40 gallon stainless steel Electric water heater

Top critical review

1.0 out of 5 starsMAJOR PROBLEMS WITH THIS WATER HEATER, DEFECTIVE DESIGN

Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2017

This water heater goes through heating elements like crazy, due to a defective design.

Westinghouse refuses to acknowledge that they screwed up in the design of this water heater, and they keep blaming people's 'hard water' for the repeated heating element failures. Unless you are willing to modify this water heater to solve the design flaw, DO NOT BUY THIS WATER HEATER! Please read on to learn why.

The problem is that there is NO SACRIFICIAL ELEMENT in this water heater. The result is that the heating elements act as a sacrificial element, and they are eaten up and destroyed very quickly. In the first 9 months I owned it, it went through 8 heating elements, including some very expensive stainless steel elements that are considered the most resistant to failure. Those lasted 12 days.

By the way, this water heater replaced a 120 gallon non-stainless 'State Industries' brand of water heater that lasted over 30 years, with 2 heater element replacements in those 30 years, so when Westinghouse tried to blame my water for the series of failures, I knew that what they were saying was a bunch of Baloney.

Since I was heavily invested in this water heater, it was non-returnable (past Amazon's 30 day return window), and I didn't want to pay to have it replaced after just a few months, I had to come up with a fix. So I bought a sacrificial element from Amazon to install into the water heater through the hot water nipple. Turns out that the hot water exit was designed in such a way that this type of sacrificial anode can't be installed in this Water heater because of a flow restriction designed into the hot water exit.

My final solution was to remove the top heating element (which is actually in the middle of the water heater), install a 1" to 3/4" stainless reducer bushing, and insert a sacrificial anode into that bushing. I then had to re-wire the water heater so that only the lower heating element receives electrical power.

Since doing this, the water heater has stopped eating heating elements.

Here's clickable links to what you need to buy from Amazon to fix this water heater if you still decide to buy it, or if you already bought it and yours is eating heater elements like mine was (I have no connection to any of the companies in the links below):

SuperWhole 1" Male x 3/4" Female Thread Reducer Bushing Pipe Fitting SS 304 NPT NEW

Aqua Pro 69717 9 1/2" Long Lead Free Magnesium Anode Rod with 3/4" Male Pipe Thread

You will need to remove and examine this anode at least yearly, and when it is mostly eaten away, replace it. Otherwise, this water heater will start destroying your heating elements. This element is only 9 1/2" long, and will dissolve pretty quickly. If you can use a hacksaw, you can buy the anode below, which is 44" long, and cut it down to 20" long. It will last twice as long as the one I linked to above:

Rheem SP11526C R-Tech Magnesium Anode Rod

If you are not comfortable re-wiring the water heater to only use the lower heating element, or you can't do the plumbing described above, then you should hire a professional plumber to make the above modifications. Good luck finding one who will do this, some won't want to make this modification.

One more technical detail. Water heater elements use a 1" NST thread, while the bushing I recommend above is a 1" NPT thread. I couldn't find a 1" NST to 3/4" NPT bushing anywhere. However, the 1" NPT thread will seal up into a 1" NST thread just fine, and it won't strip or damage the 1" NST thread in the water heater. Just use Teflon Plumbers tape on the bushing when you install it, and it will work just fine.

In closing this review, I will say that I am happy with the tank, now that I have solved the design problem. Unless you are willing to do the above modification, I strongly advise that you don't buy this tank. You make these changes at your own risk, so don't blame me if something goes wrong, or this doesn't work for you. If you've already bought the tank, and you are reading this review, perhaps my suggestions will help you solve the problem you are having, since Westinghouse sure won't help you with this, as that would require that they acknowledge that they screwed up, which they will not do.

It's sad to see that Amazon continues selling this very expensive tank that has a major design flaw, and it's sad that Westinghouse continues supplying them to customers without fixing or even acknowledging that this tank has a major defect.

I hope someone finds this review helpful, and if you find it helpful, please vote it up, so that other prsopective buyers will see it, read it, and be able to make their own decision about whether to buy this water heater or not. I wrote this review specifically to help you as a prospective buyer, a troubled owner, and because it really upset me to see how Westinghouse is messing their customers over and misleading them as to the cause of this water heater eating heating elements. Shame on you Westinghouse!

How much is a new 40 gallon electric water heater?

What is the average lifespan of a 40 gallon hot water heater?

What brand of electric water heater is the most reliable?

Are stainless steel hot water tanks good?