What are water heaters worth?

I'M NEW AT THIS, AND WANT TO KNOW IF WATER HEATERS ARE WORTH THE TROUBLE? THE ONE i PICKED UP HAS FOAM STUCK ALL AROUND IT . hOW DO i GET IT OFF/ OR DO i JUST LEAVE IT ON?

2 thoughts:

First, THANK YOU for not calling it a HOT water heater...I mean, whats the point of heating water thats already hot?
Second, I did a number of these awhile ago and found it easier just to remove any outside worthwhile components (brass fittings come to mind) and take the rest in to the yard. I do recommend that you cut into one and break it down completely just for the experience, but i think you will find it to be a major pain and the insulation is not fun to deal with. Pulling, scraping, etc of the insulation is the only way I can think of but just not worth it IMO.

Originally Posted by newattitude

Instead of the grammar police we have the ''technical'' police? I've called them 'hot water tanks' all my life, is it really worth splitting hairs over? that wasn't the OP's question anyways (what to call them). For cripes sake.

Lighten up Francis...its called "interjecting some humor into a topic" and I answered the question. BTW, "hot water tanks" is perfectly acceptable, as it is an exact description of what it is. Keep up the good work.

I also remove the dirty alum control box on the outside of the tank and scrap it as is.

Originally Posted by hobo finds

I also remove the dirty alum control box on the outside of the tank and scrap it as is.

I have been removing them also and putting them in buckets. I have planned on taking one apart when I get time to see if it is worth breaking down further, or just let them go as is for dirty aluminum. Even dirty aluminum .25 lb. is better than .06 shred.

I remove any brass, copper, aluminum pieces and toss them in buckets, then the whole tank insulation and all goes in the srapper truck and the yard takes it as light iron scrap. Low value but very heavy. It all ads up��

Are these Copper cylinders or Steel hot water cylinders?

I scrapped an on demand hot water system.. if you get inside of the box that is the unit, there is this foam ring thing.. just leave that foam ring alone I guess that's similar to the foam cylinder inside the water heater. Other than the foam ring, there is lots of #1 copper. This unit I picked up even came with maybe 12' of #1 copper plumbing.. lol... I lucked out on that one.

In my area I throw them on top of a load of unprepared iron and they buy them at that price. This is also true for appliances, tin sheets, barb wire, etc. My loads are between three and five tons so it is assumed they do not want to send me over the scale a second time for such a small amount. It is usually $ 25 - $ 40 over shred price. By removing the brass fittings and valve for my non ferrous collection creates a large enough hole for my yard.

I have 2 plumbers that drop them off
So I get 2 or 3 a week
Be sure to remove the overpressure value and the drain valve
ALSO sometimes they leave some short nubs of copper on the goes in and goes out at the top of the tank

After I remove the good stuff >> Tank goes into the next vehicle heading for the scale/squisher

What's a "drinking fountain" called in your area? I have a friend at work that grew up in Wis. (which isn't that far away from here) and they call them (I think) "water bubblers". I would have looked at him blankly if he would have asked me that one...

P.S. Anyone ever use the term "owly"?? Another colleague who grew up in Vermont was fasinated when his daughter who was in high school here used that term. He had never heard of it. He must have asked about a dozen people at work and only those generally from around here knew what it meant. Do you??

Sorry for the hijack but why not...???

Originally Posted by DakotaRog

What's a "drinking fountain" called in your area? I have a friend at work that grew up in Wis. (which isn't that far away from here) and they call them (I think) "water bubblers". I would have looked at him blankly if he would have asked me that one...

P.S. Anyone ever use the term "owly"?? Another colleague who grew up in Vermont was fasinated when his daughter who was in high school here used that term. He had never heard of it. He must have asked about a dozen people at work and only those generally from around here knew what it meant. Do you??

Sorry for the hijack but why not...???

According to the urban dictionary owly means cranky or grumpy.

Originally Posted by DakotaRog

What's a "drinking fountain" called in your area? I have a friend at work that grew up in Wis. (which isn't that far away from here) and they call them (I think) "water bubblers". I would have looked at him blankly if he would have asked me that one...

P.S. Anyone ever use the term "owly"?? Another colleague who grew up in Vermont was fasinated when his daughter who was in high school here used that term. He had never heard of it. He must have asked about a dozen people at work and only those generally from around here knew what it meant. Do you??

Sorry for the hijack but why not...???

Bubbler is a brand name, just like "crescent wrench" alot of sailors say Bubbler because guess what brand of drinking fountains end up on ships. of course the proper term is scuttlebutt.

V/r HT1