Hot Water Services

• Sacrificial Anodes serve an important purpose in a Hot Water System but most people don’t even know that they are there. 
• Many leave their hot water system to run its course without consideration of any form of hot water system maintenance until problems arise. 
• There are plumbers or handymen that replace anodes and that’s all they do. What they don’t do is flush out the tank. 
• Watch the video and learn why it’s important to complete a tank flush when replacing sacrificial anodes in your hot water system. 
• Check out more of our VLOGs & don’t forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Replacing Sacrificial Anodes – There’s more to it!

In today’s video, Top Dog Richard is on the mission to replace the anodes in a hot water system and shares with is what it’s all about. He also shows us and explains why simply replacing the anodes alone simply isn’t enough, especially if you haven’t performed any hot water system maintenance since you moved in or bought your hot water system.

What Are Sacrificial Anodes?

Sacrificial Anodes are anodes which are present in the hot water systems made of magnesium. Their purpose is to sacrifice themselves to the water’s impurity instead of preventing the tank from getting damaged. If you wish to prolong the tank’s life, you need to replace these anodes every 2-3 years periodically. When they break down, they settle at the bottom of the tank in the form of debris, and if left unchecked, they can harm the tank base’s quality.

The Video

In this video, Richard carries out Plumbdogs standard procedure of replacing the anodes of these tanks and also flushes out the debris settled at the bottom to demonstrate the proper method.

The Rheem Stellar hot water system has two magnesium anodes and Richard takes them to look at their condition. He shows us what new vs used anodes look like  and we can clearly see the difference. The old ones have entirely broken down, and there’s no magnesium left attached to their body.

Before installing the new pair of anodes, the first thing we need to do is flush out the tank. Check out the amount of residue that comes out. The entire floor is covered in a thick blanket of residue. The dust is present in both forms of sand and solid particle waste.

This tank is as much as seven years old, and seeing the amount of debris, one can predict that this is the first time it has been flushed out. The tank was in dire need of a good service and simply only replacing the anodes wouldn’t have guaranteed good functionality and prolonged life for the hot water system.

If a tank flush is not performed, the debris can potentially stick inside the filters, pipes and even the tempering valve which can cause problems outside of the hot water unit.

If you are facing issues of not getting adequate hot water at your place, then there’s a good chance that your hot water system needs a good service.

If you suspect you have a plumbing issue, give us a whistle!

• In some instances, replacing a Gas Continuous System with another Gas Continuous System might not be the way to go.
• Have you seen a hot water system that has fallen off the wall? Check out the video!
• You can also watch more of our VLOGS here

Why not replace Gas Continuous with another Gas Continuous System?

In this scenario, the existing Continuous Gas Hot Water System installed in the property was undersized. Unfortunately it’s not as simple as replacing with a newer larger system. For this particular job, replacing with a larger continuous gas hot water system means increasing the gas pipe all the way back to the meter. For this property it was quite a distance between the hot water system and the gas meter which would make replacing the whole pipe quite a costly exercise.

The Solution, a Gas Storage Hot Water System

Our skilled Plumbdogs have the skills and ability to think on their paws to find the best solutions for our customers. Rather than replacing the whole pipe which would be costly, we altered the pipes and made changes to install a Gas Storage Hot Water System.

The Video

Our skilled and experienced Plumbdog takes us through the job and does a great job explaining the whys and hows. If you have an existing hot water system that needs to be replaced, this might give you some insights so that you understand what might be required when a plumber starts to talk about why they can or can’t do something with the hot water system.

More importantly, if a plumber simply quotes and tells you that they have to replace the whole pipe for the unit that you have selected, they aren’t necessarily doing the wrong thing. They are only quoting as requested but they might not have shared insights that you may have other options available which could save a lot of time and money.

• A straight swap is as it sounds where you literally replace a like for like hot water unit.
• It isn’t always as straight forward as pulling out the old and connecting the new hot water system. We explain why.
• Compliance and safety are of utmost importance for the household.
• Testing the hot water system properly after installation is equally as important.
• Watch more of our VLOGS here.

Different Types of Hot Water System Installations

There are different types of hot water systems including electric, gas and solar hot water with different options like storage or continuous flow and with a range of brands available and even housing designs, no two jobs are the same.

Because of the different number of scenarios, most plumbing websites advertise prices with installation for what we call ‘straight swaps’ or ‘like for like’ which is the base minimum to get an existing unit replaced without having to install new pipes or any major modifications in order to get the new hot water system installed.

Usually what will happen is:

• Unit is purchased with installation
• Plumber will arrive and check a few things to make sure the new unit can go in.
• If changes are required, then an estimate is provided and payment taken on site for the changes required to get the hot water system installed.

[Note: There may be some scenarios where a straight swap is not permitted. For some properties the location of the hot water system is not compliant with current regulations. You may have seen in our recent blog where a hot water unit was too small for the property. We changed from a gas continuous flow to a gas hot water storage unit to help reduce costs of installing completely new pipes]

Today’s Video: A Straight Swap of a Gas Continuous Flow Rinnai Infinity B20

For the job today, we have a straight swap of an old and new system of the same make and model which makes it relatively straight forward. Important to note however that just because it’s a straight swap, there is still the possibility that the new unit may not be installed.

To start off with before installing, our obedient and compliant Plumbdog makes some checks.

Initial Checks:

• The supply pipe is ok. Check.
• The pipe on this property is close to the gas meter. Check.
• The Hot Water System is not close to windows and doors. Check.
• The System is not too close to the flue and at least 300mm from the eaves. Check.

Everything stacks up and a straight swap is ok which means no extras to our customer and the price is as advertised on the website.

Testing After Installing the Hot Water System

Even though we’ve literally replaced everything as it was and connected the pipes to the same places on the new unit, our job doesn’t stop there. We need to test to make sure everything is functioning properly.

Test Gas Pressure

We test using a gas gauge to make sure the right gas pressure is flowing and performing properly. Too much or too little gas has an effect on performance which leads to unnecessary costs to you when running the hot water system.

[Plumbdog Tip: Check for the red tape under your system to see if it’s still there. If it is, then most likely the plumber hasn’t checked the gas pressure]

Test Temperature Inside the House

The fact that manufacturers are putting signs to check temperatures after installation means that there are plenty of installers out there who are not adequately testing. This is part of our standard procedure. Even though the hot water unit is supplying water at 50 degrees Celsius, there are numerous reasons why 50 degrees isn’t achieved inside the house and we need to adjust accordingly.

At Plumbdog, we hold our plumbers to high standards and have procedures for safety and compliance for the safety of our customers and our team. Following these procedures means that our customers enjoy a hot water system that works efficiently providing hot water while operating efficiently burning the gas and not your hard earned money.

If you’re in the Perth area and need a new hot water system, or even if you need to service or repair your hot water system then give us a whistle!

• It is important to test for gas leaks before installing a new Hot Water System. 
• Plumbdog has All The Gear and Every Idea. Check out more of our VLOGs here!

In today’s video our obedient Plumbdog Rich is on a mission to install a new hot water system on one of the properties in West Australia. Installing a hot water system isn’t as simple as pulling out the old system, putting in the new and leaving it as that. In the video, Rich has tested for a gas leak and the test has failed.

In his first attempt, Richard checks for a gas leak before installing the new Hot water system. It is a safe thing to do as it saves the plumber unnecessary work if he detects a gas leak after the installation is complete and helps to know if the gas leak is a result of the new works completed or whether there was an existing problem. It is up to the gas fitter to ensure that there are no gas leaks when they replace an appliance. Our Plumbdogs are licensed gas plumbers/gas fitters.

The Gas Leak Test

To get started, he opens the gas meter and joins the testing kit to it, and turns on the gas. The gas at this property has been capped off and once he gets removes the disk stopping the gas at the meter, he notices a full drop in the gas pressure. Alas, the investigation failed!

The next step is to determine the reason behind the failure.

Soon he figures out that the old water system is damaged due to corrosion and has fallen from the wall which is the most likely cause of the gas leak.

After installing the new hot water system, another leak test is conducted. He attaches the testing equipment to the gas meter and turns on the gas. As the gauge reads 2.4kpa, he slowly turns the gas off and analysis the result.

In this test, the gas pressure does not drop rapidly like it did previously before installing the new hot water system. Observing for for 5 minutes, if the pressure doesn’t drop we can be comfortable that there isn’t a gas leak.

If you’re getting a new hot water system installed at your property, make sure the plumber does an initial test. In the event that there is a leak after the new system is installed, you will know whether there was already a leak or whether a new problem has occurred after the new unit is installed.

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