Well the Heater came out without a fight. Pwr off, LP off, DC off (fuse #1), pull anode, drain, disconnect H2O lines, LP, AC/ DC, ignitor wire, remove cover plate and screws, pull 'er out. And YES, the smell came with it!
If I were a betting man, I'd say she was dry fired, maybe for only a short time though, since no melted foam. Mega rust. No real obvious leak point though. I need to get some fittings to pressure test but I bet the DW says get a new one and I think I would agree. I googled and can buy a brand new one and have it delivered on my porch Friday for $275. I could salvage the parts off the old one and trash the tank. So wouldn't feel too bad about scrapping the rust bucket. Right now for me, with only 60 years to live, time is money.
Does anyone have direct experience with a dry-fired water heater? Do they look like this? I did not notice any rust/metal flakes in tank when I drained it today or last week when I installed the new anode rod (just the white grit stuff), but did notice alot of suspicious rusty flakes trapped in under door frame when I took it off tonight. I bet the lining was damaged and flushed out prior to my ownership.
Thanks.
Troy
P.S. One other mod I made, best one so far, I call it my ''door alignment/improve security/my 7 yr old can open/shut the door with ease'' mod. Figured this one out on the banks of Sugar creek... With door halves just where you want them, I drilled and tapped two holes in flange between door halves. One close to hinge side, the other near the white plastic fold-down retainer. I then used 10-32x1/2'' wing screws and held the door halves together. 100% perfect alignment. Opens with a simple twist, closes with a gentle touch. Adds 66 seconds to the open/shutdown time!