Water heater set up/well water

[wyld thang]

Our 3rd water heater is leaking again, for now it's a slow leak and we're bailing...this is the second water heater that was replaced on the original'e warantee because our rusty water eats them for breakfast. The place in town the wh comes from says we've "used up" our warantee replacements if your get my drift--we've worn out our welcome.

SO we're trying to think of something else. Hubby has the skillz to install a wh, basic plumbing, replace an element in the heater, so he's "halfway handy". He's looking into an electric in-line water heater with solar pre-booster, and was wondering if he puts an extra filter in front of it if that will help with the corrosion. We already have a water softening system in the well, so the water coming thru is softenend.

So--would an inline system be less likely to get corroded because the water doesn't sit in it like a tank. If it does get corroded, can you work on them and replace parts, or are you SOL and need a whole new box?

We're in Oregon so solar would work good in summer, but not in winter so much.

Our other option is to get used wh from craigslist for 50$ or less and just swap them out and consider them disposable.

He found a truly lifetime(for the lifetime of the BUYER not the wh) super duper hard core beefy water heater for 7500$ snort.

[wyld thang]

PS, he's also scheming up an idea to convert a pressure tank into a wh. I feel like Dr Frankenstein's surgical nurse!

[oneokie]

Have the Ph of your well water tested. Acidic well water will cause early failure of wh's.
BTDT.

Locally, many of the wells produce acidic water. A neutralizer tank containing crushed oyster shell is plumbed into the system before the softener. If dh is mechanically inclined you can use the old pressure tank for the neutralizer tank. A way to add more oystershell will need to be installed on the tank.

[wyld thang]

great idea! I'm sure the water is very acidic because the soil is very acidic. how big is that neutralizer tank? like how many gallons? do you use crushed oyster shell like what you buy to give chickens, or is there some special stuff for water use?

[oneokie]

40 gallons and up. Yes, same oyster shell that is fed to chickens. It does need to be screened/sifted to remove the fines before use.

[zant]

And also check for iron in the water..when I replaced my hw heater in another state(40gal)my son and I could barely lift it...shot it with AP and orange sludge came out for 2days.....also drain every year..