Death By Minerals

We have been aware for several months that the water heater (in Mom's old place where we moved our bedrooms) had been going on the fritz for a while because it had been beeping, flashing lights and our water temps had slowly been reduced to cold or very cold. Finally, all the water from the sink faucets, the 3 to 5 loads of laundry I do daily and our showers went ice cold all the time. It was time to get a new water heater!

Since our refrigerator ice/water dispenser was forming stalactites, and our faucet handles were encrusted with minerals, we knew that we had 'mineral overload' in our water. So, since this 'good' water heater went belly up under the 'load' we thought a cheap replacement would be a better investment - after all our water filters still let the minerals through. Then if the new water heater OD'd on minerals we wouldn't feel bad and we'd be out a couple hundred bucks in a few years.

First, we had to empty the old WH by attaching the hose to the faucet bib on the bottom of the WH and running the hose outside to drain it - this would greatly reduce it's weight. 

It would not drain - we tried a bunch of stuff like running water at the various faucets and looking up 'draining water heater' in our 'How-To' book. Finally, Bob decided to heft it outside to drain it. All the while I was looking at the EXPLOSION warnings on the WH,  fretting and 'advising'. ('Maybe we should call a plumber?')

When Bob got it outside on the patio (he was sore all over the next day)-  it still wouldn't drain. So he took off the faucet bib entirely. It still wouldn't drain - and the faucet bib hole was about 2" diameter.

My brother Bruce, the plumber, has probably figured this out by now, but we were truly baffled! Bob put a big stick inside the hole and jiggled it around and VOILA! out came gushing a sludgy mineral mix the consistency of pea soup - and it stayed that way until the inside of the WH was drained. Occasionally, Bob had to 'help' it get out. There were chunks of blue/white minerals in the sludge and one medium spot of red iron-type minerals. The patio was glowing!

Good thing we ordered a throw away replacement - which, by the way, took over a week to get here from CA!

REPLACING APPLIANCES
Because our appliances are all dying at the same time, I've been researching 'Made in America' and simple - non-electronic control panel options. They're much cheaper without the bells and whistles - many of which we don't need and there's less to go wrong with them. Since we have mineral-ly water (with 2 water filters!) we decided to forgo the water/ice dispensers and simplify - and we don't miss them. We replaced our refrigerator with a large all-refrigerator (or all-freezer by flipping a switch) from Frigidaire. Not fancy but sturdy, keeps things cold, and has a lot of room. We already had a Frigidaire freezer and didn't need any more freezer space, but needed a lot more refrigerator. On sale: $599 from Sears.

We're looking at the "top of the line" Speed Queen top loading washing machine and front loading dryer for homes. Made in America - no electronic control panels - consistently great reviews and better for my back - all parts available and extensive warranty.  They're sold only in non-big box outlets (not at Sears or Walmart) like smaller appliance stores, fine furniture stores, or directly. 

We had to move the plumbing to the old kitchen area, but the electricians we've called are either too busy or haven't called us back. I'll try to get a picture of the plumbing in the empty washer/dryer space in the old kitchen/ new laundry room-to-be. My back treatments and our new WH may stall this project a while! But I drool over the washer/dryer at our local furniture store once a week until then...

Blessed Holy Week!