Mine is leaking. Need a gas fired tanked version. Current capacity is 40 gallons. I think I'll go up to 50 gallons. Anyone have evidence of superior quality heaters? Box stores offer 6, 9 and 12 year warrantied versions.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I can't really answer your question, but I read an interesting piece ( think it was in Fortune of Forbes around the beginning of the year)on GE pulling back water heater production from China and putting it back in Appliance Park. I would give them a look.

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Do a search for "Anode" in a Water Heater. Screwed into the Top of Most Water Heaters attached to what looks like a Pipe Plug is an Anode. In use the Anode gets eaten up instead of the Tank. When the Anode kaput the Tank starts to get eaten up.
One of the things that the More expensive Water Heaters have is longer of more Anodes and that is one of the reasons life of the Water Heater is increased.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Our German neighbor has something that heats the water instantly as it runs through the pipe. She raves about it -- I'll have to ask her what it's called.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Bosch makes tankless water heaters and I have heard nothing but good stuff about them. The only drawback is cost.

They really, really work but the main advantage is the space savings. If you live in downtown Tokyo this could be the way to go.

The other drawback is that they need a bigger gas supply line, since they have to heat the water immediately rather than gradually.

It must be Bosch, then. She loves Bosch.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

They need a larger vent also because of the larger flame. Also, there is limited volume in a tankless. We have two units in our house. Need a big tankless to feed more than one hot water faucet at a time. In theory the tankless are better. In specific circumstances, it may be better to stick with a tanked version.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

One of the Names for the tankless Water Heater is an On Demand Water Heater.
I though there was Electric Tankless ones?

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I find it annoying that box stores don't stock the sacrificial anodes. The business model is to sell a new heater every 10 years, not sell the cheap anodes that can double tank life.

The tankless can get expensive if you have to redo wiring, but they are a lot more energy efficient once installed.

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Greg Schwall

1983 300SD - 465,000 miles

Tankless have issues. Sometimes using only a small flow, say as done with shaving, will not prompt the flame to kick in. Regular maintenance is required with tankless. A water softner is often needed to prevent the heating coils from liming up, else they need to be cleaned regularly.

I gather that Bradford White are highly thought of. I put one in (50 gallon tank, traditional gas) for some clients who do major research on every purchase of that sort and Bradford White is what they came up with. Subsequent to that I did some searching and seems it's true. I don't think they can be had at big box stores - more a plumbing/tradesman supply outlet thing.

We replaced the drain valve with a ball valve. More effective way to drain off any tank residue down the road. I put a cap over the end of it as it might be easier to accidentally hit the lever on one of those than to twist on the old style valve.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I was surprised to learn that there are numerous advantages of electric on-demand vs. gas. The price of each in your locale is big factor. Pac NW, electric makes sense. Smaller and less expensive, they are also cheaper to install: no flue. A big issue is having a large enough flow of amps to the house. 200 amps is often needed and many houses don't have that capacity. Upgrading on that can be spendy.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

When we built our house 22 years ago we had four kids at home. In the morning I was the last into the shower and always ran out of hot water. I got tired of it so installed a commercial gas fired tank type. I believe its 50 or 60 gal but has an oversized burner for quick recovery. Its going strong still and never had a problem. I believe I paid about 500 for it back then so a similar one now would prolly be 1500 or so. No regrets on that purchase.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I've installed the quick recovery tanks before. Good if there's one tank and many people. Probably not worth it in this case. I did look up a commercial 50 gall online and it was $3300. Maybe there are less expensive ones.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Does anyone know if buying a tank with a 9 or 12 yr warranty gets you a better manufactured tank or are you just paying for an extended warranty on the same tank you'd get in a 6yr heater? I have no idea what constitutes a better water tank. Thicker steel? Different steel?

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13