Quick scrap : Water heater

Hey all.

Had a water heater feeding my in floor in the shop blow both elements this winter (working overtime!). It's been sitting outside since February, so I figured now's as great a time as any to tear it down. I've stopped picking up water tanks for scrapping a while ago : the garbage produced from the foam to the recovered weight ratio is not something I consider profitable in the long run.

I do, however, use water tanks of all sizes for many projects(1000 liter oil tanks are a close second!)...so here's my quick disassembly and impressions!

https://youtu.be/jYVsGzNZUhU

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Originally Posted by WhiteSquirrel

Hey all.

Had a water heater feeding my in floor in the shop blow both elements this winter (working overtime!). It's been sitting outside since February, so I figured now's as great a time as any to tear it down. I've stopped picking up water tanks for scrapping a while ago : the garbage produced from the foam to the recovered weight ratio is not something I consider profitable in the long run.

I do, however, use water tanks of all sizes for many projects(1000 liter oil tanks are a close second!)...so here's my quick disassembly and impressions!

https://youtu.be/jYVsGzNZUhU

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Neat. With water heaters I usually take off any and all brass fitting and copper pie that may have been attached, take off any easily accessable wires, then just send the rest, insulation and all, as shred/tin/light iron

Having torn a couple down, I agree that that would be the option to go with. The surface area to return ratio is not there for me to collect them, but ... they're everywhere, so I have a personal dilema with letting something scrappable go by :)

LOL you took the foam off.

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Originally Posted by greytruck

LOL you took the foam off.

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I don't want to brag, but...I do ALOT of stuff that wastes time. I once even bought a Chevy :D

Ohh man ... you really need a second hand wood fired boiler for your in floor heat. That will keep you busier than a Chevy ! :D

Seriously though, a unit that burns waste oil would be a good fit if you're turning a wrench for a living.

Our hot water tanks in NewZealand are mostly Copper metal & worth US$30-$60.

I haven't scrapped in in ages. I have found steel cylinders if they were the gas heater versions.

They're mostly cheap electric steel throwaways that have to be replaced every 5 - 8 years here. Some come with a sacrificial anode that gives the tank a longer life. There are pros and cons.

A few of the pros:

They're cheaper to buy.

The electric heating elements do get crusty with mineral buildup over time thus reducing efficiency.

It's not at all uncommon to get a lot of sediment buildup in the bottom of a tank to the point where it's covering the lower element. It wouldn't be cost effective to pay a plumber to try and clean out the tank.

Most tanks are set up with unions. A good plumber can swap in a new unit in about 30 minutes.

Cons:

It's slim pickings for the scrapper. ;(

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Originally Posted by hills

Ohh man ... you really need a second hand wood fired boiler for your in floor heat. That will keep you busier than a Chevy ! :D

Seriously though, a unit that burns waste oil would be a good fit if you're turning a wrench for a living.

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I picked up an oil boiler and ran a filter/larger injector nozzle so I can mix my fuel/oil about 80 20. Can't remember the last time i had to pay to heat the shack up!

That water heater there I actually had hooked up to a water jacket I built for my wood stove - was thermo syphoning to the tank and worked well for fall/spring.

I did something similar with my wood stove but use it for heating domestic hot water. Heat exchanger mounted on the outside of the stove. 80 gallon stone lined tank just behind the stove.

With a family of four ... about half our annual fuel oil was being used just for producing hot water.

If we're being super careful now ... we can keep our fuel oil consumption down to about 2 1/2 gallons a week in the dead of winter. The wood stove does the rest of the work. :)