properly..... and I have drilled a hole in the basement floor and installed a copper rod on a few units for my customers...

again....most electricians will say that this is a load of horse shit but
the extra grounds in the house seemed to solve my problems


good luck... have fun

if this helps you, please give me a good review on Google and Yelp

 

[H2Power]

Your pumps are making the heaters work way too hard.....if they are not on
a timer then you are also going to weaken your copper water lines or pex lines over time

What brand of heaters are you talking about??
I have had many issues with Bradford White water heaters over the years
not being able to handle water softeners and the sodium in the water.... it seems
to eat them alive..... The Rheem heaters seem to be able to handle soft water better

Take note that your plastic water softener control can break the grounding across your plumbing system
back to the city water ground or the breaker box....
This poor grounding issue turns your water heaters into the "back up ground" for the system....and mixed with the sodium it turns the water heater into something akin to a charged potato battery... and it quickly eats the hell out of the steel.

I know this sounds like a load of horse shit but I see it all the time in Indiana....

it might be wise to install some extra grounds directly to the green ground nut on the lines going into
the heaters and run this ground wire to your incomming city water line -----or drill and install some ground rods directly into the concrete floors by the units... and ground it directly that way

I have had to do this with a few "peskey" troublesome heaters that burnt out and leaked on me only after a few years..... I had to run an extra ground wire from the top green ground nut on the top of the heater
all the way to the city ground and install a clamp and attach it properly..... and I have drilled a hole in the basement floor and installed a copper rod on a few units for my customers...

again....most electricians will say that this is a load of horse shit but
the extra grounds in the house seemed to solve my problems


good luck... have fun

if this helps you, please give me a good review on Google and Yelp

Mark, thank you very much for your input. I set the pump timers after the last new tank installation. I set them to run during peak use times, around 4 hours in the am and 4 hours in the pm. The latest two tanks both came from plumbing supply houses. One is an A.O.Smith and the other is a Ruud.

Thank you for the tips on the grounding, I'm guessing you are sharing some hard earned experience on that. I like the approach, I don't think you can "over" ground anything.

I looked at the tanks just now. On the Ruud tank which has already failed due to leak, I found the green ground bolt. It has a bare copper wire clamped underneath the head but the wire is snipped at the bolt. So no ground wire??? I looked at the A.O.Smith tank and did not see any green ground bolt and no ground wire either???

Do you have any experience with the powered anodes? I was getting 3-4 years per tank with standard anodes, and my bad, I never checked or changed them. After the latest tank install we replaced the stock anodes with powered anodes and the tanks are failing at 6 months. I think the theory is the powered anodes are supposed to put current into the tank allowing electrons to coat the steel tanks making it a cathode. Great theory, but what is real world experience? I'm thinking they accelerated the tank corrosion.

Any further insights you have are much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[H2Power]

I looked further and found a ground screw and copper wire at top of A.O.Smith tank underneath a cover. The ground wire goes into the main conduit. I also found a ground wire fastened to the softener inlet line and outlet line, so the system should be grounded to the main.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

you have to understand that this is all really close to Vo-doo ....

but grounding the heaters better cannot hurt anything....
the powered anode rods dont hurt neither... or so they claim

checking the main ground at the breaker box to the ground rod out in the yard is a good idea too because
on occasion they get broken off or just get loose and dont make a good contact any longer...
and the currents grounds to wherever it can.

kicking the pumps down to only run at peak times for an hour
or so has to help too....

The only other issues to look into is the incoming pressure to the home

Water heaters on a well with a top pressure of only 50psi seem to last forever
most heaters last much, much longer when the pressure is down around 60 psi...

so if you have high water pressure in your home that is another culprit that can kill
a heater..... installing a prv valve and a thermal expansion tank is wise to do if you dont have
them already

 

[John Gayewski]

No. Pumps can run 24-7 and will not hurt the water heater. The velocity of the water in the tank is no where near the piping velocity. A pump doesn't wear out a tank. The electric heaters are grounded in the panel and electricity has nothing to do with rot.

Either your water is acidic or your getting a supply of tanks from a scrap pile. Do not replace like heaters with like,if your having problems. Test the water acidity. You said your plumber tested the water, what was it's ph? Why do you think you need a softener? Lots of people put them in when they were never needed.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

No. Pumps can run 24-7 and will not hurt the water heater. The velocity of the water in the tank is no where near the piping velocity. A pump doesn't wear out a tank. The electric heaters are grounded in the panel and electricity has nothing to do with rot.

Either your water is acidic or your getting a supply if tanks from a scrap pile. Do not replace like heaters with like if your having problems. Test the water acidity. You said you're plumber tested the water what was it's ph? Why do you think you need a softener? Lots of people out them in when they were never needed.

You can believe whatever you want to......

I know its wise to throttle down pumps to only run maybe twice a day
when their is the most activity.... if for no other reason than to conserve electricity instead
of having the elements constantly re-heating the water 24-7...

I KNOW for a fact that having
the elements in a heater constantly coming on and off heating water 24-7 will burn them out faster
that is just common sense..... and the wear and tear to the heaters has to eventually follow suit...

also over time, running the pump full bore actually erodes the copper pipe and thins it down
and creates pin holes and I assume it affects the pex pipe too over time....

these are things I have observed over the past 60 year
because I do this for a living...

.

 

[John Gayewski]

You can believe whatever you want to......

I know its wise to throttle down pumps to only run maybe twice a day
when their is the most activity.... if for no other reason than to conserve electricity instead
of having the elements constantly re-heating the water 24-7...

I KNOW for a fact that having
the elements in a heater constantly coming on and off heating water 24-7 will burn them out faster
that is just common sense..... and the wear and tear to the heaters has to eventually follow suit...

also over time, running the pump full bore actually erodes the copper pipe and thins it down
and creates pin holes and I assume it affects the pex pipe too over time....

these are things I have observed over the past 60 year
because I do this for a living...

.

Most pumps that are oversized do wear down the copper, and if the pipe is undersized, it'll wear out,
But it ain't affecting the tank.

The water lines should be insulated.In which case there shouldn't be more than 1 to 2 extra cycles a day. A really long waterline with a really long recirc, is the equivalent of a radiant heating line if it's uninsulated and it will give off a lot of heat, but it only gives off as much heat as it can in a room that's heated. Pipe that travels through unheated spaces will give off a lot of heat and cause more cycling, but it isn't more than a heater can handle over it's warranty period.

This person is dealing with a totally different animal.There's no way a lined steel tank should wear out like they have been.

 

[H2Power]

No. Pumps can run 24-7 and will not hurt the water heater. The velocity of the water in the tank is no where near the piping velocity. A pump doesn't wear out a tank. The electric heaters are grounded in the panel and electricity has nothing to do with rot.

Either your water is acidic or your getting a supply of tanks from a scrap pile. Do not replace like heaters with like,if your having problems. Test the water acidity. You said your plumber tested the water, what was it's ph? Why do you think you need a softener? Lots of people put them in when they were never needed.

pH coming out of softener is 8.1. The reason I need a softener is because the city water is very hard, measured at 22 gpg. Water that hard causes problems with water heater, appliances, plumbing fixtures and leaves hard water deposits on anything it lands on. Forget washing vehicles, they will look worse after washing than before if you use the hard water.

The tank that failed after 6 months was a Ruud, I replaced it with the same because it was covered under warranty. I will pull the magnesium anode after 1 year to inspect/replace (assuming tank lasts that long). Electrician is coming to inspect electrical on the tanks this coming week.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

pH coming out of softener is 8.1. The reason I need a softener is because the city water is very hard, measured at 22 gpg. Water that hard causes problems with water heater, appliances, plumbing fixtures and leaves hard water deposits on anything it lands on. Forget washing vehicles, they will look worse after washing than before if you use the hard water.

The tank that failed after 6 months was a Ruud, I replaced it with the same because it was covered under warranty. I will pull the magnesium anode after 1 year to inspect/replace (assuming tank lasts that long). Electrician is coming to inspect electrical on the tanks this coming week.

Everyone is giving you good advice on things that could remedy your issues....

a long while back in the early 90s, I was installing the heaters on wooden 2x4s thinking it would break contact between the basement floor and the water heater.... I was never back on any of these heaters later on to actually see if it extended the life of the heater or not.... so I finally gave up on this theory but its all part of research and discovery--- This might have helped eeek out a few more years of life on the heaters ... and I will never know for sure

They claim that a thermal expansioin tank on the heaters extends the life of the unit too and I do install
them on every heater I do but I have seen them go out under warranty with the tanks on them many times


you are doing about everything you can to eliminate different causes or possibilities as to what is eating up
your water heaters and maybe in some 5 or 10 years down the road you will know if all this effort has
paid off or not.....

Soooo If we are all still alive in 10 years go ahead and post your findings
maybe I will still be around to reply and maybe not.....

people have expiration dates on them too...and it depends on how well
you take care of yourself

 

[John Gayewski]

What is the ph after softening and heating? 8.1 is OK, not great.

There is a possibility that your local supplier of Rudd heaters got a batch that were dropped or otherwise bopped hard enough to ef up the lining.

 

[H2Power]

What is the ph after softening and heating? 8.1 is OK, not great.

There is a possibility that your local supplier of Rudd heaters got a batch that were dropped or otherwise bopped hard enough to ef up the lining.

The only water sample I had lab tested was the from the softener out, before the water heater with a pH of 8.1. Using a pool test kit the city water in pH was 7.8 and at the softener out was the same, 7.8.

 

[Reach4]

I have some thoughts not based on experience.

Both water tanks were replaced under warranty, and on the plumber’s recommendation the OE tank anodes were replaced with powered anode rods.

What powered anodes did you put in? I have a thought that powered anodes with stubby probes protect the top part of the tank but not much the bottom.
I had made a writeup on powered anodes: https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/powered-anodes.102546/

I see I wrote a typo, and I now wonder what I meant. I had written "A expensive anodes are available from Corro-Protec." They are perhaps the cheapest of the powered anodes today, or they had cost more back then. I just edited that to "Some less-expensive anodes are available from Corro-Protec."

On https://terrylove.com/forums/index....heater-no-rotten-egg-smell.77342/#post-571874 post #20 I wrote about my thinking that stubby anodes would not protect the bottom so well.

In 2022 within a couple of months of each other, both water heaters failed and were replaced due to leaks. In 2025, right at 3 years (or less) both water heaters failed again due to leaks.

The Marathon WH claims to be much more resistant to leaks due to corrosion. https://www.rheem.com/marathon/ High price, but longer replacement warranty.

a long while back in the early 90s, I was installing the heaters on wooden 2x4s thinking it would break contact between the basement floor and the water heater....

Interesting idea. Maybe some plastic central air conditioner condenser pad would be a good insulating pad. But wait... a plastic water heater pan is made strong enough for full water heaters, and would also electrically insulate.

Also, I am wondering if a clamp-around ammeter around each WH pipe just above the WH or around the electrical supply (around all wires at once) would show current. Net current thru the power wires should net out at zero, because the currents should be equal but opposite. I have not tried anything like that. A current measured could be cause for thinking about this.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

a long while back in the early 90s, I was installing the heaters on wooden 2x4s thinking it would break contact between the basement floor and the water heater....

Interesting idea. Maybe some plastic central air conditioner condenser pad would be a good insulating pad. But wait... a plastic water heater pan is made strong enough for full water heaters, and would also electrically insulate.

Also, I am wondering if a clamp-around ammeter around each WH pipe just above the WH or around the electrical supply (around all wires at once) would show current. Net current thru the power wires should net out at zero, because the currents should be equal but opposite. I have not tried anything like that. A current measured could be cause for thinking about this.


I normally install my heaters in a plastic palled a "tuff pan" and it is highly durable,,, sometimes they sit directly on the plastic and sometimes on bricks in the pan
The plastic pan will break the ground to the floor....

Now aluminum pans seem to grind up and get pin holes in them over time and many look like electralysis has eaten them up....
So I wonder if it is from the heater attempting to ground through them or it is just the weight bearing down on the metal....??

We have thrown in a number of Rheem Marathon electric fiberglass heaters over the past decade and I have had only one of them leak..... most I have never heard a word back about them.....

 

[H2Power]

I have some thoughts not based on experience.


What powered anodes did you put in? I have a thought that powered anodes with stubby probes protect the top part of the tank but not much the bottom.
I had made a writeup on powered anodes: https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/powered-anodes.102546/

I see I wrote a typo, and I now wonder what I meant. I had written "A expensive anodes are available from Corro-Protec." They are perhaps the cheapest of the powered anodes today, or they had cost more back then. I just edited that to "Some less-expensive anodes are available from Corro-Protec."

On https://terrylove.com/forums/index....heater-no-rotten-egg-smell.77342/#post-571874 post #20 I wrote about my thinking that stubby anodes would not protect the bottom so well.


The Marathon WH claims to be much more resistant to leaks due to corrosion. https://www.rheem.com/marathon/ High price, but longer replacement warranty.


Interesting idea. Maybe some plastic central air conditioner condenser pad would be a good insulating pad. But wait... a plastic water heater pan is made strong enough for full water heaters, and would also electrically insulate.

Also, I am wondering if a clamp-around ammeter around each WH pipe just above the WH or around the electrical supply (around all wires at once) would show current. Net current thru the power wires should net out at zero, because the currents should be equal but opposite. I have not tried anything like that. A current measured could be cause for thinking about this.

The powered anodes used were Corro-Protec. They are short, I measured 8 inches from bottom of thread to tip of anode. Plastic water heater pans were installed on the tank replacements 6 months ago. Tanks with magnesium anodes lasted 3-4 years. Tanks with powered anode lasted 6 months on one and the other one has indications of corrosion though no leak (yet) at 6 months. I'm back to using the stock magnesium anode on the latest tank replacement. I plan to pull and inspect/replace magnesium anode in 1 year.

The Marathon tanks are appealing because the materials should be corrosion resistant for longer life. But for the anti-corrosion benefit there is a tradeoff ... larger dimensions. My tanks are 50 gallon and the standard Marathon 50 gallon is too tall and the Marathon 50 gallon short is too wide. No basements (typically) in Phoenix so tanks are in closets shared with HVAC. The tanks are sandwiched between air return on one side and the evaporator on the other side. There is no room for the Marathon tanks.

Electrician scheduled for system inspection this week.

 

[John Gayewski]

Lol, did the electrician find a magical electrical cause for corrosion?

 

[H2Power]

Electrician did find a very low level current or voltage on one of the heaters, but he did not think it was significant. He added additional grounds to both heaters.

 

[Fitter30]

Electrician did find a very low level current or voltage on one of the heaters, but he did not think it was significant. He added additional grounds to both heaters.

Element manufacters use magnesium oxide (MgO) for insulation between the element and metal casing. Small voltage detected might mean that that the metal case might have very small hole in the case. When the element fails they flash the water to steam and it explodes opening up a hole and not always tripping the breaker. Most electrician don't carry a meg ohm meter that can check resistance between element and the water with 500 vdc. Have you contacted the manufacturer about the failures?

 

[H2Power]

I have not contacted manufacturers. I don't remember the brand of the first two water heaters that were installed in 2018 a year prior to my purchase. They were both replaced in 2022 several months apart, one with a Ruud the other an AO Smith from plumbing supply houses. Both failed in June 25 and replaced under warranty. The Ruud failed again in December 2025 and was replaced under warranty.