Weekend activities! (old thread reanimated)

#4340

Nope… The leak was not exactly there but I think it was dripping to that spot and around the elements. I would probably have to try to take it all apart.

I am going to take the anode rod out to see how bad it was and to see that may have been a source of the dripping.

I am considering to either 1. Putting the water tank at the top of the hill and see how long it takes for someone to pick it up for scrap metal or 2. Take it to the scrap yard myself and see how much I can get for the scrap metal myself.

After thinking about it for a bit, it did last about 15 years which was not too bad but have heard some that have lasted a lot longer.

.

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#4341

Yes that’s not so bad.
its been supposed between 15 and 20 years and of course even less
Depends on material (Stainless steel is the best)
The part were tubes and valves are included in such a tank are always the parts where corrosion shows up first and hairlines too.
Not easy to repair.
A skilled welder could do.
But who knows what the result will be.

Scrap yard : If you are lucky, you find a replacement tank there. :rofl:

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#4342

Bought a bt Bamster from TEUFEL today at the flea market.
The speaker works (a miracle (flea market) :slight_smile: )
But the sound is not satisfying.
No basses at all.
Of course I can tune the speaker via EQ.
But for those who dont have such perfect sound programs this speaker is dissapointing.
One can read about that speaker model at amazon.

This speaker is sold for about 100 Euros there. :roll_eyes:
Its definitely not worth it.
Of course its an old model.
But who ever knows if the follower is better.

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#4343

Lots of rain here in the Los Angeles area. We are in a drought and every bit helps. But the “experts” say that we need 2-3 more rainy seasons like this one for us to catch up on the water situation. At least we are getting something. These are the same people that complain when it’s dry and not raining. Then when it DOES rain, they complain that it’s not going to be enough. :roll_eyes:

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#4344

I installed some water barrels here last year.
My neighbour has set up two little huts so I put a hose from the gutters to my property.
Its a “joint venture”. :grin:
So we both have water enough for our gardens.
His is very small so he never needs all the water we keep in the water tanks.
That’s “Our pipeline”
This will never been blown up by … :grimacing:

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#4345

I’ve had to replace my water heater twice. Got 8-9 years. I have been told that the anode rod is designed to last as long as the warranty on the water heater, and then after that it starts eating away at the tank and dies.

So I have learned how to replace my own water heater, and got flexible fittings so I could easily do it myself in the future. Not too hard.

#4346

I like your thinking, Franz! :+1:

Because of our drought, we collect the water (we used plastic 5 gallon buckets that we rotate) that normally goes down the drain before it gets warm enough to take a shower. This water is either used to water potted plants on the front porch (in drier months) or used to flush the toilets (in wetter months, like now). We collect quite a bit of water just by this simple task. It’s quite amazing how much water goes down the drain waiting for it to get hot.

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#4347

If the soil get totally dry one heavy rain shower will not help much.
The rain needs to fall for some days to soak the soil.

To use the rain water for the toilets is perfect.
But it needs some tricky installations.

We have a solar equippment on the roof to produce hot water.
In summer we produce too much in winter when we would need the hot water for heating its nothing.
Solution:
Digging a deep hole and bury a huge isolated tank.
Storing the hot water in summer there and connecting the heating in winter. :laughing:

There is a crazy discussion in Germany about what heating should be used.
Of course a new built house, perfectly isolated a floor heating is a must.
This in combination with a heat pump (air or ground source)
Thats OK
BUT this heating pump will not work with normal radiators
(the surface is too small and the flow temperature is too low)

But those “greens” are not able to check this out.

What I can do here :
I can demolish the whole house by tearing out the floors to install such a floor heating.
Nonsense.
Or installing huge wall radiators instead walls. :sweat_smile:

Best is to leave it like it is.
The house is now about 40 years old.

The worth of the house is nothing, the land is the most valuable.
It can be built a house with the double living space on this property.

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#4348

It is not too bad other than installing it as it is under the house. So limited movement and limited number of tanks to use as well. Plus over a 100 lb tank to move in limited space. I was smart enough to use boards to slide the tank under the house.

If I did change the anode, it would be a little job as the top has about a foot clearance.

#4349

There is no basement?

#4350

Nope… I moved some lattes to move it under the house opening. Have about 3 to 4 feet head clearance depending on the location and that decreased to about 2 feet give or take.

Entrance is about 4 but where the hot water heater sits is like 3 and 1/2 with a palette it sits on

#4351

Could you take a photo, please?
I am not familiar with such type of house.
But I would like to know about.
New system, new ideas.:smile:
Thank you Duane.

#4352

I have never replaced an anode rod. Looked into how, and it is a challenging job, at least on my water heater; certainly isn’t designed to happen easily.

But it is certainly a thought, and probably easier than replacing the whole thing. Mine is in the finished basement in a closet, so tight around it, but nothing like yours.

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#4353

I know the principle of the Anode
Its called “Opfer-Anode” in German.
This translates to “Offering-Anode”.

Makes clear the principle.
The Anode “offers” their metal to save the steel of the boiler from corrosion.
(Electrolyse)
Mostly its made of magnesium.
And of course it can be replaced.
This makes sense if the anode is “consumed” and if the steel of the boiler is not much corroded.

The anode needs to be checked and serviced from time to time.

Better and more expensive boilers are made from stainless steel and should not corrode.

Here in München the problem is the hard water (mountain origin)
Hard but extremely clean.

Kills often the heater elements.
I can see it daily when looking in the electric water kettle!
Formic acid helps :laughing:

#4354

I agree.

I was meaning to take out the elements and the anode to look at it but it ended up turning cold and I did not want to sit out there trying to loosen a stuck anode in the cold weather (lol). I decided to take my father in law’s hand cart (dolly) and pack the heater up near the roadside for trash so that I could return the hand cart (dolly) back to father in law (I really need to invest in one here soon).

I think each has it issues to change the anode (mine more open but no top clearance…yours top clearance but tight location.

I will say that me and my wife makes a joke bet when we put anything by the road for the trash. We have people that will grab the items before it could go into the trash truck. It lasted probably 3 hours. We have put lots of stuff up there and folks have taken it. Old couches, an old grill, and several other items have gotten picked up. I think the longest was 2 days before somebody got it.

@Chiquinho I had taken a few pictures when I was looking at it and I will see if I have any decent ones that show the area. It basically is the ground with plastic on it for a moisture barrier.

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#4355

I do the same, but you know its not allowed here to put “huge” things like furniture on the sidewalk. :smile:
Small boxes with items are perfect and really good to give things away for free,
But unfortunately we dont life in a place with a lot of pedestrians traffic.
So I announce the things on an internet flea market and people pick these up,

What are really not easy to donate are “books”.
Seems we live in a era of “apps”.
We both know this. :rofl:

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#4356

My girlfriend has a room full of books (in reality, a library). She periodically goes through and moves some of her unwanted books to the garage where we have them bagged (think the size of a large Christmas gift bag). We then periodically take a couple of bags to the nearby library. They do accept donated books but are pretty picky about what they accept. No paperbacks, all must be in good condition and have not been wet. They have a drop-off area at the back of the library. Many times we go to drop off books but they have a sign posted “not accepting donations” for reasons unknown. During the peak of COVID, they did not accept anything for a year at least. The paperbacks must be put into the recycling bin…but not too many or they wont take the bin at all, even if it IS full of recyclable paper (books).

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#4357

Oh yes, my wife takes books there from time to time.
But she got an abonnement from the local library here so she can download many books.
I download my books as well.

Of course we have a special trash bin for papers.
But old school as I am I will not trash books there.

I could burn these in the tile stove! :joy:
(But of course I will not!)

Snow outside again! Dont like at all.

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#4358

I had two old washers that both had hit failures that were too expensive to be worth repairing; we can schedule a large appliance waste pickup once a year, so called for that service to happen, it was going to be a month out. Put both by the curb on Friday and they were gone on Saturday. I even talked to the guys who picked them up and told them what was wrong with each - no idea if they would be scrap metal or go to a shop for other parts, but no need to have the county take anything away.

With an old futon that wasn’t staying upright anymroe, I didn’t even think about calling them. The neighbors took it from the curb and were repainting / repairing it within a day.

One man’s junk, as the say.

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#4359

That’s great
The whole world is wasting resources such a lot!
You aknow me a steady visitor of flea markets since 40 years.
So many things can be picked up there.
Meanwhile I see often young people!
For them its “en vogue” and fun.

But it’s great, this way they learn thats its much better to get things from there than to buy new crap.
Better than to to join that stupid “climate- activists” (Greta Thunberg & the others)
Stupid, glueing on the roads, for nothing than making trouble
This will not solve any problems.
I could say more about it.
e.g. where are the best places to start these protests.
But I am sure you all know. :roll_eyes:

PS; curb : I leaned a new word! :laughing:

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