Hot Water Pipe - Rubber disintegration (in dielectric union) on water heater...

[jsmlee1207]

Hello, I have been having issues for past few years with any 'rubber' seal or gasket that disintegrates that is present in the connection between the hot water pipe and our Bradford White water heater. This is a newly built home with a new water heater, and we first noticed it when we saw black specks in the bath tub when hot water was running. Below is a picture of the initial setup of the heater pipes when we first noticed the problem.

The first evidence of rubber disintegration was the heat trap within the hot water connection .. The rubber gasket on the heat traps melted - see below picture - first picture is a fairly new heat trap vs. the second picture which is the one we found on the hot water side with rubber totally disintegrated.

So the plumbers replaced the entire water heater because they did not understand what was causing this, and after a couple months it happened again... They gave up, so I hired new plumbers, and they decided to install a different type of connection with different type of dielectric union in between - However, now the rubber seal in this dielectric union totally disintegrated- causing leaks which caused the steel to corrode (black specks still coming out in the hot water around the house). See pictures below: First picture is the connection that corroded, second picture is the type of connection they used, and third picture is after a few months - the rubber totally disintegrated and disappeared which caused the leak...

They have no idea what is causing this. We even replaced the vent pipe on the water heater to a larger diameter to allow for better heat escape. We got our city water tested professionally to make sure the water wasn't an issue.
This only happens on the hot water side, so we are assuming it has to do something with the initial interaction between the hot water leaving the tank and the pipe, but cannot figure out the reason.
This plumber also says that there is no other type of connection that they can change to because of the current code, and they are lost as well why this is happening.... Is there anything that can be done or different type of connection that doesn't have these rubber or plastic components?

Please help us. Thank you.

 

[Twowaxhack]

I edited this post because TomFOhio pointed out a critical flaw.

I apologize.

 

[TomFOhio]

If I remembeer correctly the factory nipple on the hot side of a Bradford White is part of the anode, and the cold
nipple is attached to the dip tube. You might have to put brass couplings on then the brass nipples like Twowax said

 

[Twowaxhack]

TomFOhio is exactly correct.

The dip tube is built into the cold inlet and the anode is built into the hot outlet.

It’s Designed to fail. Those steel nipples are crap they use and they rust out.

I’d never buy that water heater. Thankfully Bradford white isn’t sold in my area

 

[TomFOhio]

No need to apologize. This is one of the main water heaters that we installed around here. I personally
like them because if you need to work on the inside you can take half of the cover off to get inside the tank.
I've had ours for quite a while now. I have replace my share of tanks under the warranty just like the others.

 

[Twowaxhack]

You could pipe the heater like I have marked with brass nipples.

Use a regular anode in the factory hot outlet……

I have the picture marked.

Yellow= anode
Blue= incoming cold ( add a atmospheric vaccum breaker piped above the top of the heater )
Red = hot outlet.


If your heater has those inlet outlets as number 32 describes in the pic. Your heater doesn’t appear to have those.

. Oh well

 

[Twowaxhack]

If it was at my house that’s how I’d pipe it with stainless or red brass nipples.

Or you could use the old cold inlet for the hot outlet or anode. Either way.

This would eliminate the built to fail inlet and outlet nipples.

 

[jsmlee1207]

I really appreciate your answers, but I am so lost because I am not a plumber....

So first do I need to swap out the anode with a different type? What is a 'regular' anode you guys talk about?
Isn't there rubber seals within the brass couplings or brass nipples?

The problem I was seeing is that the any rubber component is disintegrating, such as the rubber seal in the current dielectric union or any connection that is put in between there. Am I misunderstanding the issue? Sorry for being so confused.

Thank you again.

 

[TomFOhio]

TWH. I don't think his water heater is equipped with the side ports. Its just a residential power vent. Maybe
the poster could take a picture of the water heater so we can see the whole tank.

 

[Twowaxhack]

TWH. I don't think his water heater is equipped with the side ports. Its just a residential power vent. Maybe
the poster could take a picture of the water heater so we can see the whole tank.

It doesn’t. How that water heater is built tells me I never want it. I want a port for a dedicated anode.

I could work around the rest of it.

 

[jsmlee1207]

This is the water heater:

 

[Twowaxhack]

Pipe the cold to the bottom where the drain is. You’ll need an atmospheric vaccum breaker on the cold water line above the top of the tank. Use red brass nipples to come out of the tank.

Install a regular anode in the cold side inlet.

Install a 8” red brass nipple in the hot side then connect your copper/pex.

This way you won’t have any unions or heat traps to fail. You also won’t have a dip tube.

You could also use bronze or stainless fittings.