{"id":760,"date":"2021-02-22T11:00:38","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T16:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/?p=760"},"modified":"2021-02-19T08:22:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T13:22:29","slug":"does-corrosion-water-heater-mean-its-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/water-heater-service\/does-corrosion-water-heater-mean-its-done\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Corrosion on My Water Heater Mean Its Done?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-761\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/water-heater-leaking-200x300-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"water-heater-leaking\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" \/>Although we\u2019ll need to provide some context and extra information about this answer, the answer is \u201cyes.\u201d Corrosion is one of the worst things that can happen to a water heater, and when it sets in on <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">your<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> water heater, it\u2019s likely time to call our technicians and arrange to have a new one installed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This isn\u2019t an absolute, as we\u2019ll discuss below, but rust and other types of corrosion are more than just spots of trouble in a water heater. They indicate larger problems and likely a water heater that is too old to keep.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2><b>How Corrosion Starts<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Considering how a water heater works\u2014a metal cylinder where hot water is stored\u2014you might think corrosion would be a major concern from the start. After all, corrosion is a chemical reaction that occurs when water meets metal in the presence of oxygen. Isn\u2019t that what\u2019s happening in a water heater all the time?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No, not exactly. Water heaters are designed to resist corrosion for many years. There are several defenses against corrosion built into them:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Glass lining on the inside of the tank.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The absence of air inside the system. The air cushion used to maintain pressure in the tank is separated by a flexible membrane.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A device called the sacrificial anode rod inside the tank draws corrosion to it so it won\u2019t affect the rest of the water heater.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a water heater receives annual professional maintenance to check on the anode rod, fix leaks that can allow air into the system, repair the expansion tank, and flush the tank, corrosion should stay away for many years.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>When Corrosion Happens<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The anode rod will corrode completely after a few years, so if it isn\u2019t changed out, corrosion can set in early. There\u2019s also the possibility of corrosion outside the tank on the heat exchanger. This is a type of corrosion that can be repaired, since the heat exchanger can be removed and replaced\u2014although if the water heater is over 15 years old, it\u2019s more cost-effective to replace the entire system rather than just the exchanger.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Otherwise, corrosion affects most water heaters because of extreme age. If you spot corrosion appearing on the tank, you can call technicians to inspect it, but it\u2019s almost certain the tank (as well as other parts) will need to be replaced. A water heater can often last up to 20 years, and a few even go to 30 years, but if you see corrosion on any water heater that\u2019s older than 15 years, it\u2019s a sign that it\u2019s time to retire it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Pros Are Here to Help<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to <\/span><a href=\"\/service-areas\/lawrenceville-ga\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">water heaters in Lawrenceville, GA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the rest of the Snellville area, we\u2019re the team to rely on. We\u2019re licensed by the state and have kept customers happy since we started in business in 1988. We are a certified Rheem Pro Partner, but we work on all brands of water heaters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>At Snellville Heating, Air and Plumbing, \u201cYour Comfort Is OUR Business.\u201d <\/b><a href=\"\/contact\/schedule-service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Call for water heater services in the Snellville, GA area.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Corrosion is one of the worst things that can happen to a water heater.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[104,120,113],"class_list":["post-760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-water-heater-service","tag-lawrenceville","tag-water-heater-repair","tag-water-heater-replacement"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":763,"href":"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions\/763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snellair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}