Annode rod checking

Techman

Is this how it's done?

meplumber

Holy crap.

What happened? Plugged relief valve?

Techman

boom or BOOM

Don't know! This happened very shortly after power was restored to that neighborhood.No one was hurt ,thank God ! The people were not home due to the power outtage. All of the 4-5 neighbors called emergency services,they broke down the door and found this water vessel as you see it. The insurance co. has yet to arrive ,but, they did say " DON"T TOUCH ANYTHING " ( with the heater).I"m just the AC guy on this job(darn it ! ) so I started & checked out my part. The AC runs good! The humidifier hanging on the side of the duct,towards the heater, is in pieces. A structual engineer is due any day now.I saw minor damage but, what do I know! Since no one was hurt I can say "This is cool !" I will be talking to the plumber to find out his thoughts about this.

Larry Weingarten

That's one way...

... to get sediment out of a tank!  The anode looks good by the way.  The thermostat must have failed closed from a power surge or corrosion ... or it may not have been sensing real tank temperature. There may have been air in the tank also so the relief valve didn't see the hot water.  I'm surprised there isn't more damage to the house.  That tank is a collector's item!



Yours,  Larry

Mark Eatherton

WOW,,,,

The power of steam is nothing short of amazing.



For whatever reason, the vessel was obviously exposed to a steam generating condition, and when the pressure generated was exposed to a lower pressure, the steam flash caused the vessel to fail (1700 times increase in volume).



You can bet there will be a BUNCH of insurance company expert witnesses all huddled together scrutinizing the installation...



Glad no one was injured.



ME

kcopp

and the house....

is still standing? I have heard of old ones that end up 2 bolcks away from the house! kpc